This paper concerns the evolution of the quality of the groundwater bodies over space and time, with special focus on nitrate. This case study deals with the qualitative status in alluvial-pyroclastic groundwater bodies located near Naples (southern Italy). The study is based on a significant hydrochemical database, gathered through: (i) groundwater sampling and water level monitoring, (ii) chemical...

The Lombard territory (Italy), characterized by a historical process of industrialization, is affected by significant contamination both of the ground and of the groundwater. The continuous development of urban areas needs to face the problem linked to the growing presence of portions of the territory where there is the presence of contaminated groundwater (mainly chlorinated solvents and hydrocarbons),...

Deep aquifers represent a strategic resource because of their quality, generally better than rivers and shallow aquifers. More specifically, in Piedmont Region (Italy) they represent a key source of drinking water and therefore must be protected from qualitative and quantitative degradation.

In...

The groundwater overexplotation is a worldwide problem and it causes serious consequences such as land subsidence, saltwater intrusion, devastating effects on natural streamflow, groundwater fed wetlands and related ecosystems.

The Maggiore Valley (NW...

Extractive waste (EW) from abandoned mines can pose serious pressure to natural water systems. The harmful effects of EW such as deterioration of water sources by allowing leaching of potentially toxic elements (PTE) into groundwater make it necessary to carry out careful, scientific and comprehensive studies on this subject. The present research used risk analysis approach to study the effect of presence...

Geothermal Energy, being a clean and sustainable source of energy, is gaining importance worldwide due to various reasons. Geothermal power can be generated throughout the year on twenty four hour basis as it’s not much dependent on ambient temperature and weather conditions. Recently there is an increased interest in exploitation of low enthalpy geothermal resources for other applications such as geothermal space heating...

The main purpose of developing OSH Management System is to create a sustainable system that does not rely solely on a specific person with OSH expertise. This concept is the core of the International Organization for Standardization – ISO standards which promote the creation of a sustainable system based on the assumption that humans make mistakes. Then, it is argued that government regulations may...

Accidents and fatalities at work have always had a huge social and economic impact. In recent years the phenomenon in Italy does not seem to regress, indeed, the official data of fatality at work report a significant increase; this notwithstanding the widespread legislative activity both at European and national level.

An...

Nanoremediation technologies are based on the injection of reactive nanomaterials into the subsurface to promote in situ degradation of the pollutants. At present, it appears as a valid and very promising alternative to traditional and already established remediation technologies, such as Pump&Treat, In-Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO), air sparging and permeable reactive barriers. Due to their small size, nanoparticles (e.g. nanoscale zerovalent iron) presents a high reactivity and can be exploited to generate a reactive zone to treat a wide...

The wide spreading of vertical greening systems brought to the development of new systems and technologies able to improve urban areas quality. Several benefits derive from the installation of these systems: energy savings for air conditioning during summer, thermal comfort improvement indoor and outdoor, urban heat island mitigation, biodiversity increase, protection of building façades with consequent...

Current population growth, climate change and the increase in derived pollution represent a significant threat to the delicate balance that governs the exploitation of resources on Earth. In recent decades, this balance has been undermined, coming to an over-exploitation condition, or a growing demand for natural raw materials that the planet is no longer able to satisfy, with impacting consequences on...

The Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Workplace Prevention Techniques (TPALL) of the University of Turin (UniTo) has also been training technical experts in occupational and environmental safety and health since 2003. Among the total 180 training credits, 24 credits are dedicated to specific engineering content, and deal with both plant design basics, and up-to-date Hazard Identification, Risk...

In this paper, we discuss how to describe the geomechanical behavior of geological formations used for underground fluid storage through the application of the Virtual Element Method (VEM) on conforming polyhedral meshes for the solution of stress-strain equilibrium equations. Under the assumption of small deformations, the solution algorithm for an Isotropic Linear Elastic (ILE) constitutive law coupled...