This literature study concerned the use and function of the radioactive isotope carbon-14, as a dating method of organic material, within the scientific field of physical geography. In this report it is presented the need of atmospheric calibration curves and the development of these as a necessity to translate carbon-14 years to calibrated calendar years. A number of common age-depth models that is used to give an approximation of an accumulation sequence and its related dates over the actual time period in different natural archives is presented and discussed. Different problems that commonly occur when age-depth models are utilized as for instance reservoir effects, contaminations or other age deviations are addressed and analyzed. The software CLAM in presented and discussed and was also used to produce age-depth models.

This pilot study examined whether treatment with Vortex Process Technology (VPT) of the irrigation water used on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants had any effect on plant growth. In a block experiment, with two blocks comprising 12 vases containing 1 L water and two tomato plantlets, treatment in which, nutrient solution was based on Vortex-treated water was compared with an control using untreated water. All vases were kept in a static aerated culture system in a daylight chamber for four weeks. The results showed that the effect of the two blocks exceeded the effect of vortex treatment in terms of leaf area and weight of fresh and dry matter. Plant height, stem width and internodal length were significantly different in tomato plants grown in Vortex-processed water compared with the untreated control.

Water constructions - as a design element in public spaces is the title of this Master thesis, with a focus on waters function and meaning in the urban environment. By way of introduction, mans relationship to places is described and the factors that contribute to the reality that we prefer some places more than others. A good place to stay is open but well defined, gives protection, offers a good view and is varying in topography and vegetation, together with contents of single landscape elements like visible water. This study then continues to discuss mans relationship to water and its means for our wellbeing. Despite the fact that people have a different relations to water due to personality, background and age, it?s an element that raises positive feelings, interest and aesthetic pleasure for most people.

This study describes what impact activity within Wifstas, Matfors,Grönstas and Nolbys water protection areas have on the quality of the drinkingwater. It considers the use of the area, environmentally dangerous activitiesin the past and present, the geology?s part, what harm hydroelectric power damsmay cause if they break and how climate change might affect the area in thefuture. It also takes into consideration activities outside the waterprotection areas which might have a suspected impact on the water quality. Theresults of the study are that pollution from infrastructure such as roads, orwastewater from treatment plants may cause occasional contamination of thedrinking water, foremost due to flooding.

Ensåsengruvan is a mine situated within Ljusdals municipality in central Sweden. Themine was in use from 1984 to 1991 and has since been undergoing a remediation program. Mine tailings from sulfide rich ore is a potential environmental hazard due to its tendency to cause acid waters and heavy metal leakage. Lake Ensjön is situated one kilometer from the mine area. Due to the hydrological conditions it was not expected to receive inflowing water from the mining area.

During the nineties, ecological handling of urban storm water became very popular in Sweden. Together with Chalmers University of Technology and two Swedish communities, DHI Water and Environment has been doing research of storm water ponds and constructed wetlands. This thesis work is a part of that research project. The work has been applied at the Bäckaslöv storm water treatment plant in Växjö, Sweden. The plant consists of one storm water pond and a downstream constructed wetland.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, OTEC, is a sustainable energy conversion technology that is not yet commercialized. OTEC is a technology that utilizes the temperature difference in oceans between the warm surface water and the cold water at 1 000 m depth to run a Rankine Cycle. This technology can produce electricity and provide synergies like fresh water, air conditioning and aquaculture. A simulation program for three alternative OTEC systems has been created in order to decide which OTEC system is most profitable; closed, open or hybrid system. In this simulation a production cost analysis is performed in order to investigate and decide which one of the three systems that has the lowest production cost. The production cost analysis also analyzes if the profitability is affected by the size of the facility. After these analyzes, the most profitable of the three different OTEC-systems is expanded by an installation of solar collectors in order to see if the thermal efficiency is improved. The result shows that the most profitable system varies with the size of the facility.

Water is vital for all life on earth. But it can also be dangerous, even fatal, if it is polluted water. 60 percent of child mortality can directly be deduced to dirty water. Not only developing countries are affected, even in the western world epidemics are breaking out by partake or bathing in dirty/polluted water.MIP, Molecularly Imprinted Polymers, is a biosensor technology that can provide faster and more reliable response than the current methods of water analysis. It is also cheaper and due to that more samples can be taken and analyzed.

In some coastal areas in Sweden water shortage sometimes appears because the withdrawal of groundwater is greater than the groundwater recharge. It creates a situation where the available groundwater is insufficient to support residents and businesses with drinking water. The high withdrawal of groundwater also creates a risk for saltwater intrusion to drinking water wells. The problem most commonly occurs during the summer when the groundwater recharge is low, but the population is high, due to tourism and summer residents.The purpose of this study was to investigate how local water supply in areas affected by water shortage can be solved as sustainable as possible. The work was divided into three parts where the first part comprised of a literature review on water systems in which four different options were investigated: artificial groundwater recharge, rainwater harvesting, desalination and water reuse.

The European Union is struggling to maintain democracy and tries to increase the participation among the citizens in Europe. The European Citizens? Initiative, ECI, is a platform established by the European Commission to allow citizens to propose new legislation. ?Water and sanitation are a human right! Water is a public good, not a commodity!? is the first ECI that has met the requirements.

This study is focused on small scale water and wastewater handling in Sweden. The study is divided into two major parts; the first describes common methods for water- and wastewater handling and the second part is a case study on three small and expensive systems in Gällivare municipality, in the north of Sweden. In the case study, abilitys for the local government to hand over unwanted systems to the water users is investigated and found to be a plausible solution to cut costs for two out of the three studied systems. In the third case, water and wastewater systems is not recommended to be handed over but other ways of cutting costs are suggested..

Heat is distributed to the district heating customers through pipes with water as a heat carrier. The district heating system is complex. To decide what is leakages from the district heating net versus what is the water consumption of the plant, is difficult. Therefore, the purpose of this master thesis is to establish a model where the district heating net?s leakages but also the water consumption of the plant can be followed daily. The project is performed at Vattenfall´s district heating power plant in Uppsala. Information is gathered through discussions, drawings of the plant and guided tours of the plant.

Drinking water from drilled wells has a high content of iron and other minerals in many places in Sweden. Questions about the association between the quality of drinking water and the health of dairy cows are regulary asked both by advisers and dairy farmers. There are so far not many studies published about the relevance for high iron content in water and dairy cow health and production. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate if there is a connection between the iron content in water and the health of dairy cows. Initially a literature study was made about iron and it´s function in ruminants.

This examination work on studies and research in articles is mostly from other countries. The purpose of the examination work have been to find out if there are any means you can work with to find out when its time to start irrigation, how they works and if they are credible. In Sweden there is not many means for decide when it?s time to irrigate and how much water you should appear. Swedish farmers think they have so much experience that they don?t need techniques like this.

The depth-to-water-index (DTW-index) is derived from digital elevation models (DEM) to map soil wetness, in terms of distance from soil surface to the ground water table. The aim of this GIS based study was to investigate the existence of a relationship between DTW-index and forest site productivity (SP). The belief of such an assumed relationship was based on knowledge that the ground water level is related to site properties that can either promote or impede tree growth. Data primarily comprised rasters of the Krycklan catchment in northern Sweden and depicted DTW-index and a laser scanned vegetation height. The 100th height percentile of each pixel in the vegetation raster was assumed to mirror the top-height, letting it act as a relative measure of SP within a delineated area of equal stand age.