Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Literature review Walkable Streets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Literature review Walkable Streets - Essay Example Walkable streets are actually shared spaces. They are actually designed for all types of people irrespective of being on foot, cars, on wheelchairs, or even bicycles. A walkable street actually makes you have the urge to step outside. This means that there are interesting things like trees, people, apartment buildings and homes as you move along. A walkable street is the one that does not make you feel like you are risking your life when crossing it. This is because it has sidewalks, lighting, curb ramps, benches, and signals that will all aid you while crossing it. In summary, a walkable street would lead to any destination that you want to go (Urban Ecology, 2011).Many communities are actually embracing the mobility of pedestrians as a substitute to reducing dependency on automobiles. This shift is attributed to the fact that dependency on automobiles is ecologically unsustainable because of increased pollution, and also reduced walking diminishes social interaction and mixing of p opulations (Pivo, Gary, & Fisher, 2010). According to Hutarabat Lo (2009) he argues that there are several ways that can make a place walkable. Sidewalks should be erected where there are sidewalk gaps with priority being given to those areas that encourage walking like schools, stations of transit, stadiums, and around congested public areas. Moreover, certain obstructions like utility poles and posts can actually decrease the walkable width of the sidewalk. Proper lighting and maintenance of the side walk is to be sustained so as to reduce obstructions, encourage walking, and improve safety. In addition, another way of making the sidewalks safer is by implementing buffers because they absorb carbon dioxide from automobile emissions and also aiding in water drainage. Making of crosswalks is safer and a key component to walkability. Curb extensions decrease the radii of corners of the curb at various intersections. Moreover, curb extensions calm the traffic and also decrease the dis tance pedestrians have to cross. While on the streets with parking, the curb extensions allow pedestrians to see the oncoming traffic better where they would otherwise be forced to walk into the street to see past the parked cars. The zebra crossings or striped crosswalks also provide safer avenues for crossing because they provide better visibility for both the pedestrians and drivers (Zehner, 2012). Walkable streets in relationship with public transit A walkable street must contain a relatively large number of friendly pedestrians. This is because many people are of the belief that the different physical street designs features are sufficient enough to create walkability. The best designed streets are actually not walkable if we walk in them. On the other hand, streets that are poorly designed are memorably walkable if it contains a large number of people. Very little is more enjoyable and attractive to humans than an inherently vibrant, festive place filled with blissful and soci able people (Nozzi, 2011). Whether driving,

Monday, October 28, 2019

Effect of Temperatures on Plant Growth

Effect of Temperatures on Plant Growth Chapter 5 IMPLEMENTATION The plant growth module computes the crop growth and development based on daily values of maximum and minimum temperatures, radiation and daily value of soil stress factors. The values are added together to give an estimate of the amount of seasonal growth your plants have achieved. Plant growth prediction model depends on the plant parameters like, Temperature Relative humidity Rainfall Solar radiation. 5.1 Effect of Temperature: Temperature factors that figure into plant growth potentials include the following: Maximum daily temperature Minimum daily temperature Difference between day and night temperature Average daytime temperature Average nighttime temperature Along with these there are other considerations such as: 5.1.1 Microclimates The microclimate of a garden plays a primary role in actual garden temperature. In mountain communities, changes in elevation, air drainage, exposure and thermal heat mass (surrounding rocks) will make gardens significantly warmer or cooler than the temperatures recorded for the are. In mountain communities, it is important to know where the local weather station is located so gardeners can factor in the difference in their specific locations to forecast temperatures more accurately. 5.1.2 Thermal heat mass (surrounding rocks) In many Colorado communities, the surrounding rock formations can form heat sinks creating wonderful gardening spots for local gardeners. Nestled in among the mountains some gardeners have growing seasons several weeks longer than neighbors only a half a mile away. In cooler locations, rock mulch may give some frost protection and increase temperatures for enhanced crop growth. In warmer locations rock mulch can significantly increase summer temperatures and water requirements of landscape plants. 5.1.3 Influence of heat on Crop Growth Temperature affects the growth and productivity of plants, depending on whether the plant is a warm season or cool season crop. Photosynthesis: within limits, rates of photosynthesis and respiration both rise with increasing temperatures. As temperatures reach the upper growing limits for the crop, the rate of food used by respiration may exceed the rate at which food is manufactured by photosynthesis. For tomatoes, growth peaks at 96F. Temperature influence on growth:seeds of cool season crops germinate at 40 to 80.Warm season crop seeds germinate at 50F to 90F.In the spring, cool soil temperatures may prohibit seed germination. Examples of temperature influence on flowering Tomatoes Pollen does not develop if night temperatures are below 55F Blossoms drop if daytime temperatures rise above 95F before 10 am Tomatoes grown in cool climates will have softer fruit with bland flavors. Spinach (a cool season, short day crop) flowers in warm weather with long days. Christmas cacti and poinsettias flower in response to cool temperatures and short days. Examples of temperature influence on crop quality High temperatures increase respiration rates, reducing sugar content of produce. Fruits and vegetables grown in heat will be less sweet. In heat, crop yields reduce while water demand goes up. In hot weather, flowers colors fade and flowers have a shorter life. The Table 5.1 llustrates temperature differences in warm season and cool season Crops Table 6.1 Temperature comparison of cool season and warm season crops Temperature for Cool season: Broccoli, cabbage Warm season: Tomatoes, peppers Germination 40f to 90f,80f optimum 50f to 100f,80f optimum Growth Daytime 65F to 80F preferred 40F minimum Nighttime >32F,tender transplants >mid-20F,established plants Daytime 86F optimum 60F minimum A week below 55F will stunt plant, reducing yields Nighttime >32F Flowering Temperature extremes lead to boiling and buttoning. Nighttime95F by 10 am, blossoms abort Soil Cool Use organic mulch to cool soil Since seeds germinate best in warm soils, use transplants for spring planting, and direct seeding for mid-summer planting(fall harvest) Warm Use black plastic mulch to warm soil, increasing yields and earliness of crop. 5.1.4 Influence of cold temperatures The temperature variation over karnataka for the years 2008,2009,2010.2011 is shown in the figure 6.2. this also shows a clear annual cycle in the temp rise in feb-may and then falls during monsoon and winter. fig 6.2 TEMPERATURE VARIATION OVER KARNATAKA FROM YEAR 2008-2011 5.2 Effect of Relative humidity Relative humidityis the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor in an air-water mixture to the saturated vapor pressure of water at a prescribed temperature. The relative humidity of air depends not only on temperature but also on the pressure of the system of interest. 5.2.1 Measurement The humidity of an air-water vapour mixture is determined through the use of psychometric charts if both thedry bulb temperature(T) and thewet bulb temperature(Tw) of the mixture are known. These quantities are readily estimated by using a slingpsychometer. There are several empirical correlations that can be used to estimate the saturated vapour pressure of water vapour as a function of temperature. TheAntoine equationis among the least complex of these formulas, having only three parameters (A, B, and C). Other correlations, such as those presented byGoff-GratchandMagnus Tetens approximation, are more complicated but yield better accuracy. The correlation presented byBuckis commonly encountered in the literature and provides a reasonable balance between complexity and accuracy. whereis the dry bulb temperature expressed in degrees Celsius ( °C),is the absolute pressure expressed in hectopascals (hPa), andis the saturated vapour pressure expressed in hectopascals (hPa). Buck has reported that the maximum relative error is less than 0.20% between -20 °C and +50 °C when this particular form of the generalized formula is used to estimate the saturated vapour pressure of water. 5.2.2 Pressure Dependence The relative humidity of an air-water system is dependent not only on the temperature but also on the absolute pressure of the system of interest. This dependence is demonstrated by considering the air-water system shown below. The system is closed (i.e., no matter enters or leaves the system). The relative humidity over Karnatakafor the years 2008,2009,2010.2011 is shown in the figure 6.4 Fig 6.4 RELATIVE HU MIDITY OVER KARNATAKA 2008-2011 5.3 Effect of Rainfall Fig 6.5 RAIN ANOMALY (top panel) Vs COFFEE AND Rice production over Karnataka 5.4 Effect of Solar Radiation Sunlight is a portionof the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, particularly infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earths atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon. When the direct solar radiation is not blocked by clouds, it is experienced as sunshine, a combination of bright light and radiant heat. When it is blocked by the clouds or reflects off other objects, it is experienced as diffused light. The World Meteorological Organization uses the term sunshine duration to mean the cumulative time during which an area receives direct irradiance from the Sun of at least 120 watts per square meter. Sunlight may be recorded using a sunshine recorder, pyranometer or pyrheliometer. Sunlight takes about 8.3 minutes to reach the Earth. On average, it takes energy between 10,000 and 170,000 years to leave the suns interior and then be emitted from the surface as light. Direct sunlight has a luminous efficacy of about 93 lumens per watt of radiant flux. Bright sunlight provides illuminance of approximately 100,000 luxors lumens per square meter at the Earths surface. The total amount of energy received at ground level from the sun at the zenith is 1004 watts per square meter, which is composed of 527 watts of infrared radiation, 445 watts of visible light, and 32 watts of ultraviolet radiation. At the top of the atmosphere sunlight is about 30% more intense, with more than three times the fraction of ultraviolet (UV), with most of the extra UV consisting of biologically-damaging shortwave ultraviolet. Sunlight is a key factor in photosynthesis, the process used by plants and other autotrophic organisms to convert light energy, normally from the sun, into chemical energy that can be used to fuel the organisms act The solar radiation over karnataka for the years 2008,2009,2010.2011 is shown in the figure 6.7, which shows maximum radiation in summer and it decreases in winter. 2008 2009 2010 2011 Fig 6.6 SOLAR RADIATION OVER KODAGU FROM 2008-2011 MODULES OF THE PLANT GROWTH MODEL The plant growth module computes crop growth and development based on daily values of maximum and minimum temperatures radiation and the daily value of two soil water stress factors, SWFAC1 and SWFAC2. This module also simulates leaf area index (LAI), which is used in the soil water module to compute evapotranspiration. 7.1 Initialization Input variables, as listed in table 1, are read from file PLANT.INP. File PLANT.OUT is opened and a header is written to this output file. Table 7.1 input data read for plant module Input data read for plant module Variable name definition Units EMP1 Empirical coefficient for LAI computation ,maximum leaf area expansion per leaf m 2/leaf EMP2 Empirical coefficient for LAI computation Fc Fraction of total crop growth portioned to canopy Intot Duration of reproductive stage Degree-days Lai Leaf area index M2/m2 Lfmax Maximum number of leaves N Leaf number Nb Empirical coefficient for LAI computation P1 Dry matter of leaves removed per plant per unit development after maximum number of leaves is reached G PD Plant density Plants/m2 Rm Maximum rate of leaf appearance Leaf/day Sla Specific leaf area M2/g Tb Base temperature above which reproductive growth occurs  °C W Total plant dry matter g/m2 Wc Canopy dry matter weight g/m2 Wr Root dry matter weight g/m2 7.2 Rate calculations The plant module calls three subroutines: PTS to calculate the effect of temperature on daily plant growth rate and rate of leaf number increase; PGS to calculate daily plant weight increase (g/plant) and LAIS to calculate in leaf area index. In subroutine PTS the growth rate reduction factor (PT) is calculated every day using the following equation: PT=1-0.0025((0.25TMIN + 0.75 TMAX)-26)2 Where TMIN and TMAX are the minimum and maximum daily temperatures. Subroutines PGS calculate PG, the potential daily total dry matter increase (g/plant) :where SRAD is the daily solar radiation and PD is the plant density. SRAD: Y1 is obtained by Y1 =1.5 -0.768. ((ROWASPC .0.01)2 .PD)0.1 Where ROWSPC is the row spacing in cm. The potential plant growth rate is limited by soil water stress through SWFAC and temperature through PT. The plant cycle is divided in vegetative and reproductive phrases. The vegetative phase continues until the plant reaches a genetically determined maximum leaf number. During the vegetative phase, leaf number increase is calculated based on maximum rate and a temperature based limiting factor. During reproductive phase, the difference between daily mean temperature and a base temperature is used to calculate the rate of plant development. Total rate of development towards maturity is accumulated as int. Subroutine LAIS is called for phases to compute the change in leaf area index. During vegetative period, LAI increases as a function of the rate of leaf number increase. The potential rate is limited by soil water stress, through SWFAC and temperature through PT. Its value is given by: dLAI=SWFAC. PT.PD.EMP1. Dn.a/1+a where PD is the plant density , EMP1 is the maximum leaf area expansion per leaf, and a is given by : a= eEMP2.(N-nb) Where EMP2 and nb are coefficients in the expolinear equation and N is the development age of the plant. After plant has reached the maximum number of leaves, LAI starts to decrease as a function of the daily thermal integral, di. The rate of decrease is given by dLAI= -PD.di.p1.SLA Where P1 is the dry matter of leaves removed per plant per unit development after maximum number of leaves is reached and SLA is the specific leaf area. 7.3 Integration Changes to leaf area index, plant weights and leaf number are integrated into the appropriate state variables at the beginning of the integration section. 7.4 Output Daily output is written in PLANT.OUT file. 7.5 Close The PLANT.OUT output file is closed. Fig 7.1 Planning the Concept Of Dynamical Agriculture Model

Friday, October 25, 2019

Internet Crimes :: essays research papers

The new discipline of computing and the sciences that depend upon it have led the way in making space for women's participation on an equal basis. That was in some ways true for Grace Murray Hopper, and it is all the more true for women today because of Hopper's work. Grace Brewster Murray graduated from Vassar with a B.A. in mathematics in 1928 and worked under algebraist Oystein Ore at Yale for her M.A. (1930) and Ph.D. (1934). She married Vincent Foster Hopper, an educator, in 1930 and began teaching mathematics at Vassar in 1931. She had achieved the rank of associate professor in 1941 when she won a faculty fellowship for study at New York University's Courant Institute for Mathematics. Hopper had come from a family with military traditions, thus it was not surprising to anyone when she resigned her Vassar post to join the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) in December 1943. She was commissioned a lieutenant in July 1944 and reported to the Bureau of Ord nance Computation Project at Harvard University, where she was the third person to join the research team of professor (and Naval Reserve lieutenant) Howard H. Aiken. She recalled that he greeted her with the words, "Where the hell have you been?" and pointed to his electromechanical Mark I computing machine, saying "Here, compute the coefficients of the arc tangent series by next Thursday." Hopper plunged in and learned to program the machine, putting together a 500-page Manual of Operations for the Automatic Sequence-Controlled Calculator in which she outlined the fundamental operating principles of computing machines. By the end of World War II in 1945, Hopper was working on the Mark II version of the machine. Although her marriage was dissolved at this point, and though she had no children, she did not resume her maiden name. Hopper was appointed to the Harvard faculty as a research fellow, and in 1949 she joined the newly formed Eckert-Mauchly Corporation. H opper never again held only one job at a time. She remained associated with Eckert-Mauchly and its successors (Remington-Rand, Sperry-Rand, and Univac) until her official "retirement" in 1971. Her work took her back and forth among institutions in the military, private industry, business, and academe. In December 1983 she was promoted to commodore in a ceremony at the White House. When the post of commodore was merged with that of rear admiral, two years later, she became Admiral Hopper.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

How Do You Account for the Rise of the Born Global Essay

Since 1980s, along with the development of economic globalization, there is a new form of enterprise internationalization in the global range which called Born Global enterprises. This type of firm normally engages in significant international activity and promptly starts penetration to the international market from its establishment. But more remarkably, those Born Global firms get involved in international market and participate in international competition without any previous experience. The first purpose of this paper will focus upon the explanation of the reasons for the rise of Born Global based on relevant theoretical studies and characteristics. The second section of this paper provides a selective example of Chinese Born Global firms which focus on explain and analyse the reasons for emergence of Born Global phenomenon and assess the influence and benefits to the development of internationalization on Chinese small and medium-sized enterprise( SMEs). An Explanation of Born Global Characteristics based on Typical Examples The Born Global firm is defined as â€Å"a business organization that, from inception, seeks to derive significant competitive advantages from the use of resources and the sale of outputs in multiple countries† (Oviatt and McDougall, 1994, P. 49). While Knight and Cavusigil (1996) think Born Global refers to those small technology oriented business that engage in operating international markets since it has been in early stage of being established. Therefore, from the stated definitions above, we can get basic characteristics of Born Global. Furthermore, there is a variety of reliable samples for Born Global which reveal that the typical characteristics of Born Global. For instance, History and Heraldry is an England company that specializes in gifts for history buffs and those with English ancestry. History and Heraldry was selling in 60 countries, with exports generating about 70% of total production. The biggest markets the firm target in are France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United States (Cavusgil and Knight, 2009). Another example, Cosmos Corporation Inc. s a young company in US that produces telescopes and various optical devices. Cosmos has begun selling its products in Japan and Europe since it has been founded for a few years. Moreover, the firm had expanded its scales to 28 countries around the world soon after that (Knight and Cavusigil, 2009). Thus, from previous examples, we can see that companies conduct international business at or near their founding and have engaged in international business throughout history and gain competitive advantages by seeking a wide range of resources located around the world. Furthermore, Born Global firms are characterized by limited financial and tangible resource. The Reasons for the Rise of Born Global Since the early 1980s, international business rapidly developed which is initially facilitated by the globalization of markets. Historically, the most internationalization business appeared in advanced-economy countries such as North America and Europe, Japan. However firms today increasingly target emerging market, such as Brazil, China, India, Mexico (Wall, Minocha and Rees, 2010). As there are substantial market opportunities even in developing countries, meanwhile companies seek growth via market diversification and gain economies of scale in production and marketing, basically most Born Global firms achieved considerable success in international business early in their development. In the last decades, internationalization was in the field of large multinational enterprises (MNEs), however, globalization trends and high technology have facilitated the emergence of born global firms in recent years. The appearance of plenty of Born Globals helps to reshape the global economy; these firms tend to be formed by entrepreneurs with a strong international outlook and managers regard the world as their marketplace, normally emphasize international market skills. Integration and growing interdependence of national economies have both facilitated. In addition, the national governments tend to reduce trade and investment barriers also facilitated the internationalization of more firms. Therefore, the emergence of Born Global firms becomes an important trend. Secondly, the modern information technology is essentially making company internationalization cost-effective. The internet provides databases, references, and private system which rapidly increased the ability to internationalize and target numerous countries simultaneously (Zou and Cavusgil, 2002). Thirdly, enterprise founders have strong entrepreneurship; this is an important reason for the rise of Born Global enterprises. As the enterprise will face more risks and uncertainty than the omestic market when it enters into international market, therefore, only those with strong entrepreneurship will take risks of internationalized operation and seek various resources to create competitive advantages, and realize international strategy. Again, Enterprise management team with sufficient international management experience and knowledge lay the foundation for the rise of Born Global. Moreover, this would relatively reduce the risks and uncertainty for entering the international market which improve the success probability of international business. Meanwhile, those entrepreneurs are more confident for internationalization, therefore it is naturally for such enterprises choose involved into international market after establishment. Finally, the diversification of products and markets create advantages for the formation of Born Global enterprises (Andersson and Wictor, 2003). Along with the development of economic globalization, the consumers’ demand trend to homogeneity in the world region which makes easier to sell the same products in different countries and regions. The Reasons for Emergence of Born Global Firms –Taking China as an Example There is an example of Zhejiang Born Global firms which indicates the motives of Born Global enterprises. Yang (2007) thought that the entrepreneurship, organizational learning and the enterprises network are the initial causes. Zhao (2004) demonstrated the importance of the global economy, niche market, technology improvement, and the implicit sensitivity. Comparing with the Born Global firms oriented high technology abroad, most Zhejiang Born Globals focus on the traditional industry because of their traditional inheritance. Basically, the motives of Zhejiang Born Global firms is attributed to the unique entrepreneurship, the network of business globally, the precise niche market, and technological development. Firstly, Zhejiang is famous for its private economy in its inception and booming stage, and the innovation is key factor of the Zhejiang entrepreneurship. Moreover, the core competency of Zhejiang is being good at seeking market opportunity and starving for change which create advantages for the formation of Born Global. Above all, the entrepreneurs are scattered in government administrative departments, private owned firms who are talents for Zhejiang economic development, so as lead the small and medium-sized born global enterprise. Secondly, the niche market is crucial for the Zhejiang born global enterprise (Robinson, 1986). As limited natural resource and size, it is difficult for Zhejiang small and medium-sized enterprises to compete with the large scale rivals. Therefore, they normally choose niche market at the early stage and concentrate on international market, then expand their market frontier, afterwards build the competitive barrier, and finally, achieve competitive advantage in global market by stages. Most importantly, these firms focus on the specific industry and reply on the persistence to obtain the profitable market gradually. Thirdly, the previous international management background is very helpful for the Born Global enterprise. Once the firm gets involved into international markets and obtain much international experience, they start to employ top foreign talents to conduct research and development in order to extend the global market within expected period. On the other hand, Zhejiang government provided favorable policy to encourage and attract overseas to start their business in Zhejiang during the last decades, which ensure the firms booming in the international market rapidly. Finally, the Zhejiang Born Global enterprise is famous for its extensive enterprise network which refers to interpersonal relationship (Freeman, Edwards and Schroder, 2006). This kind of relationship network promotes their business. For instance, after contacting with Wenzhou businessman who has settled down abroad, Wenzhou lighter will march into international market and get the most shares in light industry soon, which makes the company dominate comparative advantages over the rivals. Furthermore, Zhejiang Born Global enterprises normally set up overseas industries zone led by powerful firms and attract other enterprises to settle down in order to avoid the marketing risk. However, the Zhejiang Born Global enterprise not only makes full use of current network, but also develop new network to make the global network perfect. Therefore, the more extensive network they have, the more resources they share. Conclusion With the further development of opening up and reform policy, more and more Born Global enterprises have been found in China and many other countries and regions. It is of practical significance to study the characteristics and the reasons for the emergence of Born Global phenomenon, which provide eference for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to march the international markets. Furthermore, along with economic globalization and marketing integration, the Born Global enterprises, emerging as a new kind of enterprise, have become popular and attractive recently. Based on the explanation and analysis of Born Global phenomenon above, the main forming reasons of the Born Global including entrepreneurship, niche market, international management experience, and extensive enterprise network. There are crucial factors for the rise of Born Global. China has joined the WTO, economic globalization, consumption personalized and the development of information communication technology which are indicating the business opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises internationalization. In addition, Chinese government officials and departments are beginning to make policies for supporting the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) internationalization in order to encourage the SMEs engaging in international competition and improving the international competitiveness.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Bottled Water and Tap Water Essay

The quality of water that we drink is a significant determinant of our health. Guarantee of the safety of water is a base for the prevention of diseases. Several people prefer to drink bottled or commercial mineral water in the presumption that they are safer and have quality as compared to tap water. I believe that tap water is the best choice for a few different reasons. Bottled water is very popular and easily available at most stores. Consumers spend a large amount on purchasing bottled water. People prefer bottled water over tap water because they are saved in plastic containers, which are less weighty. After consume these bottles, people discard the bottle instantly, thus removing the need to carry it around (Conis, 2008) Bottled water can acquire from springs, artesian wells or the source of municipal supply. Bottled water has different types such as natural mineral water, purified water, and spring water (Conis, 2008). Bottled water is a package item, therefore, the Food and Drug Administration regulates it. The quality standards of FDA do not need to expect that to expect that is authorized by the EPA and tap water. The processing plants of bottled water products are inspected by the FDA (www.nrdc.org/water). An important point about the bottled water is that bacteria grow best in moist and damp environments. It indicated that the environment developed by an unrefrigerated water bottle, one time the seal has been opened, is the ideal place for microorganisms to cultivate. This generates undesired risks for human health. On the other hand, tap water comes from sources of lakes or streams. People can acquire water for drink easily from taps. The availability of this water has key health benefits, since it significantly reduces the risk factor of water-borne infections. Like sulphur and iron, this water has hard minerals that give a strong taste. Fluoride is also used in it because fluoride reduces the possibility of tooth decay, which is essential for kids during the period of healthy teeth’s development. According to cruising chemistry, those areas that containing towering degrees of Calcium and Magnesium have very low death rate. Deficiencies in magnesium can create heart disturbances (www.fitsugar.com/Reasons). To make sure the quality and safety of tap water, the suppliers provides yearly report named as â€Å"Consumer Confidence Report†. Furthermore, if an impurity surpasses the EPA standards, the providers are obligated to update the people about impurity, the water supply level, and its effects on health and what initiatives can be made to avoid diseases. Municipal water is governed by the EPA â€Å"Environmental Protection Agency† (www.nrdc.org/water), requiring towns to clean and sterilize it in accordance to the actual standards, Finally, the industry of tap water normally uses chlorine to protect against re-production of harmful bacteria that may leave tap water not taste as good as it would otherwise. In conclusion, though the market of bottled water of many different companies continues to increase, but according to some research and analytical studies, the quality of bottled water is less healthy as compared to the tap water. Researchers show that the tap water appears to be examined regularly and is focused to more strict regulations, Yes, the taste of bottled water is better to some extent but this is so expensive and creates pollution in terms of plastic waste.