Introduction

Water Pollution 2014 is the 12th International Conference in the series of 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 continues to 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 required 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 industry to apply 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.

The Water Pollution conference started in Southampton in 1991 and has been held in Milan, Italy in 1993; Porto Carras, Greece, in 1995; Lake Bled, Slovenia, in 1997; Lemnos, Greece, in 1999; Rhodes, Greece, in 2001; Cadiz, Spain, in 2003; Bologna, Italy, in 2006; Alicante, Spain, in 2008; Bucharest, Romania, in 2010; and the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute of Technology in 2012.