This volume offers an insight into various approaches and methodologies of evaluations in the context of SD. Many themes for research and further activities in the political arena remain open for discussion. In this brief chapter some of these ideas are presented.

In this volume a glance at the current state of the art of evaluating sustainable development policies, programmes and projects (PPP) in Europe is presented. The aim is not to offer an encompassing overview of all the efforts undertaken in this respect, which even within the comparatively short historical time span of these activities would involve screening and analysing a rather sizeable volume of literature. The attempt made and reported here is rather to raise the most significant issues involved when an evaluation project is planned and carried out. The list of such issues to be considered is by no means complete, but only the result of analysing the contributions presented in this volume and the impression gained from the pertinent literature. In the Chapters to follow, these topics are discussed with varying intensity and emphasis depending on the specific focus of the individual contributions. This introductory chapter aims at providing context and a brief overview. In terms of broad categories of issues discussed these were identified as the concept of sustainable development (SD) itself and its operationalization and specification, the role of evaluation in the political processes involved, the referential frame (time, space and so on) as well as the methodological approaches to be considered.

In a collective action, people act together with the intention of producing public goods. Public, or collective, goods are states or objects that benefit the many but only emerge if a sufficient number of persons make contributions. The present study explains de dynamics of participation in collective action campaigns by considering the interaction of different processes. With the resulting model it is possible to determine the optimal combination of diffusion measures for such a campaign. Before using the model for experimenting, we calibrate its parameters using data from a real world collective action. We find this to be a most important step in order to demonstrate that the model can be grounded empirically and to demonstrate the practical usefulness of simulation for consulting and design of real world processes. Finally, some "what if" scenarios reveal the model's power of explanation and prediction.

Sexual reproduction in cyclical parthenogenetic <I>Daphnia</I> (water fleas) might lead to the production of interspecific hybrids. Since sexual reproduction in <I>Daphnia</I> is coupled with diapause, the study of diapause and diapausing eggs can clarify questions related to the frequency of hybrid production, the occurrence and strength of mating barriers, the abundance of hybrids in egg banks, and the likelihood of hybrids to colonize new habitats through diapausing egg dispersal with subsequent hatching. This chapter aims to discuss the processes related to the frequency of hybrid and backcross production within <I>Daphnia</I> hybrid species complexes.

L’économie des eaux inclut toutes les activités humaines ayant trait à l’utilisation et à la protection de l’eau ainsi qu’à la protection contre les dangers de l’eau. Les changements climatiques influent sur ces fonctions de l’économie des eaux du fait qu’ils modifient le cycle hydrologique (cf. chapitre Fondements). Dans le présent chapitre, les effets des changements climatiques sur l’économie des eaux sont traités en détail pour les domaines suivants: - Changements dans les eaux naturelles (lacs, biodiversité, poissons) - Dangers naturels de l’eau (crues, sécheresse) - Offre et besoin en eau (reconstitution des eaux souterraines, besoins en eau potable et en eau industrielle) - Utilisations de l’eau (énergie, navigation sur le Rhin) - Gestion des ressources en eau

Veterinär-Antibiotika werden in der Tierhaltung intensiv eingesetzt. Aufgrund der Stoffeigenschaften dürfte von den Sulfonamiden ein hohes Umweltrisiko ausgehen, doch die Kenntnisse zum Transportverhalten sind lückenhaft. Im Rahmen eine Pilot-Studie auf Grünland wurde die Mobilität von Sulfonamiden (Sulfadimidin, Sulfadiazin, Sulfathiazol) nach einer Gülle-Ausbringung untersucht. Zum Vergleich wurden die Sulfonamide in wässriger Lösung appliziert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Gülle nicht nur den Abfluss erhöht, sondern auch den Austrag von Sulfonamiden begünstigt. Sulfadimidin wurde bis 500 μg/L nachgewiesen und lag nach 90 min Beregnungsdauer noch bei 70-100 μg/L. Auf Flächen ohne Gülle wurden rund 10mal niedrigere Konzentrationen bestimmt. Im Porenwasser traten zwar höhere Konzentrationen für alle Sulfonamide auf (Sulfadimidin 60 μg/L), die Wiederfindung war aber deutlich höher als im Abfluss. Sulfadimidin sorbierte ausnahmslos schwächer als Sulfadiazin und Sulfathiazol. Alle Sulfonamide wurden bis 30-50 cm Tiefe präferentiell verlagert. Überraschend war der Nachweis von Acetyl-Sulfadimidin im Porenwasser der Bodenoberfläche, denn in der Gülle konnte der Metabolit nicht quantifiziert werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Eigenschaften der Gülle (pH, Matrix) großen Einfluss auf die Verlagerung haben und bei Starkregen ein hohes Risiko für präferentiellen Austrag besteht.

Measuring pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment requires identification and quantification in complex aqueous media (e.g. wastewater) and in different solid matrices (e.g. sludge, sediment, soil, biota) down to the ultra trace level. Hence, analytical techniques have to be specific for the detection of the analytes among a vast majority of other impurities and sensitive enough to enable sufficiently low quantification limits. Analyzing pharmaceuticals can be quite a challenge since many are polar and have a rather low molecular weight. Therefore, sophisticated analytical techniques such as LC/MS/MS or GC/MS/MS after derivatization are needed for correct quantification of pharmaceuticals in environmental matrices. All these challenges make commercial and industrial laboratories often struggle for many months to get an appropriate method. Currently, the number of analytical methods available is increasing but many still need to be developed and especially so for complex matrices such as wastewater or sediments.<br /> (...)<br /> In the following chapters the analytical techniques crucial for the analysis of pharmaceuticals, personal care products and related polar organic pollutants are introduced and discussed, together with the corresponding mandatory quality assurance. The intention is to give a general overview of the challenges met when analysing these chemically diverse trace compounds in different environmental compartments. A short description of the analytical methods used within POSEIDON is provided at the end of this chapter.

The reduction of the micropollutant emission into the environment is to be achieved by complementing end-of-pipe advanced wastewater treatment steps in centralized municipal plants with measures taken at the source. A significant reduction in terms of consumed quantities as well as in terms of the ecotoxicity of the selected compounds is feasible if the stakeholders can be successfully involved:<br /> • patients and the general public represent the starting point on which a shift of production (i.e. towards more environmentally friendly compounds) as well as legislative issues are based on<br /> • industry is a central player able to influence the pace at which new solutions are introduced on the market<br /> • physicians and health care personnel play a key role in the therapeutic choice as well as in supporting complementary strategies to reduce medical consumption (e.g. hygienic standard in hospitals, empirical vs. targeted therapy)<br /> • legislative authorities are required if solutions are to be implemented beyond voluntary choice (e.g. composition of industrial or hospital wastewater discharged into the sewer)<br /> Ecolabelling may represent a tool to initiate the required public discourse for phasing in of new products or production methods. However, it ought to be substituted or backed up by legislation to achieve broader compliance or general validity. (...)

Braided gravel-bed rivers are widespread in temperate piedmont and mountain-valley areas. In their pristine state, braided rivers are characterized by a shifting mosaic of channels, ponds, bars, and islands, since both flow and flood pulses create a diversity of habitats with fast turnover rates. Large wood has a major role in determining the geomorphology and ecological functioning of these rivers. Braided river habitats are colonized by a diverse fauna and flora adapted to their dynamic nature, including a significant proportion of highly endangered species. Animals exhibit high mobility, short and asynchronic life cycles, and ethological and phenological plasticity. Braided gravelbed rivers also offer various categories of refugia such as shore areas, hypogeic and hyporheic habitats that are pivotal for maintaining diversity in the face of frequent disturbances. Today, however, most gravel-bed rivers bear little resemblance to their highly dynamic natural state due to anthropogenic modifications, and most braided rivers have been converted into incised single-thread channels. Gravel bars and vegetated islands are among the most endangered landscape elements worldwide. They are very sensitive to channelization, gravel extraction, and flow regulation. Therefore, more than for most other ecosystems, restoring braided rivers and their landscape elements means restoring their underlying hydrogeomorphological dynamics.

This study focuses on the in.uence of gas seepage on methane sources and sinks, aerobic and anaerobic oxidation of methane and the mediating microbial organisms in the Black Sea. We present data from two cruises that took place in 2001 and 2003. Seven stations (two from the shelf, four from the upper and lower slope, and one from the central basin) were compared with respect to methane concentration and isotope signature. The stations differed in methane concentration depending on the location on the slope. A strong change in the concentration and isotopic composition of methane was observed below the oxic/anoxic interface, coinciding with increased levels of archaeal biomarkers (archaeol and sn-2-hydroxy-archaeol). Concentration and isotopic composition of methane in the water column and sediments indicate that sediments from the shelf, slope, and deep basin are only minor sources of methane. The main methane sources are seeps located on the shelf and upper slope, but also in the deep basin. The comparison of two shelf stations with and without methane seepage showed a difference in methane concentrations, isotopic composition and oxidation rates, but the presence of similar methanotrophic microbial assemblages. Also two deep stations at a seep and outside of a seep area were compared, but here methane concentrations and oxidation rates were not different from each other. Anaerobic methane oxidizers (ANME-1 and ANME-2 group) were observed at both stations with slightly higher cell counts at the seep station.

High-resolution seismic analyses on the sedimentary subsurface of the deep basin of proglacial Lake Bramant (Grandes Rousses Massif, Western French Alps) allowed the detection of a large lens-shaped body with chaotic internal reflections corresponding to a mass wasting deposit (MWD) triggered by the nearby AD 1881 Allemond earthquake (MSK intensity VII). This MWD was only retrieved at the base of a short gravity core and the top of a piston core. Sediments associated with this MWD are remoulded and laminated. Locally, blocks of sediment have preserved the original stratification. This earthquake-induced mass movement is an example of a slide that evolved into a slump. In addition, several Late Holocene turbidite and hyperpycnal deposits related to exceptional flood events were identified using highresolution sedimentological, physical and geochemical analyses. However, the identification of hyperpycnites is sometimes complicated as erosion of the basal sequence can occur during the rising limb of the flood. While the precise dating of the oldest flood event is still ongoing, two flood events are coeval with the St. Sorlin glacier retreat following the end of the “Little Ice Age”, suggesting outbursts of temporary ice contact lakes or subglacial lakes during warmer periods.

This chapter cunsiders the potential for user involvement, focusing specifically on highly dynamic innovation processes and taking into account not only local dynamics of interaction between designers and users but also dynamics on the societal level. It is argued that certain preconditions and assumptions generally presupposed by approaches to user involvement are not necessarily fulfilled, because scenarios of use may change quite radically and because design and use phases proceed side by side not successively. This is shown by analyzing the evolution of scenarios of use guiding the design work of two companies producing software for e-marketplaces as well as the activities of two customers of these companies. The situation found in these case studies can be described as a circle of uncertainties, where neither technologies, user groups nor scenarios of use are a reliable basis for a development process. Starting from this circle of uncertainties, three different design strategies are identified, which imply three different strategies to align technologies and users' needs.

Regarding sustainable development, transition of the built environment is a key issue. The time scale of such a transition comprises a century. In the 20<SUP>th</SUP> century the buildings and infrastructure development in affluent societies showed exponential growth. In the 21<SUP>st</SUP> century various reasons lead to two hypothesises: First the built environment must be transformed to much higher resource efficiency. Second the built environment itself becomes an important source of secondary resources. However, at the beginning of the 21<SUP>st</SUP> century, the material composition of the built environment is not well known. This publication describes a method to explore material stocks in urban systems in order to make these materials available for urban mining. Dynamic modelling of regional material management in urban systems is an integral part of investigation. Modelling is based on knowledge about intrinsic interconnections in the building sector and beyond. For this reason dynamic modelling on a regional scale has to be combined with exploration steps on lower scales, historical investigations and statistical data about urban growth (population, places of work, amount of dwellings/buildings). For practical reasons, a concrete region, Switzerland, is taken as a system boundary. Bulk materials ("main"-substances) such as concrete, respectively gravel, sand and cement, or bricks and tiles are especially emphasized. The same is true for copper, which is taken as an example of "trace"-substances (less than 1 percent by weight of the overall mass of building materials). Due to its challenging dynamic complexity, the whole modelling chapter is exemplified by copper.<BR/><BR/> For the exploration procedure Material Flow Analysis (MFA; Baccini and Brunner 1991, Baccini and Bader 1996) is combined with architectural know how and approaches inspired by geosciences (urban geology). Buildings and infrastructure are the main processes, since they are the main carriers of material stocks within the urban system. Geogenic resources (primary resources) and landfills (potential secondary resources) are split up in organic and inorganic resources and combined in these two processes, both of them with related stocks. In the copper modelling "mobiles" (moveable goods) are introduced as an additional process, in parallel to "buildings" and "infrastructure". "Production and trade" for input and "dismantling" for material output, are both processes without stocks. "Soil and aquatic systems" are defined as a summarising process for dissipative losses e.g. by runoff or abrasion.<BR/><BR/> In order to look at future development options by scenario techniques, the genesis of the present built environment has to be understood. Since the main growth happened within the 20<SUP>th</SUP> century, four intervals are taken as the relevant time periods: 1900–1925, 1926–1950, 1951–1975. 1976–2000. Buildings are grouped into four classes: Single family houses, apartment houses, production- and service-buildings (utility buildings and tertiary sector). Thus the combination of building classes and time periods results in a four by four matrix. For each field of this matrix a virtual building ("arc-house") has to be defined which is typical for the specific building type in the respective time period. Each archouse has a characteristic volume and a characteristic composition. The latter is based on a characteristic construction system and a characteristic layout of rooms. The layout of rooms is quantified by the relation of construction volume to total volume. The amount of arc-houses per period derives from regional or national statistics based on population census and on building insurance data. The combination of material contents which are related to specific construction systems and layouts of rooms with their frequency of occurrence is introduced as "arc-house method". Data collection considers the following components: roof, horizontal-bearing, horizontal-non bearing, vertical-bearing, vertical-non bearing, fundament, building services.<BR/><BR/> Data collection may differ from "main"-substances and "trace"-substances, however material content and frequency of occurrence of the considered performance is a common principle. As shown in Wittmer 2005, this principle may be applied also to the exploration of infrastructure.<BR/><BR/> Calibration is done by production data (e.g. cement production in Switzerland) and national trade statistics (e.g. import and export of copper).<BR/><BR/> First practical examples of urban mining are cited and discussed in chapter 4.<BR/><BR/> The appendix describes in detail the urban growth statistics (appendix A), the arc-house method (appendix B) and the sensitivity of attributes such as layout of rooms and kind of construction system (appendix C).<BR/><BR/> Baccini P., Brunner P.H. 1991. Metabolism of the Anthroposphere. Springer-Verlag, Berlin<BR/> Baccini P., Bader H.-P. 1996. Regionaler Stoffhaushalt. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg<BR/> Wittmer D. 2005. Kupfer im regionalen Ressourcenhaushalt – Ein methodischer Beitrag zur Exploration urbaner Lagerstätten. Dissertation ETH Zürich Nr. 16'325. vdf Hochschulverlag AG an der ETH Zürich, Zürich

We determined relative nitrate-nitrogen (NO₃-N) loss rates in 100 north-mid-European lakes from late spring to summer by using the exponential function N₂ = N₁e^{-k(t2 - t2)}, where N ₁ and N₂ are NO₃-N concentrations at the beginning (t₁) and the end (t₂) of the time interval, respectively, and k is the specific NO₃-N loss rate. We found that k decreased with increasing lake depth. Adjusting k to the lake depth (k _adj), we observed that k_adj was positively related to spring NO₃-N concentrations, but this relationship became insignificant at mean lake depths exceeding 12.5 m. A relationship between k_adj and spring NO₃-N concentrations in lakes shallower than 12.5 m implies that changes in spring NO₃-N concentrations influence the NO₃-N loss rate and thereby summer NO₃-N concentrations. Time series from one Estonian, one German, and 14 Swedish lakes shallower than 12.5 m since 1988 revealed that May to August NO₃-N concentrations have decreased over time everywhere, and the number of time periods exhibiting a NO₃-N depleted condition, i.e., NO₃-N levels below 10 μg L^-1, in these lakes has tripled since 1988. We explained the decreasing NO₃-N concentrations by a reduction in external nitrogen loading including atmospheric deposition, and by changes in climate. The observed prolongation of NO₃-N depleted conditions might be one possible explanation for the increasing occurrence of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria in a variety of lake ecosystems.

Die Artikel 80 bis 83 des Gewässerschutzgesetzes (GSchG) schreiben die Sanierung der Restwasserstrecken von bestehenden Wasserkraftkonzessionen vor (Konzession vor 1987 erteilt). Gemäss Art. 82 waren die Kantone dazu verpflichtet, das Inventar der bestehenden Wasserentnahmen dem Bund bis 1995 einzureichen und die Sanierungen von Restwasserstrecken bis 2007 abzuschliessen. Im Jahre 2003 wurde diese Sanierungsfrist von ursprünglich 15 Jahren auf 20 Jahre bis 2012 verlängert.

Die Bundesverfassung schreibt seit 1975 angemessene Restwassermengen in unseren Gewässern vor. Diesen Verfassungsauftrag hat der Bund mit der Revision des eidgenössischen Gewässerschutzgesetzes (GSchG) im Jahr 1991 weitgehend umgesetzt. Die Restwasserbestimmungen von 1991 stellen einen Kompromiss von wirtschaftlichen und ökologischen Interessen dar; sie führen deshalb immer wieder zu Kontroversen.

We built a composite of three reconstructions of the solar modulation function over the Holocene. The reconstructions until 1950 are based on data from cosmogenic radionuclides and the present time (1951–2004) on neutron monitor data.<BR/> Interpreting our composite as an index of solar activity, we were able to compare the current solar activity with the last 9300 years. During this time span 25 periods with similar high activity than the current period were found. That corresponds to about 15% of the time which lead to the conclusion that currently the Sun is very but not exceptionally active.<BR/> Our composite has a large potential for studies dealing with solar activity like the understanding of the solar dynamo and the reconstruction of solar forcing.

The method of computer-simulation is still a young field, but especially useful for the investigation of complex systems typical for topics of environmental psychology. This paper offers a brief overview of the method, especially its field of application, the procedure of developing simulation models and ideas for using them for solving practical tasks of environmental psychologists. The method is especially useful for handling problems, where the system of interest can not be reduced to a few simple parts with a few simple interactions. Additionally, the method is ideal for investigating and forecasting dynamic developments over time. When using simulation models for planning and guiding campaigns, which aim at influencing social developments, it is crucial not to assign their results directly to reality. Simulation-results must be concretized to plans, which also consider aspects that were not included in the abstract formal model. Further, the simulation models must be adapted continuously to information about the influenced system that becomes available during the realization of the campaign.

The role of the primary-like sigma factor SigC was studied in <I>Synechocystis</I>. Under high temperature stress (48°C) the ΔsigC inactivation strain showed a lower survival rate than the control strain. The ΔsigC strain grew poorly at 43°C in liquid cultures under normal air. However, change to 3% CO<SUB>2</SUB> enhanced growth of ΔsigC at 43°C. Differences in expression of many genes related to the carbon concentrating mechanisms between the control and the ΔsigC strain were recorded with a genome-wide DNA microarray. We suggest that low solubility of CO<SUB>2</SUB> at high temperature is one of the factors contributing to the poor thermotolerance of the ΔsigC strain.

In order to link the charcoal record from sedimentary archives with the combustion processes that reflect past anthropogenic activity, a novel method based on automated image analysis was developed. It allows a detailed quantification and morphological analysis of the combustion-derived products that were emitted in the area of Lake Lucerne (Central Europe) throughout the last 7200 years.<BR/>Charcoal-particle distribution reconstructed from the composite sedimentary record shows that the charcoal input is primarily linked to redistribution of detrital μm-size charcoal degradation products from surface runoff into the large lake basin. However, the independent distribution of the coarser charcoal fraction (>38 μm) exhibits four major periods of large-scale fire activity around 5500, 3300, 2400, and 530 cal. BP. These events are synchronous with major anthropogenic changes (lake-dwellings, land-use changes, technological innovations), although it is possible that these major fire episodes could have been indirectly triggered by climatic deterioration and unfavorable environmental conditions. During the late-nineteenth-century, a great increase in slag particles and magnetic spherules of fly-ash occurred due to the steamboat navigation on Lake Lucerne. The successive burning of wood (after AD 1838), coal (after AD 1862), and diesel (after AD 1931) by the steamboat traffic produced specific particle shapes, providing valuable chronological markers for dating the recent sediments and a proxy for fossil fuel combustion.

There is an increasing need to monitor concentrations of polar organic contaminants in the aquatic environment. Integrative passive samplers can be used to assess time weighted average aqueous concentrations, provided calibration data are available and sampling rates are known. The sampling rate depends on environmental factors, such as temperature and water flow rate. Here we introduce an apparatus to investigate the sampling properties of passive samplers using river-like flow conditions and ambient environmental matrices: river water and treated sewage effluent. As a model sampler we selected Empore<SUP>TM</SUP> SDB-RPS disks in a Chemcatcher housing. The disks were exposed for 1 to 8 days at flow rates between 0.03 and 0.4 m s<SUP>–1</SUP>. Samples were analysed using a bioassay for estrogenic activity and by LC-MS-MS target analysis of the pharmaceuticals sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine and clarithromycin. In order to assess sampling rates of SDB disks, we also measured aqueous concentrations of the pharmaceuticals. Sampling rates increased with increasing flow rate and this relationship was not affected by the environmental matrix. However, SDB disks were only sampling in the integrative mode at low flow rates <0.1 m s<SUP>–1</SUP> and/or for short sampling times. The duration of linear uptake was particularly short for sulfamethoxazole (1 day) and longer for clarithromycin (5 days). At 0.03 m s<SUP>–1</SUP> and 12–14 °C, the sampling rate of SDB disks was 0.09 L day<SUP>–1</SUP> for clarithromycin, 0.14 L day<SUP>–1</SUP> for sulfamethoxazole and 0.25 L day<SUP>–1</SUP> for carbamazepine. The results show that under controlled conditions, SDB disks can be effectively used as passive sampling devices.

Parasites influence host life-history traits and therefore might crucially shape host populations in natural systems. In a series of laboratory experiments, we studied the impact of an oomycete brood parasite on its <I>Daphnia</I> (waterflea) host. We asked whether <I>Daphnia</I> dump the infected brood and subsequently are able to reproduce again as was occasionally observed in a preliminary study. No viable offspring developed from infected clutches, but 78% of the infected females produced healthy offspring after releasing the infected brood while molting. Neither those offsprings' development success nor their mothers' reproductive potential was affected by the brood parasite. However, infected <I>Daphnia</I> had a reduced life-span and suffered an increased susceptibility to another parasite, an unidentified bacterium. Additionally, we studied the prevalence of this brood parasite and the unidentified bacterium in a natural <I>Daphnia</I> assemblage in a pre-alpine lake, across changing demographic and environmental conditions. The brood parasite epidemic seemed to be host-density dependent. Our results show that the brood parasite's impact on the host population is enhanced when combined with the unidentified bacterium.

Networking between companies and other regional key actors has grown into a widespread instrument for economic development since the 1990s. Participatory networks have formed the concept for many activities of Local Agenda 21. Simultaneously, economic geography has focused on network theories to explain innovation in and the economic success of regions.<BR/> This article focuses on the reasons why individual actors participate in environmentally oriented information networks. The questions approached are: Does the concept of learning within networks influence a firm's development? How do the participants interact with each other? What effects do the networks have on their environment (arenas)?<BR/> The changing arenas of a firm are analysed with regard to environmental concerns. These changes need to be anticipated for reliable strategies. To gain information and knowledge about current behaviour and activities, the functions of networks as learning platforms are discussed. Drawing upon arguments from different network theories, the motivations of participating in a network are threefold: actor and firm oriented, network internal (inter-firm), and network external. From these, a generic target cube of network motivations and actions is set up.<BR/> The concept is reviewed by examining 12 'regional environmental information-oriented corporation networks' (RUN) in the Greater Munich Area. The empirical material reveals that this type of network does not provide a guarantee for significant improvements in a firm's environmental behaviour. However, participants learn about best practices while pursuing explicit or implicit aims as to influence their arenas.

Most commercially available auto-sampling devices do not support a continuous flow-proportional sampling mode, which would conceptually be the best for collecting representative composite samples. Instead different discrete sampling modes are available. Household chemicals can show considerable random short-term variations. With the anticorrosive benzotriazole, relating to a middle-frequent household activity, we show that, besides an accurate flow meter, mainly three factors are decisive for the representativeness of a substance's average load: the substance's load pattern, the sampling frequency and the length of the composite sample. When the sampling intervals are 10 minutes or longer, errors in the order of ±40% (standard deviation) or more have to be accepted, if the substance of interest is contained in a low number of wastewater pulses (i.e. the level of household activity). This particularly holds true for specific pharmaceuticals e.g. carbamazepine. Ammonium would be less critical, because it relates to a larger number of sources in the same catchment.

This paper presents a model structure aimed at offering an overview of the various elements of a strategy and exploring their multidimensional effects through time in an efficient way. It treats a strategy as a set of discrete events planned to achieve a certain strategic goal and develops a new form of causal networks as an interfacing component between decision makers and environment models, e.g., life cycle inventory and material flow models. The causal network receives a strategic plan as input in a discrete manner and then outputs the updated parameter sets to the subsequent environmental models. Accordingly, the potential dynamic evolution of environmental systems caused by various strategies can be stepwise simulated. It enables a way to incorporate discontinuous change in models for environmental strategy analysis, and enhances the interpretability and extendibility of a complex model by its cellular constructs. It is exemplified using an urban water management case in Kunming, a major city in Southwest China. By utilizing the presented method, the case study modeled the cross-scale interdependencies of the urban drainage system and regional water balance systems, and evaluated the effectiveness of various strategies for improving the situation of Dianchi Lake.

Direct measurements of sewer leakage with continuous dosing of tracers are often considered too imprecise for practical applications. However, no mathematical framework for data analysis is reported in literature. In this paper, we present an improved experimental design and data analysis procedure together with a comprehensive framework for uncertainty assessment. Test runs in a 700 m-long watertight sewer showed no significant bias and a very high precision of the methodology. The standard error in the results was assessed to 2.6% of the labeled flow with a simplified model. It could be reduced to 1.2% when a dynamic data analysis procedure was applied. The major error contribution was caused by transient transport phenomena, which suggests that careful choosing of the experimental time is more important than the choice of a very specific tracer substance. Although the method is not intended to replace traditional CCTV inspections, it can provide complementary information for rational rehabilitation planning.

Extraneous flows in wastewater collection systems are conventionally evaluated solely on the consideration of discharge hydrographs, which often involves a great degree of subjectivity and oversimplification. To obtain reliable information on the material fluxes within the urban environment, the use of intrinsic tracers can be the optimal choice. We demonstrate the successful use of naturally occurring stable isotopes of water (<SUP>18</SUP>O/<SUP>16</SUP>O and D/H) to accurately quantify extraneous discharge of groundwater in a combined sewer network. Fresh water supply from a distant hydrological regime provided usable isotopic separations between drinking water (proxy for real foul sewage) and local groundwater (proxy for sewer infiltration) of 1.8‰ in δ<SUP>18</SUP>O and 11.7‰ in δ<SUP>2</SUP>H. Diurnal variation of wastewater isotopic composition reflected both the varying rates of foul sewage production and irregular dispersion effects in the pipe network. The latter suggest the existence of larger cumulative backwater zone volumes, which have not been attended to yet. Infiltrating groundwater contributed 39% (95% confidence interval = ±2.5%) of the total daily dry weather wastewater discharge. This paper discusses all relevant aspects for practical application of the method. It presents a comprehensive framework for uncertainty analysis and details on the detection and discrimination of possibly interfering effects.

Increasing water scarcity in China demands a more detailed analysis of water use in different sectors. In this paper, China’s food import and export levels are analyzed in light of water availability. Their scarcity, future food policy should promote an active application of virtual water strategies (such as virtual water trade and agricultural structure adjustment) to improve food security and sustainable water uses. With the progressive liberalization of food markets in China, virtual water trade is likely to play a more important role in future water resources management.

This paper, which is an extension of the Suphaphat Kwonpongsagoon’s PhD thesis (2006), investigates a stationary model designed to evaluate substance flows for a case study of cadmium (Cd) in Australia. It covers the mining industry, the production and use of goods for agriculture, construction and households as well as the environmental sectors of agriculture, surface water and landfills. The model is calibrated with Cd flow data obtained in a previous study. The results of the calibrated model are consistent with those of other studies from other countries. Possible measures and options to reduce the Cd flows to various environmental sectors are discussed by applying sensitivity analysis and parameter variations to the calibrated model. As “agriculture” was used to illustrate one of the most important processes discussed in this paper, the results show that the most effective measures are the reduction of the Cd content in fertilizers and of atmospheric Cd deposition. It is concluded that a mathematical model is very useful for understanding a system that is crucial for environmental management.

Household-centered technologies such as urine source separation (NoMix technology) could induce a paradigm change in urban wastewater management, hereby improving water pollution control and resource management. Technological innovations need real-world application for further development. The Swiss research project Novaquatis accompanied five pilot projects from 1997 on. We give a systematic overview of our experience, summarizing various important aspects, a fundamental one being a clearly defined goal. Early stakeholder involvement is crucial, because the still imperfect NoMix technology depends on people’s goodwill. We reference data sheets, legal documents, etc. and make suggestions for installation, maintenance, and technology improvement. We identify areas for future research necessitating pilot projects and discuss their requirements to optimize the cost-benefit factor. This paper is intended as support to wastewater professionals to avoid the most serious pitfalls when conducting NoMix pilot projects. It contributes to increased interaction between research and real-world application of urban European household innovations.