Providing the population of the Earth with safe drinking water is one of the biggest challenges of modern society. In recognition of this problem the United Nations Organization and UNESCO declared 2003 to be the International Year of Freshwater. On November 19-22, 2003, the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on “Modern Tools and Methods of Water Treatment for Improving Living Standards” took place in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Thirty-one participants from 15 countries including Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, UK, Ukraine, USA, and Uzbekistan attended the meeting. They discussed the scientific concepts and practical means for the solution of the complex social, economic and ecological problems associated with water purification, consumption, conservation, and protection. They also established a network of scientists and specialists to foster further collaboration and the exchange of ideas. The location of the ARW was chosen quite deliberately. The city of Dnepropetrovsk is located on the banks of the Dnieper River and it has a population of about 1. 3 million people. As it is one of the largest industrial centers, it shares all the environmental problems, which are found in the modern Ukraine. In 2001, one in seven of the water samples taken from Ukrainian industrial and drinking water supply systems did not meet sanitary-hygienic standards, and one in twelve did not meet microbiological standards.

Water is a paramount determinant of quality of life. The WHO experts believe that the sickness and death rates of the world population could be reduced by 75 % by maintaining good quality of drinking water. That is why thirty-one leading scientists and specialists from fifteen countries gathered in November 2003 at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on "Modem Tools and Methods of Water Treatment for Improving Living Standards" in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, to discuss the scientific concepts and practical means for the solution of the complex social, economic and ecological problems associated with water purification, consumption, conservation, and protection. All this is covered in this book of proceedings of the NATO ARW. This book contains four parts. In Part 1 , the readers could find recent advances in drinking water treatment in the United States, biological control in water-cooling towers, analytical control of drinking water quality, and the use of radionuclides for monitoring global contamination. In Part 2, some innovative methods and tools, such as electrochemically-stimulated sorption and sorption-membrane methods, a bubble- extraction method, fibroid sorbents, in-situ oxygen curtain technology, use of ion- exchange membranes, electrochemically-generated silver and copper ions and colloidal gold for water purification and post-purification are presented. In Part 3, recent studies into the treatment of wastewaters could be found. Among them: water reclamation and recycling in Danish industry, biocide polymers as a new opportunity in water treatment, optimization of galvanic wastewater treatment processes, efficiency of nitrification and denitrification processes in wastewater treatment plants, electrochemical processes for wastewater purification employing fluidized beds of particles, cold plasma as a new tool for purification of wastewater from chemical contaminants, bacteria and viruses. In Part 4, examples of management of water resources in the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia, and Romania using a variety of case studies are presented. Also, the important issue of industry-university cooperation for postgraduate education and training in the water treatment area is discussed. We believe that this book will be helpful to the international community of scientists, specialists and students dealing with water treatment, purification, conservation and protection.

The environment is an all-encompassing component of the ecosystem of "Blue planet - the earth", made up of the hydrosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere. These three spheres have biotic and abiotic components which exhibit ecological homeostasis that provides the most appropriate survival chances for the members of biotic component and geochemical balance with abiotic components. This ecosystem is subjected to relatively harsh conditions, mostly created by the disastrous activities due to natural calamities and intentional and/or accidental anthropogenic activities. Biotechnology has become a potential tool to dissipate such environmental impacts because of the advancement it has undergone recently. Emerging Trends in Environmental Biotechnology is an outstanding collection of current research that integrates basic and advanced concepts of biotechnology such as genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, sequencing, and imaging processes to improvise and protect the environment. This book is particularly attractive for scientists, researchers, students, educators and professionals in environmental science, agriculture, veterinary and biotechnology science. The book will enable them to solve the problems about sustainable development with the help of current innovative biotechnologies such as recombinant DNA technology and genetic engineering which have tremendous potential for impacting global food security, environmental health, human and animal health and overall livelihood of mankind. Features Presents easy-to-read chapters Information is presented in a very accessible and logical format Identifies and explores biotechnological approaches for environmental protection Encompasses biodegradation of hazardous contaminants, biotechnology in waste management, nanotechnology, and issues in environmental biotechnology research

Water supply and water management services are among the most critical infrastructures in society, providing safe and affordable drinking water, managing wastewater to avoid floods and environmental pollution, and enabling the reuse and replenishment of scarce water resources. With water and wastewater facilities and infrastructure intrinsic to our towns and cities, we must not underestimate the potentially catastrophic results of water supply contamination or disruption to the systems that regulate the water we rely on for essential agricultural, environmental, and municipal needs. This book presents 12 papers selected from those delivered at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on Physical and Cyber Safety in Critical Water Infrastructure, held in Oslo, Norway, from 8-11 October 2018. The conference brought together resource persons and decision makers from 12 NATO countries and 6 partner countries to share their experiences with the objective of formulating best practice based on recommendations and conclusions, to increase awareness of the risks that threaten current and future water utilities and services, to learn how to improve surveillance and preparedness, and to deal with a crisis should all else fail. Addressing the urgent need to focus on physical and cyber safety in one of the most critical infrastructures in our society, the book will be of interest to all those working in the field of water supply and waste water management.

Environmental engineering has a leading role in the elimination of ecological threats, and deals, in brief, with securing technically the conditions which create a safe environment for mankind to live in. Due to its interdisciplinary character it can deal with a wide range of technical and technological problems. Since environmental engineering uses the knowledge of the basic sciences – biology, chemistry, biochemistry and physics – it is able to neutralise pollution in all the elements of the environment, i.e. the hydrosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere. Moreover, environmental engineering deals with the design and maintenance of systems of water supply, sewage disposal, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning in buildings. Environmental Engineering IV contains 77 peer reviewed papers selected from 527 presented at the 4th Congress of Environmental Engineering (Lublin, Poland, 2-5 September 2012). The contributions are divided into 7 chapters: • Water supply • Water and wastewater treatment • Neutralization of solid wastes and sludge • Air protection and quality • Indoor microclimate • Energy • Biology and technology Environmental Engineering IV assesses the state of scientific research in various areas of environmental engineering, evaluates the organizational, technical and technological progress made in contributing to ecological security, and determines the place of environmental engineering in sustainable development, taking into account current political and economic conditions, and is a valuable source of information for the environmental engineering professional and academic community.

This volume features the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop "Wastewater Reuse - Risk Assessment, Decision-Making and Environmental Security", held in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2006. It contains 45 papers that cover the current situation of water management in the world and especially the Middle-east and Mediterranean regions, addressing some of the most difficult international conflicts.

This book of the NATO Science Series presents the state-of-the-art of Desalination Technologies driven by Renewable Energies, highlighting the results achieved in the research field and presenting the potentialities of such technologies. It provides an up-to-date point-of-reference on the topic, giving an extensive overview of the current status of solar desalination, both from the research and industrial point of view.