Introduction

Water Pollution 2010 is the 10th International Conference in the series on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Water Pollution. The conference, which has always been very successful, provides a forum for discussion amongst scientists, managers and academics from different areas of water contamination. The wealth of information exchanged in this international meeting will be of great benefit to all involved with water pollution problems.

The environmental problems caused by the increase of pollutant loads discharged into natural water bodies requires the formation of a framework for regulation and control. This framework needs to be based on scientific results that relate pollutant discharge with changes in water quality. The results of these studies allow industries to employ more efficient methods of controlling and treating waste loads, and water authorities to enforce appropriate regulations regarding this matter.

Environmental problems are essentially interdisciplinary. Engineers and scientists working in this field must be familiar with a wide range of issues including the physical processes of mixing and dilution, chemical and biological processes, mathematical modelling, data acquisition and measurement, to name but a few. In view of the scarcity of available data, it is important that experiences are shared on an international basis. Thus, a continuous exchange of information between scientists from different countries is essential.