From the Preface: “This book deals with a quantitative analysis of environmental issues related to the water quality of natural hydrosystems. More specifically, the questions of risk and reliability in water quality are analysed from the engineering point of view and a methodology is developed to evaluate environmental impacts on rivers, groundwater and coastal areas from wastewater disposal.”
The purpose of the book is to fill the gap between theoretical developments in risk and reliability analysis and applications in water resources and environmental engineering. The book requires no previous knowledge in probability for fuzzy theory. Readers interested in this book include engineers (civil, chemical, environmental), hydrologists, graduate students, researchers and environmental professionals working on environmental water quality issues.
The mathematical essence is the analysis of the so-called risk \(P(L > R)\), i.e. the probability that the random load \(L\) of the (water-)system exceeds the random resistance \(R\). If the available data are not sufficient to fit probability distributions of \(L\) and \(R\), the author proposes to consider \(R\), \(L\) as triangular fuzzy numbers \(\widetilde {R}\), \(\widetilde {L}\) and to analyse the difference \(\widetilde {R} - \widetilde {L}\).
After the more introductory first two Chapters the Chapter 3 presents some methodologies for risk quantification (e.g., direct computation for some simple distributions, second-moment approach, frequency analysis, Monte-Carlo-simulation, fuzzy regression, a.s.o.). Chapter 4 deals more specifically with the assessment of risk, which is analysed by appropriate mathematical modelling (e.g. by diffusion equations) using random walk simulations. Decision theory is the mathematical background of Chapter 5 on risk management. The last Chapter 6 presents some case studies: coastal pollution in the Thermaikos Gulf (Makedonia), river water quality of the Axios River (Makedonia) and groundwater pollution of the Campaspe aquifer (Australia).