BACKGROUND In developing countries where access to water and food is not guaranteed, women may have to travel long distances or engage in intense physical activities to gather food. This may compromise their water requirements and overall nutritional status. The aim of the study was to determine water turnover, physical activity and body composition among women in Kenya and to describe the diff...

Increased surface runoff generated in urban areas due to larger proportion of impervious surfaces has, in many cases, exceeded the capacity of urban drainage systems. In response to such challenge, this paper introduces the quantitative analysis of pluvial flood alleviation by open surface water systems in the case of Almere in the Netherlands and compares it with Tianjin Eco-City in China, wit...

BACKGROUND Urban populations are highly vulnerable to the adverse effects of heat, with heat-related mortality showing intra-urban variations that are likely due to differences in urban characteristics and socioeconomic status. OBJECTIVES We investigated the influence of urban green and urban blue, that is, urban vegetation and water bodies, on heat-related excess mortality in the elderly > 6...

A three-dimensional micro-scale model was used to study some aspects of water bodies on the urban environment. This is of special importance in the field of urban climate, where ways and means to reduce the heat load produced by city residents need to be found. In a systematic study, the ranges and impacts for different sizes of water bodies were estimated and a fitted relation was given. Water...

This paper addresses the current imperative to develop and test urban ET algorithms, incorporate these into urban water balance models, and develop these into tools to underpin and guide Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) and integrated urban water management. Two approaches to modelling the urban water balance focusing specifically on urban evapotranspiration are presented: i) SUES (Single-so...

In this study we 1) describe the abundance of Anopheles and culicine immatures in different water body types in urban Malindi, Kenya, 2) compare Anopheles immature density in relation to culicine immature density, and 3) identify characteristics that influence the likelihood of water bodies being co-colonized by Anopheles and culicines. Entomological and environmental cross-sectional surveys co...

Reducing inequalities is a priority from a human rights perspective and in water and public health initiatives. There are periodic calls for differential national and global standards for rural and urban areas, often justified by the suggestion that, for a given water source type, safety is worse in urban areas. For instance, initially proposed post-2015 water targets included classifying urban...

BACKGROUND: This study characterized Anopheles mosquito larval habitats in relation to ecological attributes about the habitat and community-level drainage potential, and investigated whether agricultural activities within or around urban households increased the probability of water body occurrence. Malindi, a city on the coast of Kenya, was mapped using global positioning system (GPS) technol...

Many avian species are negatively impacted by urbanization, but other species survive and prosper in urbanized areas. One factor potentially contributing to the success of some species in urban areas is the reduced presence of predators or parasite vectors in urban compared to rural areas. In addition, urban areas may provide increased food and water resources, which can enhance immune capacity...

Soil temperature (tB) was determined down to 2 m below ground level at 8 locations in the city of Oberhausen, Ruhr area, Germany, between August 2010 and July 2011 to investigate the subsurface urban heat island (SUHI) and its impact on drinking water quality. The soil temperatures obtained in Oberhausen demonstrate typical location-dependent behaviour. At the depth of drinking water pipes (1 t...