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Book review |
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The original edition of this dictionary was published in 1973 by Butterworths as the Dictionary of Water and Water Engineering. This 2005 edition is published by Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), now ‘Practical Action’, which was founded in 1966 to promote EF Schumacher's ideas of small is beautiful, and indeed feasible. In this context, their support for Ken Nelson's Dictionary of Water Engineering is evident in the practical, no-nonsense approach and use of explicit, plain English. It is a small format hardback, about the size (albeit not the cost) of a paperback, which would fit readily into a pocket or site bag.
The coverage is broad on most aspects of water engineering and technology and in particular small-scale supply, the needs of poorer communities and on the importance of environmental sustainability. Entries cover water supplies for low-cost urban and rural communities, wastewater systems, water resources, hydrology, irrigation, river improvement, drainage, erosion, groundwater exploration, hydrography, flood protection, hydraulic machines, dams and water power. There are some useful, cleanly-drawn line diagrams with down-to-earth descriptions, e.g. that accompanying the entry for rope and washer pump: ‘A [village level operation and maintenance] pump...comprising a rope knotted to hold a series of rubber washers (made from old car tyres) rotated by a pulley (made from an old car tyre rim) on a wooden axle....’ More such line diagrams would have been welcome. The few photographs included are only of moderate use; unfortunately, picture quality is uniformly poor. A small criticism relates to citing units for
