An increase of water retention in the programmes of small retention in the country to the year 2015 is estimated at 1141 million m3. It means annual mean increase of retention capacity by c. 60 million m3. Accomplishment of relevant actions in the years 1997–2007 allowed collecting 57 million m3 in lakes, c. 56 million m3 in artificial reservoirs, 18.5 million m3 in fishponds, c. 10.5 million m3 with the channel retention and over 2 million m3 in other investments. It makes total increase of water retention by 142 million m3 which is 12.4% of target retention and the mean annual increment of c. 13 million m3. The paper presents volumes of retained water, sources and structure of financing, mean unit costs of retention increments and the increase of retention capacity in particular voivodships (acc. to new administration division) in the years 1998–2007.

The induction of phytoremediation by addition of complex substrates, such as sewage sludge (e.g.

from the food industry), allows for better conditions of plant growth, however, it also increases the risk of chemical compounds leaching to the soil solution. Biogenic compounds occurring in sludge such as nitrogen, organic

carbon and phosphorus when migrating with soil solution down the soil profile can lead to underground water

contamination. The paper assesses the effect of sewage sludge inducted phytoextraction of Zn, Cd and Pb with

the use of Sinapis alba L. (White mustard), Medicago sativa L. (Alfalfa) and Trifolium resupinatum L. (Persian

clover) as well as the migration of biogenic compounds (nitrogen, organic carbon and phosporus) in soil solution. Research was conducted in controlled conditions of a phytotronic chamber in which the lysimetric experiment was carried out in order to monitor the changes of total nitrogen, ammonia, phosphates, organic carbon

and pH every 3 weeks during the 112 days of the entire experiment. Based on the obtained results it was found

that there is no risk of underground water contamination by investigated substances present in sewage sludge,

because there was no indication of increased ammonia and carbon migration to the deeper parts of the soil

profile.The only exception was the migration of nitrogen compounds other than ammonia (possibly nitrates and

nitrites). Due to sewage sludge application the highest concentrations of ammonium nitrogen (211 mgN-NH4

l

-1), total nitrogen (299 mg N l-1) and organic carbon (200 mg TOC l-1) were noted at a layer of 30 cm (from top

of the column/lysimeter) after 3 weeks of the conducted process. With time a decrease of ammonium nitrogen

as well as organic carbon concentration in all columns was noted. There was no indication of phosphates in the

soil solution during the entire experiment, which was due to the high cation exchange capacity of the soil matrix.

Green roofs play a significant role in sustainable drainage systems. They form absorbent surfaces for rainwater, which they retain with the aid of profile and plants. Such roofs therefore take an active part in improving the climatic conditions of a city and, more broadly, the water balance of urbanized areas. One of the factors influencing the hydrological efficiency of green roofs is the drainage layer. In the article, column studies were carried out under field conditions involving the comparison of the retention abilities of two aggregates serving as the drainage layer of green roofs, i.e. Leca® and quartzite grit. The average retention of the substrate was 48%; for a 5 cm drainage layer of Leca® retention was 57%, for a 10 cm layer of Leca average retention was 61%. For a 5 cm layer of quartzite grit average retention was 50%, for 10 cm layer of quartzite grit 53%. The highest retention was obtained for the column with the substrate and 10-centimeter layer of Leca®. At the same time, it was shown that Leca® is a better retention material than quartzite grit. The initial state of substrate moisture content from a green roof appears to be a significant factor in reducing rainfall runoff from a green roof; the ob-tained values of initial moisture content made for a higher correlation than the antecedent dry weather period.

The paper presents the problem of the growing water deficit and the possibility of sustainable development of water resources in rural areas of Central and Eastern Europe (using the example of Poland). It is estimated that the amount of resources in this region is reduced by about 70% compared to the average for Europe. In drought periods it comes to limitation of economic activity, including agriculture. Particular attention was paid to the necessity to extend landscape, underground, and snow retention, as an alternative to dams, which are currently the most popular in lower-order catchments. It has been shown that the construction of small agricultural reservoirs is not always preceded by adequate consultations and pre-design studies, which may result in financial losses and legal problems. Simultaneous use of many alternative forms of retention should be more effective than the implementation of reservoirs. In addition, increasing the hydraulic roughness of the catchments slows down the outflow of products of erosion and contributes to the protection of surface retention structures (maintaining natural and economic usefulness of reservoirs).

The work involved assessment of the Myzus persicae (Sulz.) capability to infect successively potato plants with PVY and PVM after a Sunspray 850 EC mineral oil application. The tests were carried out in the greenhouse, with 4-week-old, healthy potato plants possessing low ressistance to viruses, derived from in vitro (test plants). Any time, for each combination and each virus, 10 successive plants were inoculated in 6 repetitions. Virus sources were potato plants infected with PVY or PVM, kept in isolated rooms. As a result of oil application, feeding of the M. persicae specimens on plants previously treated with this oil was delayed. The highest reduction as regards PVY and PVM transmission by M. persicae was obtained in the treatment where both plants constituting virus sources and test plants were protected, because only two of ten plants were infected with PVY, and only one with PVM. Mineral oil application only on potato test plants (healthy ones) reduced to a small degree M. persicae capability to transmit PVY to six successive plants (to seven in control), whereas it was much higher for PVM – to three (to six in control). In the case when only plants constituting virus sources were oil-protected, aphid’s capability to transmit PVY was limited only to four plants, and PVM – to two. These results seem to confirm much more the hypothesis that mineral oil inactivates virus particles in the stylets of aphids while they attempt to acquire it from plants which have been previously protected with mineral oil.

This study presents the results of tests conducted in 2009 and 2010 on experimental sites installed on the roof of the Science and Education Building of the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences. The aim of the analysis was to determine the retention capacity of green roofs and the runoff delays and peak runoff reduction during rainfall recorded in Wroclaw conditions.

The research shows that green roofs allow to reduce the volume of runoff stormwater in comparison to conventional roofs, that they delay the runoff in time and influence the reduction of the maximum runoff intensity, and thus may limit the impact of stormwater on the stormwater drainage and combined sewage systems.

In the present study, treatment of synthetic wastewater containing phenol, resorcinol and catechol was studied in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). Parameters such as hydraulic retention time (HRT) and filling time have been optimized to increase the phenol, resorcinol, catechol and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies. More than 99% phenol, 95% resorcinol and 96% catechol and 89% COD removal efficiency was obtained at optimum conditions of HRT = 1.25 d and fill time = 1.5 h. The heating value of the sludge was found to be 12 MJ/kg. The sludge can be combusted to recover its energy value.

Forecasts suggest that the freshwater resources available to our civilization will shrink by 30% in the coming two decades. How can we reverse the degradation of water resources and create a balance between the society’s demand for water and the capacity of the hydrosphere?

Polish water resources depend on precipitations, which are variable in time and space. In dry years the water balance is negative in central parts of Poland but sudden thaws and downfalls may result in periodical water excess and dangerous floods almost in the entire country. The retention capacity of artificial reservoirs in Poland permits to store only 6% of the average annual runoff, which is commonly considered insufficient. Another method to increase retention is soil water con-trol. About fifty percent of soils in Poland consist of light and very light sandy soils with low water capacity. Loams and organogenic soils cover approximately 25% and 8.5% area of the country, re-spectively. Almost half of agricultural lands (48%) have relatively good water conditions, but the rest requires soil water control measures. An increase of the soil water content could be achieved by changes of soil properties, water table control and soil water management. Modernization and recon-struction of drainage and irrigation systems, which were built mainly in the period 1960–1980, is needed.

Tropical regions such as Java, Indonesia, still lack publication of soil water retention (SWR) information, particularly at upper Citarum watershed. The SWR is one of the critical elements in water storage and movement in the soil and very important to solve ecological and environmental problems. However, getting the access requires a lot of laboratory meas-urement that is time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, utilizing pedotransfer functions (PTFs) to estimate the water in the soil is needed. This study aims to define soil properties related to the SWR and to evaluate the performance of existing PTFs in predicting SWR. The study was carried out at agroforestry land system soil at upper Citarum watershed, Indonesia. Ten point and two continuous existing PTFs developed for tropical regions were applied in this study. Pearson's correlation (r), mean error (ME), root mean square error (RMSE), and modelling efficiency (EF) were used for evaluation. Cation exchange capacity (CEC), organic carbon (OC), bulk density (BD), and clay were considered as potential soil properties for soil water retention prediction. The performance of PTFs by MINASNY, HARTEMINK [2011] at matric potential of –10 kPaand BOTULA [2013] at matric potential of –33 kPa and –1500 kPa were recommended for point PTFs, while PTFs by HODNETT, TOMASELLA [2002] was for continuous PTFs in predicting SWR. The accuracy of the point PTFs is almost better than the continuous PTFs in predicting SWR in agroforestry land system soil at upper Citarum watershed, Indonesia.

Mortar feedstock is extruded to form bead and it is selectively placed line by line in the material extrusion additive manufacturing. With respects to part building process healthiness, load-supporting ability of overlaid beads is emphasized as buildability. Buildability is primarily dependent on thixotropic properties of feedstock and vertical overlapping schedule. In the present study, water-to-binder (w/b) ratio was chosen as material aspect to assess buildability. Uneven bead shape evolution and premature failure were highlighted owing to low yield stress of high w/b ratio feedstock. Feedstock with optimum w/b ratio showed good buildability even at the interval time of 19 sec.

Nutrient pollution such as nitrate (NO3−) can cause water quality degradation in rivers used as a source of drinking water. This situation raises the question of how the nutrients have moved depending on many factors such as land use and anthropogenic sources. Researchers developed several nutrient export coefficient models depending on the aforementioned factors. To this purpose, statistical data including a number of factors such as historical water quality and land use data for the Melen Watershed were used. Nitrate export coefficients are estimates of the total load or mass of nitrate (NO3−) exported from a watershed standardized to unit area and unit time (e.g. kg/km2/day). In this study, nitrate export coefficients for the Melen Watershed were determined using the model that covers the Frequentist and Bayesian approaches. River retention coefficient was determined and introduced into the model as an important variable.

The aim of this paper is to identify lean management instruments used to implement strategic

objectives related to the creation and retention of value in the area of value networks while

redefining the business model of service enterprises on the example of hotels. In relation

to the objective, a survey was conducted using the questionnaire method with the use

of Computer Assisted Web Interview technique, using a self-developed questionnaire. The

survey was carried out between February and May 2020 among 421 representatives of hotel

service companies operating in the three, four and five-star standard. In order to verify

the assumptions between the surveyed features, statistical inferences were used using the

Statistica programme. The research results may provide inspiration for the implementation

of lean management concept in the area of redefining business models conducive to value

creation. The issues presented in the paper are an attempt to fill the gap indicating practical

experience related to the use of lean management instruments in the hotel services sector

and their effectiveness in the process of redefining business models and value creation.

Nutrient emissions by point and diffuse sources and their loads were estimated for the Odra catchment over the time period of the last 50 years by means of the model MONERIS. For nitrogen a change of the total emissions from 38 kt·a–1 N in the mid of 1950s a maximum of 105 kt·a–1 N in the early 1980s and a recent value of about 84 kt·a–1 N were estimated for the total Odra Basin. The share of the point source discharges on the total N emissions varied between 24% (1955) and 35% (1995). The emissions from groundwater and tile drained areas represent the dominant pathway (37–56% of total N emissions) during all investigated time periods. Emissions from tile drained areas increased from the mid of 1950s to end of 1980s by a factor of 20 and reached in this period the same amount as emissions by groundwater. For phosphorus the emissions changed from 4 kt·a–1 P in 1955 to 14 kt·a–1 P in 1990 and a recent level of 7 kt·a–1 P. Point source discharges caused between 36 to 66% of total P emissions and represent the dominant pathway for all investigated time periods. Erosion and discharges from paved urban areas and sewer systems was the dominant diffuse pathway of the total P emissions into the river system. The comparison of calculated and observed nutrient loads for the main monitoring stations along the Odra River shows that the average deviation is 12% for total phosphorus (1980–2000) and 15% for dissolved inorganic nitrogen (1960–2000). From the analysis it can be concluded that the present load of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and total nitrogen (TN) of the Odra into the Baltic Sea is about 2.3 times higher than in the mid of 1960s. The maximum DIN load (1980s) was more than 3 times higher than in the 1960s. The change of the total phosphorus (TP) load is characterized by an increase from the 1955s to 1980 from 2 to 7 kt·a–1 P (factor 2.6). Around 2000 the TP load was 4 kt·a–1 which is only the double of the level of the 1955s

Estimation and application of water retention curves in heavy soils have own specifics. The reason for these specific properties is the composition of the high clay texture. This is manifested by volume changes of soil depending on moisture. Up to 40% change in the volume compared to the saturated state was recorded in the conditions of the East Slovakian Lowland. The results described in this work are based on research work carried out in the East Slovakian Lowland and represent an analysis of selected 42 samples out of a total of 250 samples in which laboratory measurements of soil water retention curves and volume changes were performed. Selected samples represent the localities Senné and Poľany. Volumetric changes were measured in a laboratory by measuring the dimensions of soil samples. Appropriate changes in the volume of soil samples should be measured when determining moisture retention curves. Neglecting this physical effect leads to a distorted determination of the water retention curves in heavy soils. In the laboratory measurement of water retention curves points, changes in the volume of the sample were measured in the range of 0.24–43.67% depending on the soil moisture potential during drainage. In the case of neglecting the effect of shrinkage during the drainage of samples, a certain error is occurring in the calculation of the volumetric moisture. The range of this error was 1–13% of volumetric moisture.

The main scientific goal of this work is the presentation of the role of selected geophysical methods (Ground-Penetrating Radar GPR and Electrical Resistivity Tomography ERT) to identify water escape zones from retention reservoirs. The paper proposes a methodology of geophysical investigations for the identification of water escape zones from a retention fresh water lake (low mineralised water). The study was performed in a lake reservoir in Upper Silesia. Since a number of years the administrators of the lake have observed a decreasing water level, a phenomenon that is not related to the exploitation of the object. The analysed retention lake has a maximal depth between 6 and 10 m, depending on the season. It is located on Triassic carbonate rocks of the Muschelkalk facies. Geophysical surveys included measurements on the water surface using ground penetration radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) methods. The measurements were performed from watercrafts made of non-metal materials. The prospection reached a depth of about 1 to 5 m below the reservoir bottom. Due to large difficulties of conducting investigations in the lake, a fragment with an area of about 5,300 m 2, where service activities and sealing works were already commenced, was selected for the geophysical survey. The scope of this work was: (1) field geophysical research (Ground-Penetrating Radar GPR and Electrical Resistivity Tomography ERT with geodesic service), (2) processing of the obtained geophysical research results, (3) modelling of GPR and ERT anomalies on a fractured water reservoir bottom, and (4) interpretation of the obtained results based on the modelled geophysical anomalies. The geophysical surveys allowed for distinguishing a zone with anomalous physical parameters in the area of the analysed part of the retention lake. ERT surveys have shown that the water escape zone from the reservoir was characterised by significantly decreased electrical resistivities. Diffraction hyperboles and a zone of wave attenuation were observed on the GPR images in the lake bottom within the water escape zone indicating cracks in the bottom of the water reservoir. The proposed methodology of geophysical surveys seems effective in solving untypical issues such as measurements on the water surface.