Reviews & Analysis

Crop switching optimization within the context of the Indo-Gangetic Plain provides compelling evidence that this approach yields significant benefits in terms of increasing calorie production and profits for farmers whilst minimizing water and energy use.

An array of fibre crystallizers quickly evaporates water and selectively extracts lithium from brines.

The adoption of open-hardware technology is changing current river research monitoring practices, reducing the need for scientists to allocate large portions of their budgets to expensive instrumentation.

Ultra-fast water transport with high salt rejection is achieved by a submicron graphdiyne membrane supported on a porous copper hollow fibre.

Excavation and a geoarchaeological survey provide evidence of an early multi-levelled water management system in the Late-Holocene East Asian Monsoon region.

Quasi-experiments are a useful methodological approach to evaluate the impacts of environmental health infrastructure improvements at scale

The traditional solution–diffusion model, long used for studying water transport in reverse osmosis membranes, is re-evaluated with molecular dynamics simulations.

A model that predicts the masses of microplastics in river networks is a step forward in our goal of tackling global plastic pollution.

Treatment of brackish groundwater can help to alleviate potential competition for freshwater resources between the power sector and other sectors in water-stressed regions.

A metal–organic framework enables the removal of emerging organic contaminants from the effluent of a wastewater treatment plant.

Although more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, there is a dire lack of data on trade, cost, and origin of the food that the urban dwellers rely on. Understanding the impact of escalating water-food systems variability on urban quality of life is critical for designing data systems needed to implement appropriate policies and state-supported interventions in urban areas.

Examination of boil water alerts (BWAs) in Jackson, Mississippi points to the breadth and diversity of impact from water contamination. We describe these impacts and the larger context and limitations of BWAs as ways of both informing the public and mitigating risk.

A cost-effective process to achieve defluorination of chlorinated per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) provides valuable insight for sustainable chemical design.

Satellite data show hydroclimatic extreme events are increasing in frequency, duration, and extent under warming conditions.

The modification of a commonly used fabrication process allows the realization of nanofiltration membranes with improved selectivity and permeance.

Iron-rich aquifers are commonly thought to be ‘arsenic-safe’ because of the strong sorption of arsenite and arsenate to iron (hydr)oxides. However, sulfate reduction can accelerate arsenic mobilization and increase arsenic mobility by formation of poorly sorbing thioarsenic species

Strategies for mitigating climate change driven floods in Shanghai apply regret theory to guide the best choice from alternate engineered flood control scenarios.

Water infrastructure improvements are needed in rural America. A series of county-level spatial econometric models showed positive economic development associated with water infrastructure spending in rural America. However, these benefits are unequally distributed among ethnoracial populations in interaction models.

Curtailing water use during drought is costly, but those costs are not evenly distributed. Socio–hydrological modelling shows how water burdens fall more heavily on poor households in response to water conservation policies.

Development of the world’s hydropower is controversial because of its many documented environmental and societal implications. A global assessment of the unused profitable hydropower potential is performed with strict criteria to limit the environmental and social impact.