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Water treatment for human uses is a vital asset to economic development. This article focuses on a combination of physical, biological, and chemical processes. Methods of water treatment require concrete or steel base structures, rendering them heavy, costly, and time-consuming to establish. Water treatment systems should be economically viable and practicable in design for developing societies; hence, structural builds should be simplified. Novel structures, a series of polyethylene cyclonic ponds for water treatment, were built and tested. Tanks were equipped with a settled material central outlet, water side outlet, and a pump shower system that enabled sludge removal without mechanical intervention. A freely flowing vortex was produced, aerated, given a biological treatment, and finally mixed with a chemical treatment step. Test establishment of the batch system enabled improvement in water quality, with removal performance as follows: TSS (total suspended solids) = 98%, UV254 absorbance = 50%, DOC (dissolved organic carbon) = 56%, and turbidity=95%. The batch system builds of the current study required short construction time and were economically priced. Cyclonic ponds are suited to diverse usage. The value may be felt in the improvement of water quality for human consumption, utility, and ecosystem services to counter the extensive pollution caused by oil and gas extraction and other industries.

In many areas, wastewater feeds water bodies, which leads to it being non-usable for agricultural and other uses. Phytoremediation is a scientific approach which cleans contaminated waters, demanding large areas for application. Vertical agriculture is a new method to compact plant cultures. This study investigates vertical wastewater phytoremediation (VWP). Twenty vetiver grasses were planted in a hydroponic vertical agriculture system. Wastewater flowed into the system in four different flow rates, 60, 80, 100, and 160 l day−1 and water purity was assessed in order to measure the remediation ability of the VWP. Results showed a reduction in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5 and NO3− concentrations and an increase of electrical conductivity (EC) and dissolved oxygen (DO) in the outlet. Maximum and minimum (BOD5) reduction percentage (78.47% and 67.36%) and NO3− removal percentage (90.53% and 36.41%) occurred in flow rates 60 and 160 l day−1, respectively. With the increase of wastewater flow rate, phytoremediation performance decreased, but the performance of VWP with vetiver grass was efficient enough to enable wastewater remediation. Scaling up VWP with Vetiver and related competitive plant species holds promise for wastewater remediation for both human and ecosystem services.

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) is a global pandemic that started in China in 2019 and has negatively affected all economic sectors of the world, including agriculture. However, according to estimates in different countries, agriculture has suffered less than other sectors such as construction, industry and tourism, so agricultural development can be a good option to compensate for the economic damage caused to other sectors. The quality of available water and soil resources for agricultural development is not only limited, but is also decreasing incrementally, so the use of saline and unconventional soil and water resources is inevitable. Biosaline agriculture or haloculture is a system in which highly saline water and soil resources are used sustainably for the economic production of agricultural crops. It seems that in the current situation of the world (with COVID-19's impact on agriculture on the one hand and the quantitative and qualitative decline of freshwater and soil on the other), haloculture with a re-reading of territorial capabilities has good potential to provide a part of human food supply. In this review article, the potential of haloculture to offset the adverse impacts of the pandemic is analyzed from five perspectives: increasing the area under cultivation, using unconventional water, stabilizing dust centers, increasing the body's immune resistance, and reducing losses in agribusiness due to the coronavirus. Overall, haloculture is an essential system, which COVID-19 has accelerated in the agricultural sector., Graphical abstract Image 1

The purposes of this paper are to access the level of motivation, adjustment and environmental similarities among expatriate academics in a Malaysian university; and to analyze the influence of demography on satisfaction among expatriate academics in a Malaysian university. Limitation of this study is just focusing on one university of Malaysia. Survey questionnaire have been used to collect the data from randomly selected expatriate academics who currently working in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Only the Nationality is significant differences with satisfaction of expatriate academics in UTM. Expatriate academics are mostly motivated to remain by teaching context which has three items: rapport with departmental leadership, teaching opportunities, and nation building (ability to affect change). Fourteen items as motivation to remain which selected by 50% of the respondents are research opportunities, cost of living, reputation of the university, research funding, reputation of department, research/ lab facilities, international experience, professional development opportunities, geographic location of Malaysia, rapport with departmental leadership, teaching opportunities, nation building (ability to affect change), scholarly environment, and students. Research opportunities and cost of living identify as the most important factors of motivation. Majority of expatriate academics are able to adjust in host country. Expatriate academics are better in specific job responsibilities and supervisory responsibilities. “Everyday customs that must be followed” and “general living conditions (housing, etc.)” are similar from their home country.

This article represents the differences between expectations and perceptions of service quality among international postgraduate students in UTM by calculating the gap scores in SERVQUAL scale. In addition, this article indicates the service quality dimensions which are evident among these students by using all calculated gap scores in factor analysis. Also, one sample t-test was conducted to find the level of service quality from the perspective of the participants. This study used a modified service quality (SERVQUAL) instrument which was validated by a pilot study and distributed to 353 of international postgraduate students in UTM who were selected by stratified sampling to reach to its results. The results demonstrate the negative gap scores among all 22 items of SERVQUAL scale and it shows that the students’ expectations of service quality are more than their perceived service quality in this university. Additionally, four dimensions, namely tangible, consistency, assurance and compassion, were identified in the SERVQUAL scale. Finally, the low level of service quality is demonstrated from the perspective of international postgraduate students in UTM.