1. Environmental
Engineering
Criteria for action & planning
Julian Jones

2. Dairy Farmer 1982
An Agricultural Perspective ….

3. © 2013 Iain Claridge
IPCC 2013 report:
“Human activity 'dominant
cause' of warming …”
Climate change …
Why can’t we fix it ?
Causes or effects ?
What are the ‘tools’ ?
- Public Health
- Catchment Water Balance
- Nutrient (Carbon) Cycling Planning
- Biodiversity Gain / Social Equality

4. Parliamentary Question
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what
steps her Department is taking to define microbial public health standards for (a)
water courses and (b) discharges into them. [2678]
Mr. Morley: The Surface Water Abstraction Directive specifies microbiological
standards for waters that are abstracted for potable water supply. The quality of the
abstracted water determines the level of treatment of raw water required for potable
consumption.
The Bathing Waters Directive specifies mandatory and guideline standards for
identified bathing waters. In the UK most are tidal waters not watercourses. The few
inland bathing waters are all lakes or ponds. The Bathing Waters Directive is currently
under review.
There are no microbial water quality standards that are generally applicable to all
water courses or discharges. The microbiological quality of inland watercourses is
highly variable, due to land runoff from livestock agriculture and from urban drainage
after rainfall, as well as from continuous discharges of treated effluent from sewage
works.
13 June 2005, House of Commons, Hansard

5. Watercourses -
Concentration & Dispersal Cycle
Dry weather flows – allow sedimentation & concentration of wastes
Wet (storm) weather flows – allow rapid ‘self-cleansing’ of
accumulated river sediments
- The ‘pathogenic flush’

6. Are river weirs a health risk?
Our disrupted hydrological cycle allows extended periods of minimal flows in UK
rivers. Self-cleansing is suspended for long periods – allowing dangerous
accumulations of pathogens. 25,000+ storm overflows and other sources.

7. Multi drug resistant bacteria develop
in sewage treatment plants
As bacteria wind their way through sewage treatment
processes, the selective pressures against them
increase. In consequence, there is a greater effort by
bacteria to pass on survival enhancing genetic
information.
The further along that the wastewater had progressed
through the treatment process the greater the
tendency was development of multi-resistant strains.
Additionally, the study demonstrated that these multi-
resistant bacteria also simultaneously carried, and then
passed around their multiple transferable drug-
resistance plasmids. Thus drug resistance and the
transfer of multi-drug resistant occurs in wastewater
treatment plants.
[Nippon Koshu Eisei Zasshi 1990 Feb;37(2):83-90.]

8. Raw Human Sewage Pouring Into America's
Lakes And Streams
….. (SSOs) typically occur when rainwater seeps into broken
sewer pipes and fills them past capacity. Treatment plants can't
handle the rush of water and sewage, so overflow valves like
SSO 700 in Cincinnati open up and let the disease-carrying waste
spill out…..
What it is, is human waste -- hundreds of gallons of it at a time
flowing untreated from toilets into the creek. Sanitary Sewer
Overflow 700 is not only disgusting, it is illegal. But the city won't
shut it off because plugging SSO 700 and more than 100 pipes like
it all over Cincinnati would require raising sewer rates about
1,500%.
USAToday 20 Aug 2002
Underinvestment in sewerage infrastructure is a global problem

9. STRAINER&WETLAND
FORSTORMSEWAGE
EBLEY MILL
FISH
LADDER
WEIR
POTENTIAL HYDRO
POWER SITEREGRADEDRIVER
Naturalistic solutions
to sewer incapacity are
cheap & straight-
forward
Stroud Urban Wetlands
& Severn Trent Water
Lydia Williams,
Leeds Metropolitan Univ,
1993 & 2003 (Water21)

10. A Local Authority … taking responsibility
Storm Water Swale, Reedbeds & Ponds at Churchdown Park
For Churchdown Council
Tamás Böröndi, MSc Budapest University, 2011, Water21
… by disconnecting the sewer
(achieved by a united & collaborative
community focused on critical risks)

11. We need ‘Safe &
viable plans for
water’
everywhere
Functioning
landscapes that
also benefit
water resources,
livelihoods &
meet WFD
Food, energy,
water,
biodiversity,
leisure, etc.
Stroud Urban Wetlands
Lydia Williams,
Leeds Metropolitan Univ,
1993 (Water21)

12. “Sustainability”
“an issue of great confusion”
(GCC Draft Report)
(It means safe & viable)
Ecological processes are complex …
… and poorly understood
Resource and pollution debts
Precautionary approach
Water (public health, flood &
drought) = finite focus for
sustainability*
AND URGENT ACTION !
* Water Framework Directive ,
Localism & Agenda 21

13. Water Cycle
Carbon CycleNitrogen Cycle
We are part of nature and
must integrate our actions
with natural cycles

14. Our great misunderstanding with water.
Problems with water resources are global
… and so are the solutions
But usually the real causes are overlooked

15. Drought and floods 'may become
a way of life'
TOWNS swamped by floods just months ago could
suffer deluges each winter and droughts each summer,
the Environment Agency says.
A spokesman said parts of the South-East could see a
regular pattern of floods every winter and droughts
every summer because of extreme weather patterns.
She said: "Climate change is believed to be the cause
of these seemingly contradictory circumstances and
the agency is gravely concerned that flooding will
once again cause devastation this winter."
"We have this very strange set of circumstances in
which people are still cleaning up after the floods
while we are having to top up rivers.
"It is a serious concern that we could have floods each
winter and water shortages in the summer."
The Daily Telegraph 12/07/2001
Drought and floods 'may become
a way of life'
TOWNS swamped by floods just months ago
could suffer deluges each winter and droughts
each summer, the Environment Agency says.
A spokesman said parts of the South-East could
see a regular pattern of floods every winter and
droughts every summer because of extreme
weather patterns.
She said: "Climate change is believed to be the
cause of these seemingly contradictory
circumstances and the agency is gravely
concerned that flooding will once again cause
devastation this winter."
"We have this very strange set of circumstances in
which people are still cleaning up after the floods
while we are having to top up rivers.
"It is a serious concern that we could have floods
each winter and water shortages in the summer."
The Daily Telegraph 12/07/2001
How is ‘climate change’
the cause of floods and
droughts in a single
year ?
That just ‘may become
a way of life’ …
… this is a very strange
set of circumstances.

16. Just as seen in UK – floods and drought
afflicting the very same areas.

17. Caused by –
Extremes in rainfall amplified by
human disruption of the natural
hydrological cycle (ecology).
A ‘student’ level of understanding
yet all largely ignored.
Floods = Droughts
Built environment & chemical agriculture
Degraded landscapes are the biggest
cause of flood & drought

18. "It cannot be repeated often enough that there is
no shortage of water in Britain. We divert only a
small fraction of the throughput of our water cycle
for human purposes. We use less than 1% of total
UK rainfall and less than 10% in the South East."
GMB Union, Huffington Post , 30 April 2012
… rapid changes in perception presently
Is there a UK water shortage ?

19. The ‘Full’ Hydrological Cycle
Functioning ecology : ‘Balanced’ rainfall, steady
evapo-transpiration, good infiltration to water table
V Schauberger

20. Our ‘Half’ Hydrological Cycle
Disrupted ecology and degraded landscapes: causes rainfall ‘extremes’,
rapid evapo-transpiration, flooding, poor infiltration to (falling) water
table – and ‘drought’
V Schauberger

21. UK must urgently adapt for extremes: EA
Britain must become more resilient to both drought and flooding, EA chairman Chris Smith has said. New
figures from the agency show that one in every five days saw flooding in 2012, but one in four days saw drought.
Lord Smith said urgent action was vital to help "prepare and adapt" many aspects of Britain for such extremes.
With the population of the water-stressed south-east of England projected to grow by almost a quarter by 2035,
Lord Smith argued that the number of smaller reservoirs needed to be increased immediately and that new
ways of transferring water from areas where it is plentiful to areas where it is scarce must be established.
Part of the UK’s flooding problem is due to previous policies.
For decades, farmers were paid to drain boggy land in order to improve it for grazing.
BBC News, 4 March 2013
Forecaster Bill Giles tells Lord Smith: it’s not a new kind of rain. It’s completely normal
The veteran meteorologist has criticised remarks by Lord Smith, the chairman of the Environment Agency, who
had blamed the growing threat of flooding on a new kind of precipitation, known as convective rain. Mr Giles,
who joined the Met Office in 1957 and was head weather presenter at the BBC between 1983 and 2000, insists
that convective rain has been a regular feature of British weather since the “beginning of time”.
Daily Telegraph, 10 Feb 2013
… nuance & perception is almost everything

22. Landscapes - Key ‘Climate Modifiers & Regulators’
Implications for Agriculture, farmers are ‘guardians’ of
major aquifer recharge processes.
 50+ years of chemical farming & drainage.
 Severely disrupted water cycle.
 Major cause of flood & drought
Trees are also important moderators of temperature and
‘organs of water renewal’.
 They intercept, capture and infiltrate rainfall,
draw up groundwater. They create rainfall through
evapo-transpiration, and ‘seeding’ (nucleation) of
raindrops via pollens & terpenes. Thermal benefits.
Wetlands provide similar benefits (Water Quantitave & Qualitative).
 Pre-human intervention – 25% UK land area comprised wetlands, now less
than 2%. Return to extensive wetlands essential for WFD.
Important agents of climate & weather change operate at a micro-/sub microscopic level
(bacteria [in clouds and soil], algae, plankton, solar wind & cosmic ray interactions, etc).
The ecosystem is the main ‘engine’ of weather & climate – ‘powered & orchestrated’ by
solar activity.

23. 2010
Losing up to 60 tonnes/Ha per annum - @ £100/tonne

24. Effects of temperature gradient on run-off & infiltration
Solaractivity(thermal &solarparticleeffects)influencesrun-off &infiltrationthroughsub-
surfacetemperaturegradient andit'seffectsonmicro&macroflora/faunaactivity
accordingtosoil type&humuscontent determiningcapillaryactionandevaporation.
20o
C
19o
C
18o
C
17o
C
16o
C
15o
C
14o
C
13o
C
12o
C 11o
C 10o
C 9o
C 8o
C 7o
C 6o
C
Run-offaccelerated
Nutrientleaching
Groundwater
removal
NegativeTemperatureGradient
(DisruptedEcology)
Monocultural agriculture
Built environments
PositiveTemperatureGradient
(FunctioningEcology)Polycultural agriculture&forestry
Infiltrationenhanced
Nutrientemission
Groundwater
recharge
V Schauberger

25. Landscape lessons to learn …
- Retention (attenuation)
- Enhance infiltration
- Reduce evaporation
… with (multi) functional water, food & energy landscapes
for greater resources, well being & social equality
– all around the world.
Water Heroes: Rajendra Singh – Empowering
communities by restoring groundwater & rivers in
Rajasthan since 1986
http://tarunbharatsangh.in/ hydratelife.org

26. Farming ‘crimes’… against the
water cycle
Arable field, Gloucestershire. 30cm of
topsoil lost in 50+ years of arable
farming (effects of tillage &
chemicals) - agricultural soil
degradation (capillary action) typically
comprises the biggest single cause of
flood & drought in any river
catchment, also severely degrading
watercourse biodiversity here.
Good ecological status for watercourses can only be
met with legitimate farming methods – long term.

27. A (micro)biological understanding
of soil function
Tillage and agrochemicals kill carbon sequestrating soil
microbiology, limiting rain infiltration.
Historic and ongoing releases of soil carbon to the
atmosphere exceed that from burning fossil fuels.
Biological monoculture farming enables carbon
sequestration, water resource (flood & drought) benefits.
- A long term transition for farmers.
Light-independent photosynthesis by soil bacteria :
3 CO2 + 9 ATP + 6 NADPH + 6 H+ →
C3H6O3-phosphate + 9 ADP + 8 Pi + 6 NADP+ + 3 H2O
(The Calvin Cycle – an endothermic, cooling reaction
that stores carbon (humus) & creates water).

28. Photosynthesis – plant selection
Although Phragmites australis are classified as C3 photosynthesisers, recent
studies of P. australis ecotypes have shown that individual population have not
only adapted to different weather conditions through physiological alterations,
but population have also changed from C3 to C4 process, or have become C3 - C4
intermediates, which exhibit characteristics of either C3 or C4 plants.
Over 90 differing ecotypes of P. australis – making plant selection important.
• Salt marsh ecotypes – C3 like C3 – C4 intermediates
• Sand dune ecotypes – C4 like C3 – C4 intermediates
• Swamp ecotypes – C3

29. • Gravel
• Sand
• Soil
Soil Type
Roots cannot pass through
heavy clay easily, and in sandy
or gravel material there is
little microbial activity.
The clay loam in the centre of
the diagram is optimal for
reed beds, but a proprietary
soil mixture & method of
installing is best.

30. Grazing livestock for improved soil
carbon function (Mob Grazing)
Rob Richmond, Chedworth, Gloucestershire
(Nuffield Scholar).
Achieving 0.8% Soil Carbon Sequestration per annum –
by reverting to traditional grasses & herb varieties,
careful ‘mob grazing’, no artificial fertiliser (composted
manure only) – and few modern chemicals … enabling
symbiotic microbial associations on plant roots.

31. Effective Catchment Regulation …
Is largely a matter of ‘numbers & metrics’ -
they provide the ‘lead’ here
…. But of what ?
Soil erosion risk areas
Cath Edwards
MSc Keele University
2012, Water21

32. How well do NVZs, ESAs or CSFs work ?
Ogbourne St. George NVZ over time since designation
F. Worrall, E. Spencer, & T.P. Burt, Journal of Hydrology, 2009
This study considers the concentrations of
water nitrate in areas designated as Nitrate
Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) for between 12 and
15 years.
• Sixty-nine percent of NVZs showed no
significant improvement in water
concentrations even after 15 years.
• In comparison to a control catchment 29%
of NVZs showed a significant improvement
but 31% showed a significant worsening.
• Differences between NVZs could not be
significantly related to the size of the NVZ,
uptake of the scheme, extent of uptake,
land use change or geology of the local
aquifer.
• The lack of objective success for NVZ
designation suggests that nitrate pollution
control strategies based on input
management need to be rethought.

33. … societies collapse when their investments in
social complexity reach a point of diminishing
marginal returns.
While climate change, invasions, crop failures,
disease or environmental degradation may be the
apparent causes of societal collapse, the ultimate
cause is usually an economic one, inherent in the
structure of society rather than in external shocks
which may batter them: diminishing returns on
investments in social complexity
Joseph A. Tainter. ‘The Collapse of Complex Societies’, 1988

34. Benefits of Hydropower
Ebley Mill
Comparison
Head Kaplan Crossflow Archimedes
Screw
Return On
Investment
Range over
Lifetime
Lowest
Highest
£1,236,775
£4,925,990 £4,938,585
£220,160
£1,289,440
Arun Cappi
MSc Loughborough University
2012, Water21

35. Ossberger Crossflow
upstream 1.01
downstream 1.95
(Gain, 0.94).
Shannon Weiner Biodiversity Index,
measured from 0 (biologically inert)
to 5 (undisturbed tropical rain forest)
Archimedes Screw
upstream 1.69
downstream 1.97
(Gain, 0.28).
Ossberger Kaplan
upstream 1.56
downstream 2.00
(Gain, 0.44).
Benefits of
Hydropower
Cath Edwards
MSc Keele University
2012, Water21
Traditional turbines are more effective at remediating
the agricultural toxins that harm fisheries

36. Slad, Historic Land-Use Changes –
Key Catchment Flood Identifiers
Ordnance Survey 1902 & 1923
Arable Farming
Dereliction of Millponds
Paved Development
Siltation

37. Defining critical flood risk
180,000+ cubic
metres of water to
store in catchment
for control of a 1 in
75 year flood event
– in a 14.5 Km2
catchment.
Ilaria Pretto, MSc Trento University, Water21, 2008

38. Identifying historic water
management structures –
an opportunity for town
to meet country – for
mutual benefit
Adam Broadhead, PhD Sheffield University, Water21
Heritage hydropower impoundment

39. Resolving risk by creating resources
• Flooding is largely caused by disrupted natural
landscapes and neglected historical solutions
• The community-led approach is an effective route to
resolve critical flood risk
• Landowners have a preference for partnerships within
their community (rather than with bureaucracies)
• Attenuation volumes for flood/drought control – are
feasible on all UK watercourses
• Could be self-financing in the longer term
• Huge potential for renewable energy, biodiversity, food
production, irrigation reservoirs, drinking water, and
leisure – by restoring landscapes
• Goodwill is the key factor

40. Arun Cappi, MSc Loughborough University, Water21, 2011 - Gabriella Kovacs, MSc Budapest University, Water21, 2011

41. Surveying for flood attenuations

42. Scheme
Maximum
impoundment
height (m)
Max.
capacity
(m3)
% of the
180,000 m3
target
Number of
impound
ments
1 1.3 155720.3 86,5% 236
2 1.3 and 2 258835.0 143,8% 222
3 2 219118.2 121,7% 72
Slad Valley Flood
Attenuation Scoping Study
Anett Szabo, MSc Budapest University, Water21, 2011

43. Above: Claypits village near Stroud. 60 acres
of additional plantation can provide 100% of
the village’s potential domestic energy
needs for a total cost of £25,000.
Right: pumping station and conventional
sewer connection, by comparison, costs an
estimated £500,000, which wastes energy
and fails to realise the full value of sewage
as a sustainable resource – all adding up to
negative environmental & climatic impacts.
Reedbeds
Biomass
Plantation
Lake
Lindsay White, Leeds Metropolitan Univ,
1995 (Water21)

44. 2 kms
Biomass
Plantation
(filling)
Lake
Reedbeds
Applying the Claypits Approach
to a War Zone – Heglig 1
Courtesy Oceans-ESU

45. A civil war had been fought over oil ...
Courtesy Oceans-ESU

46. Oil wastewater at 50,000+ BOD
Courtesy Oceans-ESU

47. 50,000 m3/day recovered water Heglig 1
Courtesy Oceans-ESU

48. Within 2 years of filling Heglig 1 lake, the local
population were able to commence fishing
Courtesy Oceans-ESU

49. Oil-waste system is just
the start of a complete
approach to the wider
environment – here
medicinal and other
plants are prepared to
create an ongoing
economic framework,
lasting long after the
oil ceases flowing.
Courtesy Oceans-ESU

50. Restoring biodiversity within and around oil systems
– all for 90% less cost than the conventional approach
Courtesy Oceans-ESU

51. Oceans ESU Ltd: Short Course on Reed Bed Technology, March 2010
Hydrological Monitoring
Weather station data
gives information on
climatic influences of
bioremediation
systems
Climate data is then
used to develop
mathematical models
of each system

52. Developing the Catchment Plan
Constructing a water / carbon balance model …
Root zone water balance
Transition zone water balance
Aquifer water balance
Critical flood/drought
risk resolution
provides a finite focus
for action

53. Developing the Catchment Plan
Mapping the historical … and the geological
Ordnance Survey 10,560 - 1903
Position of Fault (British Geological Survey)

54. © 2013 Iain Claridge
What are the ‘tools’ ?
- Public Health
- Catchment Water Balance
- Nutrient (Carbon) Cycling Planning
- Biodiversity Gain / Social Equality
- Participatory Principle
Collaborative goodwill
is the key ‘tool’ for success !

55. www.water21.org.uk