Water Science and Technology

  Book Review Ponds, Pools and Puddles  By Jeremy Biggs and Penny Williams (2024) 614 pp. Harper Collins ISBN 9780002200851 (Hardback).   New Naturalist Series No. 148 There are some books that are just lovely to own and this is one of them.  Beautifully produced in high quality paper, with clear colour illustrations throughout, this is a book that will be on your shelf for a lifetime and which will continue to pull you back for the odd twenty minutes browse.   Whether you are a citizen scientist, undergraduate, PhD student or an aging professor like me, it’s a must have if you are interested in hydrobiology. But like all the New Naturalist Library series if you are interested in science, the environment or just life, then you will find this a fascinating book.   The book is split into 12 stand-alone chapters and draws heavily on the National Pond Survey. Apart from a general introduction the book deals in depth with the evolution o...

  Great examples of river restoration projects by the Wild Trout Trust where they enhance floodplain connectivity and increase habitat diversity. Follow them on X @WildTroutTrust or their website  https://www.wildtrout.org Examples of all river restoration techniques can be seen from re-meandering river channels to create more habitat diversity and fish spawning areas: To protecting banks and reducing sediment loss:   And slowing the flow in upland streams and re-engaging the floodplain:   The Wild Trout Trust is a charity and welcomes donations from individuals and companies alike so that they can continue there work.  

Image of data centre by Rsparks 3. Reproduced under creative common licence. From an environmental perspective there is not a lot of good things to say about data centres and their rapid growth. Globally they are using about 2% of global electricity which is estimated to rise to as much as 5% by the end of the decade.  Of course the gigawatts of electricity being consumed represents gigatonnes of CO2 emissions. The lesser known fact is that they are consuming about 5 billion m 3  of water every year for cooling. A lot of suggestions have been made as to how this waste heat could be used in particular district heating and heat to electricity conversion. However, according to Diaz-Martin and Berquist (2025) two new innovative ideas are showing huge promise in terms of economic value and contributing to net zero.  These are direct air capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide which in theory could remove up to 1,000 megatonnes of CO 2  annually contributing to decarboni...