WORLD’S FIRST ENGINEERING NEWS FOR YOUNG ENGINEERS
SEPTEMBER 2016 ISSUE NO. 007
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS: Water For People Cranfield University Imagine H2O WaterAid Aviscus
VEOLIA WATER TECHNOLOGIES: SUSTAINABLE WATER CHAMPION
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE COO SEPTEMBER 2016 Clean Water Technologies
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GINEERSNOW TEAM Ems Bagatsing
Sales & Marketing Director Ems@LincolnMartin.com
Robert Bagatsing
Editor-In-Chief editor@GineersNow.com
Engr. Alice Hernandez John Vauden
Senior Editor-At-Large
Hina Sapra
Engr. Dion Greg Reyes
Senior Editor Asia-Pacific Senior Editor South Asia
Therese Matheren Senior Editor North America
Goran Ćulibrk
Newsletter Specialist
Afsana Alam Contributor Middle East
Engr. Emmanuel Stalling Contibutor North America
Charity Bagatsing Senior Editor North America
Raymond Gerard del Valle
Junior Editor
Engr. Cielo Panda Junior Editor
Lauren Lloyd Del Mundo Video Editor Creative & Layout
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Junior Editor
Abhishek Tarafder
Matrix Media Information Technology
Aaron Kesel Contributor North America
Amanda Pelletier Contributor North America
Margaret Banford Contributor United Kingdom
Patricia Eldridge Contributor United Kingdom
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Editor's
Note
If you’re reading this, make sure you look around you and realize that you’re one of the lucky few who enjoys the simple things in life. It may include catching a few Pokemon characters on your smartphone or browsing through your social media without a care in the world. But think deeper and realize that there are more things we should be thankful for and that includes the water we’re drinking, bathing and using for everything else. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case for most of us anyway. Most of us just take advantage of the idea that clean water will always be there.
In this month's issue, different water technologies are given the spotlight. Different stories about how engineers and scientists all over the world are working together to provide clean water for the billions of people worldwide. We’ve included feature stories about engineers contributing to social good around the world as well. Also included in this month's issue are exclusive interviews from different companies about what they're doing in saving the planet, in providing new technologies to provide safe water and sanitation to different regions around the world.
The truth is we’re running out of freshwater supply and it’s evident in so many regions of this planet already. Millions of people are already suffering from the lack of access to clean water. Millions have died because of diseases related to diarrhea. It's a scary thought that one day, you will no longer see water coming out of your faucet. It's terrifying to think about a future where only billion-aires can afford water. What was once taken for granted will become the most valuable resource to survive in this ever-changing world.
With so much to do yet not enough technology to solve the world's most pressing issues in water, we are running out of time. If we don't make swift actions to solve these problems, it'll only take a few decades before suffer the consequences. So take a good look of that glass of water in front of you, appreciate the idea that you're lucky enough to have access to clean water now. May it inspire you to make a movement in saving our planet's precious water resources.
CONTENTS PAGE
06 12 15 16 22 26 28 33 34 40 48
TITLE COVER STORY
VEOLIA: INTEGRATING WATER, WASTE AND ENERGY TO OPTIMIZE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GROUNDWATER TABLE
WHAT DO THEY DO IN WATER ENGINEERING?
IS IT STILL POSSIBLE TO CLEAN THE WORLD’S OCEANS? THIS ROBOT MERMAID LENDS A HELPING HAND IN OCEAN EXPLORATION BACTERIAL RESEARCH COULD LESSEN PHOSPHORUS POLLUTED WATERS HOW DO COMPANIES WATERPROOF YOUR DEVICES? THE KIDS ARE SAFER THAN EVER IN POOLS WITH THIS WEARABLE WARNING DEVICE THIS INTERACTIVE WATER BOTTLE TEACHES KIDS TO DRINK MORE WATER THESE WATER HACKS WILL GET BUSY ENGINEERS TO DRINK MORE WATER THE WATER YOU’RE DRINKING COULD BE OLDER THAN THE SUN
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52 54 58 64 66 72 76 78 82 84 88
TITLE WHY I MARRIED AN ENGINEER
WATER FOR PEOPLE: BRINGING SAFE WATER AND SANITATION TO 4 MILLION PEOPLE ACROSS 9 COUNTRIES
AVISCUS: CREATING A WORLD WHERE ACCESS TO WATER, SHELTER, AND ELECTRICITY IS AFFORDABLE
IT MIGHT GET WORSE: THE BEST PREDICTION ABOUT ASIA’S WATER PROBLEM WATERAID: TRANSFORMING THE LIVES OF MANY WITH CLEAN WATER IMAGINE H2O: INSPIRING PEOPLE TO TURN WATER CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY: REINVENTING THE TOILET HOW THE WATER CRISIS IS CAUSING HEADACHES FOR THE PEOPLE IN LATIN AMERICA WATER SCARCITY: A PROBLEM EVERYBODY SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE DAYS OF ABUNDANT POWER AND WATER MAY BE OVER THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON FOOD AND BEVERAGE’S WASTEWATER DISCHARGE
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COVER STORY
VEOLIA WATER TECHNOLOGIES: INTEGRATING WATER, WASTE AND ENERGY TO OPTIMIZE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Veolia Water Technologies provides public authorities and industries with a range of water, energy and waste management services vital to human development and sustainable growth in 48 countries around the world. They continue to adapt and innovate in step with economic growth and human development by designing and implementing solutions that will have a positive impact on the environment and resources. GineersNow conducted an exclusive interview with Thierry Froment, the Chief Operating Officer of Veolia Water Technologies in the Middle East Thierry Froment grew up in the French Alps and got his engineering diploma from the Mining school of Paris and his Master of Science in Structural Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He started his career working for a drilling contractor, a subsidiary of Schlumberger, and since 30 years he has been working in water treatment as Managing Director of various companies in France and abroad for almost 20 years first in desalination, then in water treatment associated to the Oil & Gas industry.
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COVER STORY THE COMPANY
GN: Tell us about your company. Describe your mission, vision and values. Froment: With 160 years of expertise, over 174 000 employees worldwide and a consolidated revenue of €25 billion in 2015, Veolia promotes under the banner “Resourcing the World” an approach that integrates water, waste and energy to optimize resource management. Within the Veolia group, Veolia Water Technologies offers integrated water treatment solutions, from design & build projects to standard systems. It applies its process expertise and industry knowledge to respond to the needs of industrial clients as well as municipalities in terms of both process water and wastewater, with a specific focus on water reuse. We strive to deliver innovative, sustainable and cost effective water solutions to our customers to improve their economic and environmental performance. In the Middle East we employ more than 1300 people with a revenue in excess of 500 million Euros. Our vision is to be a trusted partner in the Middle East, combining the global expertise of a worldwide leader to the strength of our local teams. Increasing access to resources as well as preserving and renewing them is our motto. Our values are concentrated on our Customers’ Satisfaction,
Responsibility, Respect, Solidarity, and Innovation. GN: Where is this company headed? What’s your future expansion plans? Describe briefly your strategic goals (10 years to 20 years plan) Froment: We are fortunate enough to be active in the Middle East in both the municipal and the industrial fields and with growing water scarcity, water reuse is our top priority. Of course we will continue to chase and execute large desalination projects or municipal water treatment plants in the region where we can differentiate through improved energy efficiency or better value for money for our clients but with our objective of “Resourcing the World”, and with the increasing scarcity of water in the region and the ever growing need of water for human consumption, industries and agriculture, we want to focus on developing water reuse. This is the best way to reduce the electricity consumption related to water treatment. With its wealth of in house water treatment technologies (more than 350) Veolia can basically treat almost any kind of waste water to pretty much any required process water characteristics while minimizing the energy consumption of the process. In addition where our customers do not wish to develop in house the skills to operate such plants (waste water varies much more in characteristics than
A lot of the trends we see have to do with reducing carbon footprint, increasing renewable energies and with water reuse 8
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seawater or aquifer water so water reuse plants operation requires more attention than conventional process water treatment plants), Veolia can operate the plants on behalf of the customers bringing its wealth of operational experience and increased productivity.
INTRODUCTION
GN: How does your company define clean water and wastewater? How do people gain access to clean water? Do we have limited access to clean, drinkable water? Are we running out of it? Froment: Clean water is either potable water, irrigation water or process water (used for industrial purpose). In the Middle East due to the very significant increase in the Clean water consumption and the limited aquifer water available, most of the Clean water is generated using sea water desalination at a high
energy cost (in Qatar 87% of the Clean water comes from desalination). Waste water comes from both the human consumption and the industries. This waste water has to be treated to be rejected (generally back to the sea) or reused. In the region, unlike other parts of the world, the reuse of waste water as potable water is not acceptable although technically such treatment is easy. So most of the reused water is used as irrigation water or treated to the characteristics required for industrial process water. According to the Arab Water Council only 40% of the waste water in the MENA region is reused and more than 50% is discharged without treatment.
THE MACRO LEVEL OF CLEAN ENERGY
GN: Where are we today? What is the current situation
Water treatment and more widely Environmental Engineering contribute directly to creating a better world tomorrow of clean water and waste water (locally or globally)? What are the latest water technologies today? Froment: A lot of the trends we see have to do with reducing carbon footprint, increasing renewable energies and with water reuse. With climate change concerns, there is a strong push to reduce carbon footprint. Although carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere in much greater amounts, methane has contributed just as much to global warming over the past two decades. Waste and wastewater treatment activities can produce a lot of methane, which can be repurposed to produce renewable energy through biogas, quickly producing positive effects. Obviously, sludge offers a lot of potential as far as energy production goes and it is viewed more and more as a valuable resource to capitalize on rather than a waste that needs to be discarded. Our innovative Exelys™ technology, for instance, represents the next generation of thermal hydrolysis. By concentrating the matter to be treated, the volume to be heated is reduced, yielding 20-40 percent more biogas than conventional digestion and up to 50 percent more capacity for existing digesters. We also see a lot of interest in evaporation and Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) technologies. As regulatory issues, environmental sensitivity, and long term water supply concerns increase, many
industrial companies are considering ways to reduce their water discharges and ZLD is a great solution. Shell is one of the many companies that chose to implement a sustainable ZLD water management solution, at their Pearl GTL complex in Qatar. Water scarcity is a serious problem in many parts of the world particularly the Middle East. More and more industries are interested in implementing solutions that use as little fresh water as possible, and reuse as much as possible. Veolia has been working with Nestlé at several of its plants to reduce the company’s water consumption and results have been particularly good
at its new dairy plant in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico. Nestlé has reduced its water consumption globally by one third during the past 10 years and by 50 percent at its plants in Mexico, even while global production has increased. Antero Resources, one of the top ten producers of natural gas in the USA, is another company that is proactively addressing water consumption by building a US$275 million centralized water treatment facility to treat 9,500 cubic meters of produced water per day for reuse. Recycling the produced water from its shale oil and gas operations will enable Antero to realize substantial savings, as well as reducing its environmental footprint. Most companies nowadays, big and small, are looking into ways to reduce their water footprint and we definitely see this trend going on and accelerating in the future particularly in the Middle East. GN: Where should water tech head 20 years from now? Are we on the right track? Are we delayed? Are we progressing?
Froment: As mentioned above, Veolia already has in housed most of the technologies necessary to generate water with any desired characteristics from any waste water so we believe the next challenges are to make these technologies more competitive and more accessible to our clients, preserve and explore all the different ways to reuse/ recycle every drop of water while reducing the carbon footprint of the plants and recovering the pollutants in such a way they can also be recycled.
THE MICRO LEVEL
GN: What are the initiatives / projects that you are doing (or have done) that will provide clean water to third world countries? Froment: Veolia supports humanitarian, educational, biodiversity and conservation programs with 1,000 projects supported to date. Check out Veolia Foundation website to discover all the actions deployed in the third world countries: http://fondation.
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COVER STORY veolia.com/en. Directly, Veolia works with municipalities in many third world countries to finance, build and operate water treatment plants providing clean water to the populations. GN: What are the future innovations that you or your company pursuing? Froment: The past few years have presented many challenges for Veolia Water Technologies, with a market that has been rapidly changing and we ourselves now need to change and adapt. As Veolia Water Technologies, our wealth is made of our technologies and we will keep capitalizing on them, improving them and developing new ones. Meanwhile, we want to simplify our portfolio of technologies, making them available faster and at a more competitive price point. We are also looking into digitalization of some of our standard equipment. Another key point for us is to further develop our bundled services, for instance our mobile water services, traceability for specific regulations, digital functions, etc. There is a strong demand for these types of services and we want to better capitalize on that through our local teams. We are still relying on our strong design and engineering capabilities to secure some big design-andbuild contracts, for instance for desalination plants in the Middle East, municipal water and wastewater treatment plants in Europe, Africa and Asia, and industrial projects in North and South America. GN: What impact have you delivered (social, economic and environmental)? Do you have metrics or statistics of your accomplishments? Froment: Here is an infographic of Veolia’s accomplishments: (See figure A)
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Figure A: Infographic of Veolia's Accomplishments
THE CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS
GN: What are the greatest challenges in the water industry? What do you think the government, private companies and NGO of each country should do to get rid of this? How do we provide water accessibility to more than 7 billion people? Froment: Demand for raw materials, including water, is exploding as a result of demographic growth, rising living standards and climate change. As we are all aware, we cannot endlessly draw on the natural environment–a number of shortages are already making themselves felt and the growth model based on linear consumption (extract-use-throw away) has reached its limits. Scarcity of raw materials, scarcity of water, carbon footprint: these are huge challenges facing our world today. The management of environmental issues is becoming increasingly important and complex in
both rapidly developing and developed countries. Access to water is a key factor in the growth of entire economies, cities and many different industries. Today, on a worldwide scale, barely 2 percent of wastewater is reused: that remaining 98 percent of wastewater represents a valuable and readily available resource that we must tap into. Wastewater also has the tremendous advantage of being available where water is needed. The whole point of the circular economy is to give back value to things that had lost their value, which of course applies to water and wastewater. When scarcity strikes, the circular economy allows economic players not only to secure their supplies, but also to reduce their expenditure and create additional revenue. This approach does not arise exclusively from environmental concerns; for the regions, it is a factor in their development and for businesses, it is a source of competitiveness and wealth.
Last year Veolia unveiled its energy efficient desalination pilot plant for Masdar in Abu Dhabi. How much emphasis does Veolia put into desalination technologies and why? Veolia has always been very active in developing new technologies in all disciplines of water treatment; you could even say that it is a part of our DNA. Particularly in desalination, we have constantly innovated over the years on design and processes involved in desalination plants to improve their efficiency and reliability, and cope with changing economic parameters and physical conditions, especially in the Gulf. One of the great advantages Veolia has to ascertain its own design, and the suitability of the whole conception of a desalination plant in a defined technical and economic environment, is its dual competence and experience as designer and builder in addition to operator. Veolia is also a leader in all desalination technologies, be it thermal or physical,
which allows a fully objective approach towards our clients to put forth the most suitable solution to address their specific needs and objectives. We have pioneered energyefficient hybrid desalination, which combines Multi Effect Distillation (MED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) to optimize electricity use and reduce production costs. We are very involved in the coming challenges of desalination that are linked to environmental protection and energy savings. These are two major components that still have to be improved for the ever growing desalination demand in water-scarce regions. That is why, when we found out about Masdar’s bid for the development of new desalination technologies, we applied without hesitation as we were eager to implement ongoing developments on several process parts. Many developments will be coming in the near future as innovation is in the genetics of Veolia. Most of these developments converge to
better power efficiency and at the same time, to extend the lifetime of the plant. Contributing to building ever more reliable and efficient desalination plants is one of our main drivers.
ADVICE TO THE YOUNG ENGINEERS
GN: Please give advice and words of wisdom about water and wastewater to our young global audience. What would you like to tell to the millennials? Any inspiring words that you can share? Froment: Water treatment and more widely Environmental Engineering contribute directly to creating a better world tomorrow and are necessarily attractive to young engineers wanting to take an active role in this task. With its “Resourcing the World� motto, I believe Veolia is definitely contributing to this aspiration of making a better use of the Planet limited resources particularly as the population develops.
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THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GROUNDWATER TABLE To be able to understand what a water table is, let’s take a look at a cut section of the earth. The image shows the different layers of the earth according to the relationship of the water and the soil. Basically, the water table or groundwater table is that boundary separating water-saturated ground and unsaturated ground. The water-saturated ground, or zone of saturation or phreatic zone, lies below the water table wherein all the openings of the rock are filled with water. Meanwhile, the unsaturated ground, also called as zone of aeration or vadose zone, is the layer or part of earth between the land surface and the top of zone of saturation. Vadose means
“shallow” in Latin, which is exactly what relative to the ground. Water table is not a fixed surface as it fluctuates depending on how much the water seeps downward from the ground surface. This is why it varies over the course of seasons and climatic variations – during drought, the water table is low; during deluge, the water table is high. But to be safe, better build that shallow or deep well as deep as possible into the ground enough to reach the zone of saturation to have supply of water. It is not a flat table as what others might think – being a table – but it almost always follows the topography of the land above them. The water table is
influenced by geology, weather, ground cover, and land use, other than topography. Aquifers are pockets of water that exist below the water table. They are used to extract water for people, plants and every living organism. It is a finite source of water, with some aquifers already threatened to be totally drained from over usage. Photo by CuttingsWaterworks
Photo by Quizizz
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Photo by Scoopnest
Photo by WomenInNano
OREGON COMPANY USES THE POWER OF THE SUN TO PURIFY WATER
THIS MINI GENERATOR GETS ENERGY FROM SALT WATER
Portland is a start-up company based in Oregon that is using solar technology to reduce E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria contamination in agricultural water. They have received a state grant to develop their passive treatment system, “Ray”. According to Ken Vaughn, the commercialization director at Oregon Best (a supporter of the development of cleantech businesses), that while the idea of Portland-based Focal Technologies Innovative Solar Water Treatment System is not new, small scale efforts to purify water with similar technology have been expensive. He says that Ray is a promising clean technology that may be able to provide an inexpensive,
Aleksandra Radenovic, a nanoscientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, recently published the schematics of a new type of flat, membrane-like power generator. This generator will get energy from the process of osmosis. Osmosis happens when the salts in salty water spreads out evenly into freshwater passing through a membrane. This mini generator will only be three atoms wide at its thinnest point. It could be used in places like river mouths and creeks, or other places where waters with different salinities constantly mix. The membrane is a thin sheet that is studded with an array of very tiny holes. It is made up of cheap compound called
large-scale solution to using solar energy in purifying water. “So it looks like Focal Technologies has a new product that they’ve been developing over a number of years that’s really a fundamentally new technology that harnesses the power of the sun to provide a cost-effective way to treat wastewater,” Vaughn said.
molybdenum disulfide. The holes are just the right size so that only certain sized salts can pass through. According to Radenovic, the electric promise of her generator could be enormous. Estimating only a three foot square made of her flat device will be able to theoretically produce a megawatt of power.
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WHY ENGINEERS SHOULD CARE ABOUT OCEAN EXPLORATION What majority of the people know about the Earth’s oceans are merely on the surface, or just the shallow part of it. Rarely do people recognize the importance of the vast ocean space that lies hundred meters and further below. This can only be done by ocean or deep sea exploration. There are still a lot to discover about the ocean water. Only about 5% are explored of the Earth’s ocean, and there are still more to know about it to unfold mysteries that some of our food, energy and other resources depend on. Ocean exploration is a disciplined and systematic science that includes rigorous observations and documentation of biological, chemical, physical, geological, and archaeological aspects of the ocean. It’s not merely wandering underwater and hoping to find something new. The science is to further provide highvalue environmental intelligence that address
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emerging science and management needs. And engineering too, so that what we discover from the ocean can be utilized with the least environmental impact possible and squeezing out the best in their applications. Going deep into the sea offers an understanding of future conditions and informed decisions. Who knows, we might discover new sources for medical drugs, food, energy resources and other products that have been lurking below sea level for a long time. Deep sea exploration also helps in the prediction of earthquakes and tsunamis by checking on fault lines not on land. And engineers are also responsible of that. The challenge is to have more links towards the engineering of deep sea exploration because it is a struggling field right now. There is still so much space in the ocean that needs to be discovered.
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Photo by OceanExplorer
Photo by OceanExplorer
Photo by Youtube
WHAT DO THEY DO IN WATER ENGINEERING? The Earth is about 70% water. It’s just fitting that there’s a field in engineering dedicated and take care of just that. Water engineering is that discipline where the relationship of water with its environment – built and natural – are studied. It is the field in engineering that looks at the behaviour of natural systems such as rivers, estuaries and the coasts; and manages the design of the infrastructure to store and direct water. It deals with the water demand like drinking water, water for industry and agriculture, and water for the natural environment, while constantly
Photo by Envirotect
addressing challenges like global warming, aging infrastructure, population growth, and higher quality living standards. It also studies flooding, groundwater and coastal water. Also, water engineering makes sure that water quality requirements are met. With the mentioned areas of study, water engineers need a background in repairing, maintaining and building structures that control water resources, e.g. sea defence walls, pumping stations and reservoirs to effectively serve humankind. All those are anchored in asset management.
One can get degrees in environmental engineering, chemical/process engineering, biochemistry, environmental science (physical), geography (physical), geology, geophysics/geotechnology , mechanical engineering and civil engineering to be relevant in the field of water engineering.
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IS IT STILL POSSIBLE TO CLEAN THE WORLD’S OCEANS? 16
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The world is in big trouble now. Our trash has endangered different species and have cause calamities in different parts of the world. With the alarming rate of disasters and different deaths of animals, scientists, engineers and researchers have worked hard to find a solution to problems in pollution. This includes cleaning the world’s oceans. The Ocean Cleanup just recently released a very simple prototype that could help solve water pollution problems. This barrier prototype is 328 foot-long and it collects trash that floats around in the North Sea. People behind the project wants this prototype to work given the harsh water conditions in the sea so this one’s an ambitious project. If the prototype launching becomes successful, it will send a 62 mile-long barrier to the Pacific Ocean. It aims to collect half of the trash field in 10 years! If you’re worried that it could disturb the animals in the sea, don’t worry. It won’t. However, Jeffrey Drazen from the University of Hawaii warned Scientific American that this barrier could mess up the distribution of the animals in the region. He also says that this barrier could only clean up what’s in the surface of the ocean. Photo by Engadget
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THE AMSTERDAM NEIGHBORHOOD THAT IS DIRECTLY OVER WATER Would you live in a house over a body of water? For some people in Netherlands, that’s not a problem anymore because they are already living that kind of life. And they love it. The diminishing area of land for residences, as a consequence of rising water levels due to climate change, has made a certain neighborhood in IJburg, Netherlands to live and love the life above water. Built by Architectenbureau Marlies Rohmer, the homes in this Amsterdam community feature a modern design of colored plastic or glass panels, also spaced and faced to
optimize interaction with the neighbors. The houses are designed to have almost uniform height and aesthetic. The water just right outside of the houses serves as an instant swimming pool for the family during the summer, and an instant ice skating field during the winter.
Photo by Inhabitat
To make this virtually unsinkable, this floating neighborhood is made with concrete foundation then filled with styrofoam. This urban planning experiment might be the first floating neighborhood there is, with 97 houses.
Photo by AmusingPlanet
Photo by AlJazeera
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ENGINEERING MARVEL: AUSTRIA’S MOBILE FLOOD WALLS Technology has so many applications in our world today, this includes saving humankind from disasters such as earthquakes, fire, and floods. Over the years, many engineers have been developing different technologies to keep us safe from such dangers. An example of such, is an engineering marvel that was developed to save millions of lives from the dangers of floods— mobile flood walls. When a city in Austria was swamped from the Danube River in 2013, many were in danger of being hit by the overflowing river water. That’s why city officials and officials from other territories tried to find technology that could ensure the safety of the citizens. This is when the mobile flood walls were installed.
Photo by India
Flood Resolution Co. Ltd., a UK based company explained the technology behind these flood walls. The system is composed of two parts: permanently built solid foundations and the removable mobile barriers. As the flood water rises, removable mobile barriers will be added. This system can protect the land from up to 4.6 meters at the upstream end of the site.
Photo by StrangeSounds
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HOW MUCH WATER DO WE REALLY GET FROM DESALINATION PLANTS? Not everyone has access to clean water today. The United Nations even predicts that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will suffer living with absolute water scarcity. But this may change when companies like IDE Technologies will expand to use the desalination process in producing clean water. IDE Technologies in Israel is already revolutionizing the water sector by treating sea water to become fresh water. The company claims to produce 3 million cubic meters of high quality water worldwide in only a day. It boasts of the Sorek Project, which the company say is the world’s largest and most advanced seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant. The plant uses a process called reverse osmosis, wherein the sea water is pumped out of the sea and is forced through membranes under high pressure which leaves the salt behind. Miriam Faigon, senior director of water solutions and products at IDE Technologies, affirms the company’s contribution with the water supply in the country. She said, “The Sorek desalination plant is producing 624,000 cubic meters (of water) per day, which is about 20 percent of the domestic usage in Israel.” IDE Technologies is only one of the more than 18,000 desalination plants in the
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Photo by IDE
world as reported by the International Desalination Association (IDA) in June 30 last year. Collectively, the desalination plants generate 22.9 billion gallons of water everyday, to which over 300 million people depend on.
Photo by GrahamScutt
WATER SHORTAGES FROM CLIMATE CHANGE THREATEN GLOBAL POWER SUPPLY
Photo by WSCorp
In a 2016 study that linked water shortages due to climate change to power generation on a global scale, it showed that not only are power plants one of the main causes of climate change, they might also be the most vulnerable to its effects. As rivers slowly dry up, and what water is left starts to warm, power plants that use water as an integral part of their generation will suffer. Hydroelectric power plants, of course, rely on strong river currents with lots and lots of water to power their turbines, while thermoelectric power plants – nuclear, biomass, as well as fossil-fuelled – need water to cool down. According to the study, the 40% shortfall in the global water supply will cause more than 60% of power plants across the globe to drastically reduce capacity starting from 2040 onwards. This will be worse during the hot and dry summer months. The study recommended shortand long-term solutions, which included a deeper understanding of the “water footprint of energy technologies” and the creation of a regulatory framework that will oversee the production processes of existing power plants. A shift towards renewable energy sources was also reiterated, as well as the development of better energy infrastructure. The authors of the study stressed the need for international cooperation, especially in terms of utilizing the over 200 transboundary water basins that make up 45% of the planet’s surface. In other words, the water shortage can only be solved through international cooperation – because if that doesn’t happen, then we have a Mad Max-level doomsday scenario on our hands.
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This Robot Mermaid Lends a Helping Hand in Ocean Exploration Recently, a not-so-ordinary diver visited the shipwreck La Lune in Mediterranean waters, a vessel in King Louis XIV fleet which was untouched and unexplored on the ocean floor since it sank in 1664. What makes this quest so special is the fact that the diver that visited the wreck isn’t a human, it’s a robot. Meet “OceanOne”, an orange diving robot-slash-mermaid that was designed to help out in ocean exploration. It is about 5 feet and like a mermaid, its torso is humanshaped. It has stereoscopic vision and it has articulated arms. Its lower body contains its computer brain, power supply and eight multidirectional thrusters. Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) are already commonly used for ocean exploration. OceanOne is special because it was not only designed to investigate parts of
the ocean, but it can also do so with the flexibility and dexterity of a human diver. OceanOne is guided by a computer scientist from a boat. OceanOne is a combination of artificial intelligence, sensory feedback and mechanical artwork to be able to perform needed tasks underwater. For example, retrieving sensitive artifacts from the wreck and securing it in a box so it could be brought to the surface. Photo by LiveScience
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WORLD’S BIGGEST INDOOR VERTICAL FARM WILL SAVE LOTS OF IRRIGATION WATER From being an old steel factory in New Jersey, this 69,000 square foot space is the new home of the world’s largest vertical farm. It is predicted to grow 2 million pounds of pesticide-free produce every year, making it 75 times more productive per square for than open fields. Called AeroFarms, the facility can accomplish the same output as s farm field while using 95% less water. The company explains, “We use aeroponics to mist the roots of our greens with nutrients, water, and oxygen. Our aeroponic system is a closed loop system, using 95% less water than field farming, 40% less than hydroponics, and zero pesticides.” The vertical farm boasts of a smart pest management and detailed data feedback loops to monitor efficiency and provide opportunities for improvement. Another factor is that the facility is close to the Big Apple which lowers the transportation costs and attracts a large urban market wanting fresh local produce.
Photo by WebUrbanist
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AeroFarms aims to produce safe, dependable, nutritious locally grown food by transforming technologies related to agriculture. Their work now depends on specialized LED lights and climate controls that remove the need for sunlight or soil.
Photo by WebUrbanist Photo by NJBMagazine
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Photo by ModernFarmer
BACTERIAL RESEARCH COULD LESSEN PHOSPHORUS POLLUTED WATERS The agricultural industry uses different chemicals to help their crops grow efficiently, this includes phosphorus. Phosphorus is an important nutrient that is frequently added to crops. However, too much phosphorus can be carried by rainwater into bodies of water which can cause problems for aquatic environments. Phosphorus in small amounts, around less than 0.02 parts per million, phosphorus is good for water systems. It aids in the growth and development of algae and other aquatic plants which provides a good habitat for fish and other organisms. But if too much phosphorus goes into waterways, there will
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be overgrowth of algae, and therefore leading to depletion of dissolved oxygen which can kill aquatic life. To stop this problem, researchers at Penn State collaborated with Cornell, Central Michigan University and the USD. They are trying to learn more about the different kinds of interactions that affect phosphorus mobility in agricultural soils and streams. Their findings are going to be used to develop better methods to control phosphorus losses in agriculture. According to John Reagan, a progessor of environmental engineering at Penn State and lead project director, "We are trying
SEPTEMBER 2016 Clean Water Technologies
to understand two groups of bacteria that could affect whether phosphate is retained in the soil or becomes mobile and gets into the water," Once the researchers will be able to find out how and to what extent bacteria influences the release of phosphorus, they will be able to include microbial processes in their models.
Photo by PSU
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How Do Companies Waterproof Your Devices? Who doesn’t want a waterproof smartphone? I mean, you can carry it around without the fear of water wrecking your smartphone’s internal parts. You can use it underwater or while in the shower too, to optimize your smartphone use. While that is convenient to some readymade waterproof devices, there are companies willing to coat your existing device to make them waterproof. P2i has offered a solution by coating devices with invisible, water-repelling nano-polymers. But this is only
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limited to splashes and not submersion. So if you’re fine with that, P2i is the company you are looking for. But there’s HzO in Utah and Liquipel in California able to make your smartphones repel water totally. These companies place the device inside a sealed chamber, in which the air is sucked out after and injected with a carbon-based gas. The vapor is let to settle on the smartphone parts and soon solidifies as a transparent layer that is one thousandth the thickness of a human hair.
Photo by Inhabitat
Voila, you have a waterproof cellphone. The next time your waterproofed smartphone is exposed to water, the water beads up and just rolls off. HzO specializes in protecting your smartphone’s internal parts such as processors and sensors, while Liquipel coats both the interior and the exterior. This makes you want to waterproof your smartphone now, eh?
ROLLS-ROYCE WANTS AUTONOMOUS SHIPPING FOR CARGO SHIPS It’s a trend in automotive companies to make cars driverless nowadays. If a company’s not planning to produce an autonomous car, then chances are they’ll get left behind by technology. Later on, people would start choosing cars that no longer requires people to drive it anymore. But how about ships? Would heavy cargo ships be safe to travel without crews inside it? Now, Rolls-Royce PLC wants autonomous shipping to be the future of water transportation. In a paper (Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications) released by the company,
it announced its plans of making ships driverless. Oskar Levander, the company’s Vice President of Innovation - Marine, spoke during the Autonomous Ship Technology Symposium 2016 and said: “This is happening. It’s not if, it’s when. The technologies needed to make remote and autonomous ships a reality exist. The AAWA project is testing sensor arrays in a range of operating and climatic conditions in Finland and has created a simulated autonomous ship control system which allows the behaviour of the complete communication system to
be explored. We will see a remote controlled ship in commercial use by the end of the decade.” These driverless ships would only be communicating via satellite. If anything happens within the ships, people assigned in control site would send drones over to check what’s wrong.
Photo by DesignBoom
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Photo by Tumblr
HELP FUND CLEAN WATER JUST BY BEING 5 MINUTES AWAY FROM YOUR PHONE
How is it possible to support a clean water project just by separating yourself from your phone for just 5 minutes? It’s quite a disconnected agreement, but this is what the UNICEF Tap Project is all about. Giorgio Armani and S’well committed to provide the funding equivalent of one day of clean water for a child
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for the UNICEF Tap Project , if a user of a mobile phone visit the UNICEFTapProject. org site, click “Begin” and put the phone down for five minutes. That’s it. Although this is quite a hassle for those who live by their phones, this simple contribution will go a long way. This month of March, this campaign can get up to
$75,000 from Giorgio Armani Fragrances, while up to $100,000 from S’well, which depends on the participation of the users. With an increasing threat in polluted water, millions of children still are deprived of safe, clean water to drink. Approximately 663 million people do not have clean drinking water and 2.4
billion live without adequate sanitation facilities. This is how we can take part for cleaner water in the world! Visit UNICEFTapProject.org now and leave your phone for just five minutes.
REVOLUTIONIZING THE TOILET CLEANING TECHNOLOGY As the old saying goes, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” Cleaning has always been part of every household life. The most dreading part of the house to clean? The toilet, of course! The stench and the grueling back and forth scrubbing, soap and dirt splashing on you everywhere—Ugh! You can only wish someone would invent something to make your life easier. Well, your wish has been granted! Spyglass Innovations' Garry Stewart has wowed the toilet cleaning industry with the launch a new germ-killing, quick-drying
Photo by LooBlade
reinvention of the toilet brush called the “LooBlade”. This ingenious invention works on SwipeClean Technology(TM) and follows hard-to-reach toilet contours. Unlike the bristles of an ordinary brush, this blade easily reaches under the rim and has an anti-microbial additive to kill 99.9% germs. It also has hydrophobic properties that repels water and dries quickly unlike your traditional brush that sprinkles water droplets all over the bathroom surface. The blade’s ‘hollow-point’ head feature acts as a nozzle to clear blockages. Its unique
holder design allows for free air flow to ensure that no residual water collects. Now, you don’t have to scrub your toilet surface back and forth, as this new blade maintains continuous contact with the toilet bowl so that its blades wipe the surface clean in a single pass. Appearance is always important in any product in the market. So, why spare a cleaning tool? This new brush scores high on its looks for its iconic handles, aesthetically pleasing head and modern range of color options. The brush also cuts down your cost and helps you in saving
water. As an effective cleaning tool, this brush requires lesser bleach and water to make your bathroom shine like it’s new. That’s not all! The new brush comes with a 3-year replacement guarantee. The new brush has been designed with an idea to improve existing toilet cleaning techniques and replacing one of the most poorly-designed available products in the market. The kickstart campaign has already collected a total of £28,336 against its target of £20,000. Let’s see how much more interest this innovation can generate.
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YOU CAN NOW TAKE A QUICK HOT SHOWER ANYWHERE WITH THIS PORTABLE SHOWER For those of you who love doing outdoor activities like camping, hiking, or trekking, I’m sure there is always one thing we would like to do after doing these activities—take a comforting hot shower. Unfortunately, taking a quick shower isn’t always easy to find outdoors. Now, you won’t have to worry because there’s a new gadget just for you. This pocket camping shower allows you to take a hot shower, anytime, anywhere. The Summer Shower portable hot shower uses solar power, so you can use this awesome device even without electricity. It can hold up to 5 gallons of water and
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has a thick reinforced front and back panels that makes it strong and durable. It also has a wide handle grip that makes it comfortable to carry and has a variable flow shower head so you can change it according to your preference. So, if you’re planning your next outdoor trip, this portable hot shower is a must have in your to-buy list.
Photo by HiConsumption
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NEBIA: THE SMART SHOWER HEAD THAT CONSERVES WATER Most showers head tend up to use a lot of water when we use them. This shower head, however, conserves water when you use it—and still leaves you squeaky clean and satisfied with your bath. The Nebia Atomized showerhead is a new innovation that are reengineered versions of traditional showerheads. It gives you a new refreshing after-bath feeling, just like a normal shower, but it makes you use 70% less water than that of an ordinary shower head. So how does it work? This shower system technology uses pressure to break down the streams of water into millions
of tiny water droplets—with 10 times more surface area than that of a traditional shower. This means that more water would hit your body, therefore giving you a cleaner feeling. By breaking down the water into smaller segments, this new shower system uses 70% less water. This shower head is also thermally efficient, so you’re not only helping the environment— you’re saving money too!
Photo by TechInsider
THE KIDS ARE SAFER THAN EVER IN POOLS WITH THIS WEARABLE WARNING DEVICE It’s summer. When the kids are out in the swimming pools by themselves with the guardians dry, it’s important that they stay afloat and enjoy their swim. There is a lifeguard, of course, but one can never be too sure as sometimes swimming pools are too crowded and kids drowning can sometimes be noticed. To answer this problem, a wearable device called SEAL Swim Safe has been developed. It works as a band worn on the neck, and sends off signals to a hub. The hub will sound off if the child wearing the band is submerged in the water for too long, so rescue could immediately be on the way when something might be wrong.
Photo by SEALSwimSafe
The device has an alarm that can be set according to the level of the child’s swimming abilities. Novice to expert swimmers can wear the band and adjust to whether how long they can stay underwater. Parents with the hub would have to be ‘several hundred feet’ away from the kids at most so the signal can be sent. In a tweet, SEAL Swim Safe called itself to be ‘the only wearable technology designed to help prevent drowning and drowning injury.’ It is also the first-ever portable swim monitoring and drowning detection system, which started as a crowdsourcing effort in IndieGogo in 2013.
Photo by Raleighmag
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Photo by Pocket-lint
THIS INTERACTIVE WATER BOTTLE TEACHES KIDS TO DRINK MORE WATER Many kids may not be drinking the right amount of water everyday, so a company created an interactive water bottle which teaches kids to drink water and let them have fun at the same time. The Gululu Interactive Bottle isn’t your ordinary water bottle, it has a screen, a home button, touch sensors, WiFi and wireless charging. Its main purpose is to track how much water is being drank. Have you ever played the game Tamagotchi? Well, this water bottle is similar to that. When you first use the bottle, you have to set a goal for how much your child should be drinking, then the bottle
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will track their progress on the bottle’s screen in different fun ways. There is a map that reached toward a goal as your child drinks more. They will also have a cute digital pet which evolves as your child meets their goals. With this fun technology, the company hopes to be able to motivate kids to drink more water. With the help of the Gululu app, parents will be able to check on their child’s progress. The app sets the hydration goals based on the child’s weight, age, and location. Accompanying its eye-catching designs and interactive platform, this bottle can also be charged wirelessly.
GET READY FOR DUBAI’S SMART BEACH You’ve heard of smart phones, smart cars and even smart homes. Now, get ready for Dubai’s smart beaches. This project, according to Obaid Al Shamsi - director of Dubai Municipality, will be providing hi-tech features, which include environmental-friendly features, to its beachgoers. It will be launched during the summer time at the Umm Suqeim 2. According to Al Shamsi: “The pilot project will be at Umm Suqeim 2 but once we get the services perfected, we can then introduce the eco-friendly services to other beaches that are under the supervision of Dubai Municipality.”
One of the features of the smart beach is a smart changing room. It has the same basic functions but it will also provide its beachgoers with lockers with key-codes. This will protect their things from being stolen. They will also include free wireless internet access for everyone. Stations will also be provided where people can quickly charge their mobile phones and laptops. These stations will look like palm trees. Just like the Smart Palm. Dubai has previously made headlines with its Smart Palm, which provide free internet access to anyone within its radius of 53 meters. In a
statement released by the director general of Dubai Municipality, Hussain Lootah, he said: “Through Smart Palm, the public will be able to benefit from free direct access to the internet while providing valuable public information covering a range of topics including weather forecasts and orientation guides. Most importantly, these structures are entirely self-sufficient thanks to their mono crystal solar panels, which provide up to 21 per cent efficiency.”
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INDIAN SCIENTISTS USE WASTE STEAM TO PURIFY SEA WATER Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. If it wasn’t for the drought that hit 13 states in India, this new way of converting sea water to potable water may not have been devised by Indian scientists. This new filtration process produces 6.3 million liters of potable water a day. Water from the sea is being processed by the pilot plant at Tamil Nadu’s Kalpakkam, which is built by scientists of Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC). They use waste steam from a nuclear reactor to purify the seawater. The center also developed membranes to
filter uranium and arsenic from groundwater. Devices like a bicycle pedal with a water purifier installed and a household water purifier using thin membranes and special filters were also invented by the group. Both turn contaminated water into potable water. KN Vyas, Director of BARC, said that other plants have been built in Punjab, West Bengal and Rajasthan to cater to the water needs of the people.
Photo by Quartz
Photo by ScottishRenewables
INVESTOR TRIES TO HARNESS ENERGY FROM OCEAN WAVES Photo by IndianNerve
Bhabha Atomic Research Center Photo by NuclearWeaponArchive
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Inventor and investor Adam Norris is looking to solve one of the most difficult problems in the field of renewable energy. He wants to harness power from ocean waves. Everyone knows the overpowering strength of the sea, but harnessing that energy is down-right difficult. No one in the world has been able to create a commercially viable wavepower business, and many of these companies have died trying. Norris set up a company of his own, called Wavepower
Ltd, and hired people to work for him. He says he’s in it for the long haul. When he was asked how much energy will we be producing from waves by 2020, he said “None. I don’t think by 2020 there’ll be anything meaningful out of the wave industry,” But hopefully in a year or two after that, the sector will be reaching its tipping point. “I think in five to six years we could be producing electricity [that is] commercially meaningful.” He said.
Photo by CoolShitYouCanBuy
Rainy days are such a hassle even with an umbrella. Its either you get wet or you get some other person soaked. Hauling around a wet umbrella is an even bigger problem with its risk of getting everything wet. We’ve all had our fair share of rainy days and know the inconveniences these umbrellas provide. But what if we told you that there’s an umbrella design that not only keeps YOU dry, but everything around you as well?
Photo by Grist
Water is the most vital need of the human body. It comprises of 50-65% in adults and 75-78% in infants. So it’s important for us to stay hydrated everyday. Usually, to be able to get through the day hydrated we usually pack water with us or sometimes when the need arises we just purchase a good ol’ bottle of water from the nearest convenience store. In the US, more than 60 million plastic bottles are thrown away—which can
SAY GOOD BYE TO YOUR RAINY DAY WOES WITH KAZBRELLA Introducing the KAZbrella from KAZ Designs. This umbrella redesign is a good way to keep everything dry and keep everyone happy. KAZ Designs based their prototype out of 3 main umbrella dilemmas: wet floors, problems exiting and entering a vehicle or building, and opening amidst a crowd. The umbrella, unlike
its predecessors, opens the other way around, causing easier transition and lesser obstruction from doors. The unique design combats these problems and helps you survive the rainy season.
Photo by HiperFM
JUST WATER: WATER BOTTLES CAN NOW BE ECO-FRIENDLY cause harmful effects to our environment. DRINK RESPONSIBLY. This is what you’re going to see once you open the JUST Water website. They take pride in their bottled water, since their water bottle is made up 53% paper making it recyclable and environmentally friendly. According to their website, “JUST water is responsibly sourced, produced and
packaged for improved environmental and community impact.” Compared to a mediumweight PET plastic bottle, their water package gives less harmful emissions like CO2. Their water bottle is 100% recyclable, and they use 100% spring water.
Photo by JUSTWater
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THIS PAPER WILL FURTHER FILTER VIRUSES IN YOUR WATER
Access to safe drinking water is identified by the UN as a perennial problem in most parts of the world, placing it among its Sustainable Development Goals. Researchers from various institutions have already devised ways to purify water, but it’s only now that we are offered with a solution – and it’s a paper – to further clean the water with its viruses. Scientists at Uppsala University created a paper called MilleFeuille Filter, which is composed of layers of thin cellulose nanofibers developed from
green algae. It is so named because of its internal architecture likened to the French puff pastry mille-feuille. Albert Mihranyan, lead researcher and Professor of Nanotechnology at the said university, shared, “With a filter material directly from nature, and by using simple production methods, we believe that our filter paper can become the affordable global water filtration solution and help save lives. Our goal is to develop a filter paper that can remove even the toughest viruses from water as
HOW DIAMONDS ARE USED IN WASTEWATER TREATMENT Diamonds are commonly used as ornamental accessories, but little do we know about its many applications in the engineering field. It is used in precision machining, drilling, optics, acoustics, electronics and
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even wastewater treatment— yep, that’s right. Wastewater treatment involves using diamonds. According to Dr. Tim Mollart, senior applications engineer at Element Six group in a
podcast there are many applications for the boron doped diamond. This include caustic wastewater from oil refining processes, de-coloring of textile waters, toxic pharmaceutical wastewater,
easily as brewing coffee.” Water viruses are dangerous as they are physically difficult to remove due to their size. They can also be resistant to disinfectants such as chlorine. This path, filtration, is perceived to be the more effective and energy-efficient purification option and the paper being the cheapest to date. Photo by SimonGustafsson
and landfill leachate which can include ammonia and nitrates. “It’s the fact that diamond is a catch-all advanced oxidation treatment process that’s really key here,” Mollart said in a podcast. According to the podcast, boron diamond is effective for three important reasons: “It suppresses the oxygen gas generation while generating a hydroxyl radical.” “It is chemically inert.” “You can operate the systems at extremely high-power density and extremely high efficiency.” Photo by Playbuzz
Photo by TechInsider
Photo by TreeHugger
What did you do when you were 15 years old? Were you busy studying for your math exam for the next day? Were you one of those kids who was part of the cool crowd? Were you one of those who obsessed over boy bands and sexy solo artists? While most of us engaged in activities that were appropriate for young teenagers, Hannah Herbst got inspiration from her 9-year-old pen pal in Ethiopa and designed a probe that generates power and fresh water from ocean currents. Now that’s something we normally don’t expect a 15-year-old would do. In this year’s Discovery Education
THIS GIRL INVENTED SOMETHING AWESOME FOR HER PEN PAL By Alice Hernandez
3M Young Scientist Challenge, this young girl from Boca Raton won the title of “America’s Young Top Scientist” and received $25,000 USD. The competition was held at 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. For three months, Herbst and other competitors worked with 3M scientists to develop their own inventions and showcase it during the competition itself. Herbst was paired with one of the company’s corporate scientists, Jeffrey Emslander. All the finalists presented their inventions in front of judges such as Science
Channel’s Outrageous Acts of Science star, Hakeem Oluseyi. Aside from their presentation, the finalists also had two challenges: yielding new solutions by using different 3M technologies and building new technology while applying science and technology concepts. Eigth grader Raghav Ganesh won second place in the competition. His invention was for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder and how it can monitor physiological and environmental factors that may trigger their meltdown. Third place went to seventh
grader Amulya Garimella, who invented a system that monitors EEG brainwaves and alerts users when he or she is distracted. As for Hannah Herbst, aside from saving some of it for her college funds, she plans to give part of the money she won to her Ethiopian pen pal and the other part of her money will be donated to her school. Isn’t it amazing how these young kids are making a difference in science and technology? Hopefully, more kids would follow in their footsteps.
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THESE WATER HACKS WILL GET BUSY ENGINEERS TO DRINK MORE WATER Everyone knows how important drinking water is. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who find it difficult to drink the necessary amount of water everyday. Some find water not suitable to their taste, or their schedules are just too busy that they forget to drink water throughout the day. Lack of water in our bodies could lead to different medical problems. With this in mind, here are some tips on how to get you to drink more water.
#1 Find a drinking buddy Find another water-phobic friend and have water-drinking goals together. It’s just like having an alcohol- drinking buddy, except you’re drinking for healthier goals. Photo by SkymetWeather
#3 Add some chunks of something Natural flavoured water is becoming a thing now. You can add frozen fruits like watermelon, strawberries, cucumbers and even mint leaves. They can also help detox your body. Photo by Elle
#2 Add some flavor into your drink Add a bit of lemon juice into your drink, or any citrus fruit juice, just to transform that flavorless liquid into something that will suit your palette. Photo by BodyAndSoul
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#4 Sleep next to a glass of water Sometimes we wake up in the middle of the night thirsty, and we get too lazy to stand up and get water from the kitchen so we just go back to bed and wake up sallow and dehydrated. Having a glass of water by your bedside table will help a lot. Photo by TheOnion
#6 Mark your water bottles Mark lines on your bottle with different times you should be drinking throughout the day. Photo by BlogspotKathyFannon
#5 Invest in a water bottle Get a water bottle that’s visually appealing and at the same time functional, that way you’ll be more tempted to drink more often. You’ll also be helping the environment, since you won’t be buying bottled water. Photo by BlueRoadToHikingTrails
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CAN COCONUT WATER REPLACE SPORTS ENERGY DRINKS? Photo by Mercola
Most athletes and busy people like engineers, nurses, and even students rely on sports energy drinks to be able to be productive in their routines. Unfortunately, while sports energy drinks do work, they are artificial. So is there a more natural alternative for energy drinks? Yes—Coconut water. Pure coconut water is loaded with lots of electrolytes, like
sodium which is the one that is most lost from our body when we sweat. According to a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, coconut water replenishes our bodily fluids just as well as sports drinks and even better than water. It is only the flavor of the sports drinks that attracts the masses. According to sports
nutritionist Nancy Clark, MS, RD and author of Nancy Clarks Sports Nutrition Guidebook, coconut water won’t rehydrate the body unless you can drink plenty of it. If one can tolerate large amounts of this, it could help in keeping you hydrated.
Photo by SBsportlive
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EXPLAINED: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DISTILLED, MINERAL AND PURIFIED WATER
There will always be that moment in the grocery store where one stands in front of the bottled water station or shelf to choose which one to buy. You are confronted with many types of bottled water – distilled, mineral and purified – and in different brands. But what exactly is the difference between the three?
Distilled Water
Water that is a product of distillation is called distilled water, of course. Essentially, the process of distillation is just boiling pure water to remove the contaminants or solid residues like inorganic minerals, metals, etc. Such contaminants have high melting points and even higher boiling points. The water, along with its contaminants, is boiled and the
pure water turns into steam which is captured and cooled to become distilled water. What’s left after boiling are the contaminants already separated from the water.
Purified Water
As the name suggests, purified water is the type of water that is in its purest form. It is often confused with distilled water but the truth is that this water undergoes more processes like deionization and reverse osmosis to reduce impurities to extremely low levels. The impurity load of dissolved solids in purified water cannot exceed 10 parts per million.
from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. It includes calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, sulphate, fluoride and nitrate that are beneficial to health at certain amounts. But the minerals can also be added artificially. Mineral water may be effervescent, or sparkling, due to contained gases. Which one would you grab the next time you stand in front of the sea of bottled water?
Mineral Water
This type of water also bears the clues in its name. Mineral water is water
Photo by LiveStrong
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WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DRINK ONLY WATER FOR 30 DAYS? Everyone loves a good cup of coffee, tea, soda or juice everyday. But have you ever thought what might happen if the only liquid you drink everyday for 30 days is water? Our bodies are very reliant on water. After all, it makes up more than 50% of our bodies. Water can greatly affect our daily performance. When you drink only water as your primary drink, there are a lot of awesome things that can happen to your body. Here’s what can happen if you drink only water for 30 days without changing your diet.
A Boost in Mental Creativity and Performance
According to the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Journal, drinking only water for 30 days makes your brain react faster. This is because the brain needs a lot of oxygen to operate efficiently, and therefore drinking water will boost your brainpower. Drinking 8 to 10 cups of water daily can improve your brainpower by 30%
Photo by NaturallySavvy
You Age More Slowly
Drinking water helps slow down the aging process by keeping your skin hydrated. Water moisturizes your skin, keeping it soft, plump, glowing, and wrinkle free. It helps maintain muscle tone as well. Photo by Infruition
Immunity is Boosted
Drinking adequate amounts of water everyday helps the performance of your liver and kidneys—the organs that remove toxic substances and salt from your blood. Water strengthens your immunity, and helps battle body aches and headaches as well. Photo by MyHealingPartner
Strong Heart
A glass of water an hour before bed is said to prevent heart attacks or strokes. Water helps the heart become healthy and decreases the risk of heart attack my preventing the thickening of blood and lowering blood pressure. Photo by TaberuKintore
Your metabolism will be enhanced
According to studies, consistently drinking water everyday helps dynamic metabolism. And according to the Health Fitness Revolution, drinking 16 ounces of water upon waking up in the morning raises your metabolism by 24%. Photo by Shape
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‘BONER KAYAK’ SOUNDS LIKE AN EXCITING RIDE, AND IT ACTUALLY IS
It is highly likely that there won’t be ads for the Boner Kayak in the English-speaking world at least for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, you’ve got to admit that it is a beautiful kayak. The design is sweet enough to appeal to any kayak enthusiast irrespective of the language barrier or the unusual name. The Boner Kayak is the creation of one Hans Boner, a Swiss inventor. However, once you take a look at the kayak, the name will be the last thing in your mind. It features a modular design that allows the kayak to be broken down into 3 parts. These pieces can be slotted together to make it easier to carry. Broken down, the kayak can be stuffed inside
the backseat of your car. No more do you have to indulge in a bit of exercise trying to get the damn kayak attached to the roof of the car. Of course, modular kayaks by themselves are nothing out of the ordinary. There are quite a few of them these days. However, what makes the Boner Kayak stand out is that it eschews plastic, the popular construction material for modular kayaks. Instead, it opts for fiberglass and wood. That makes the kayak look like a classy work of art when floating across the waters. When assembled, the kayak will give you a high seat along with a comfortable support for the knees.
There are even foot rests that can be adjusted as per your needs. Pretty nifty, right? You even get locking hatches to store items. The storage in front has a capacity of 55 liters and 75 liters in the one at the back. Quite useful for those tranquil overnight trips. When broken down, you can use the wheel attachment provided to carry it wherever you want, even to the very edge of the waters. Moreover, it can be assembled in just 3 minutes without any tools whatsoever. Kayaking is now extra convenient because of this innovation. Photo by: woodz
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Water Scarcity to Hit Two-Thirds of the World
in 10 Years
“Currently, the status of water resources is worrying, since groundwater levels have fallen by 20% and many parts of the world are faced with a lack of water.” This is what Seyyed Mohsen Tabatabaei, the Secretary of the Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA), said and warned about the increasing growth in the need for water. The secretary followed his statement with a more important cause of alarm, saying that about two-thirds or the world’s population will suffer from severe or relative scarcity by 2025 according to some experts. Right now, 80% of the world’s
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population has access to only 20% of the world’s safe drinking water. Tabatabei’s call to action is the investment of developing countries in their water and sanitation sector. He also urged city managements to make specific decisions to reduce water consumption by having a scientific and comprehensive approach to water consumption management. He believes that water and its resources remain core issues related to sustainable development – food security, health and environment are all affected by water. Photo by TheGuardian
Photo by Mamamia
Photo by Teen
PEEING IN THE SHOWER COULD SAVE THE WORLD The world is divided into two sides, those who don’t mind peeing in the shower, and those who do. This topic has been long debated over, and we think that peeing in the shower is a thumbs up and we have the mathematical evidence that may help (those against) change their minds. There have been reports that peeing in the shower could help save the world! How? By conserving water! Flushing toilets account for around 27% of Americans’ water usage, that’s with each standard toilet that uses around seven liters per flush! The average adult pees around seven times a day, and if we flush each time, that will be around 49 liters of water
per day. If you compute that, it’ll add up to more than 17,000 litres of flushed water, per year, per person. Wow! That’s a lot. By peeing in the shower, you will reduce the amount of water being used for one out of seven of your daily pees. Let’s say you do this for a year, you’ll save 2,555 liters of water per year. If you’re worried about how gross this is: Reassured, you’re pee isn’t toxic and won’t ruin your precious skin. You’re in the shower and getting yourself clean anyway. And while this may be an interesting read, let’s all genuinely save the world and reduce the amount of water we use on a daily basis.
New Desalination Technology in the Works in Qatar Membrane distillation is an emerging desalination technology, and Qatar University College of Engineering (QUCENG) is up for the challenge to forward this field. The research project led by QU-CENG chemical engineering professor Dr. Farid Benyahia, with the funding from ConocoPhillips pioneered a process called membrane distillation desalination. The project has discovered that a hydrophobic
membrane disallows salty water to pass through and allows fresh water vapour to permeate and condense. Requirements of this process are minimal to a low temperature feed of salty water, often not exceeding 80 ºC, and low usage of atmospheric pressure. The process has been tested in two pilot plants at the Ras Bou Fantas power and desalination plant and got promising results. The tests showed that membrane properties need to be improved for long-term usage and to combine thermal integration with existing chemical processes in Qatar. This will exploit low-grade heat being dissipated into the environment, which in turn, will reduce energy consumption for fresh water production, thus cheaper water. SEPTEMBER 2016 Clean Water Technologies
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THE WATER YOU’RE DRINKING COULD BE OLDER THAN THE SUN We all know that our Earth is old, and so is our sun. But did you ever think that water could be older than the both of them? It has always been a mystery on how our earth came to be, and how water became part of it. But there has been one prevailing theory that says that 4.6 billion years ago, water came to our earth from ice specks that were floating in a cosmic cloud even before our sun went ablaze. According to astrophysicists’ calculations, half of all the water on earth may be from that interstellar gas. This could mean that the same water we are drinking and the bodies of water on our earth may be millions of years older than our solar system! The astrophysicists believe that some of the ancient ice made it through the solar system’s chaotic creation and found its way to earth. Researchers analysed the oceans’ water molecules for clues of their history. The clue was through finding “heavy water”. Heavy water has water molecules that contain hydrogen’s twin— deuterium. Water rich with deuterium is found on other planets and moons, even here on our world, but researchers aren’t really sure where they came from. An idea is that most of the heavy water formed in the interstellar cloud then found its way across the solar system. The researchers concluded that remnants of that ice remain scattered in our solar system. This includes the moon, different planets, and even your water bottle. So, let’s drink to that! Cheers!
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Photo by IOP
The ice floating on the water is made from normal water (H2O), while the ice on the bottom is made from heavy water (D2O) Photo by Scind
NASA’S CURIOSITY ROVER TO SAMPLE WATER ON MARS NASA scientists have been searching for liquid water on mars, and they’ve found hints. Now, they want to have a closer look at it. NASA revealed that the Curiosity rover will be investigating recurring slope lineae— the dark narrow streaks on the above photo—around Mars’ Gale Crater hoping to find water. It will first take a photo using its mast camera to make sure that there really is water. If it does find water, the machine will go and get samples. The
agency is expecting to take photos within a year.
Photo by: Express
However, finding water doesn’t mean Curiosity will find life. As we all know, Mars’ harsh conditions like fierce radiation might have prevented life in the first place. We may take a look at this investigation as a stepping stone for mankind. By getting results, the findings Curiosity will collect may help plan a mission for finding signs of life. A small success in this trip may lead to greater things in the future.
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Photo by ScienceNews
ASTRONAUTS’ PEE TURNED TO ENERGY AND DRINKING WATER – GULP-GULP When we think about space exploration, we usually end up thinking something along the lines of Star Trek. The immense expanse of space filled with undiscovered planets and solar systems is certainly a breathtaking idea. Few consider to imagine the less glamorous side of it all, such as waste. However, for the guys at NASA, it is a crucial point when it comes to making space exploration livable. According to scientists, the human waste generated during any space journey is half of their total waste generated. This includes trash, used food cartons, etc… Therefore, they are trying to come with a solution that is more useful than simply ejecting the waste into space. Their aim is to develop a technique that
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can convert the pee of astronauts into drinkable water and even fuel. Before you get all disgusted, remind yourself that this technique can be potentially lifesaving when you are wandering around in space. After all, there are no water tanks in space where you can refill your water supplies. For this purpose, the scientists used a specific wastewater treatment process known as forward osmosis. When combined with a fuel cell, this process can be used for generating power. That is actually cool once you get over the fact that the major component will be pee. As for the scientist, they used wastewater from the shower and urine and processed it with forward osmosis to separate urea and water from the
contaminants. With the help of the new Urea Bioreactor Electrochemical system developed by them, the urea was converted into ammonia which is further transformed to energy. This tech does have potential applications in space. After all, it will enable astronauts to get an additional source of water if the supplies they have onboard prove to be insufficient. However, it can also be used back here on Earth for processing wastewater into something more useful.
FILTER HELPS ASTRONAUTS DRINK THEIR OWN PEE
Photo by SmithsonianMag It is one of the toughest jobs to ensure that astronauts have enough drinking water when they are travelling in space for a long time. Water is a substance that is rapidly used up in space. It is also very difficult and expensive to procure them in the orbit. It should be noted that the cost involved in travelling to space is $10,000 for each and every pound of weight. A gallon of water has a weight of 8.33 pounds. Thus, it would be veeery expensive. Astronauts are currently researching
ways for people to live on Mars. Thus, they will have to find an effective way to recycle and reuse water. Astronauts are allowed to drink up to 3 gallons of water every day. So, with the scarcity of water in space, recycling could really be a great help. So what is their ingenious plan? Drink your own urine! Wait. What?! Since 2009, astronauts have been drinking their own urine that passes
through a process of distillation. This is a way that has been developed by them to battle the problem of water scarcity. However, the process has not been perfected yet. The purifier is heavy, slow and has a tendency of breaking down. The purifier spins at a high speed which then isolates the water vapor. Then the separated vapor is treated in a chemically. The system is capable of producing about 6000 liters of water in a year. This is still not sufficient for a big group of astronauts who are travelling to space for a long period of time. So, the astronauts of the International Space Station are looking for new ways to filter urine for drinking purposes. A Danish Biotech Company, Aquaporin A/s, is known to have manufactured a filter that makes the use of aquaporin protein to take out clean water out of sweat, urine condensation, wastewater, or any other source of liquid that is available in space. Aquaporin molecules are present in the membranes of the cell and very efficient to let only water pass through it. Hopefully, this device will be able to help our astronauts in their space missions. So how do you feel about drinking your own urine? Well, if you’re in Mars, you don’t have much of a choice. But who knows, you might not notice the difference!
TECHNOLOGY TO KEEP TRACK OF YOUR PEE AT HOME Just pee once and we can provide you with your exact medical reports. Yes, it’s true! Lucy Jung, Do Hyung Kim, Jee Young Kim and Green Kim brought artificial intelligence to your washrooms with their new product called The GP Toilet. They together created an intelligent washroom that can keep a tab of your entire medical condition, be it diabetes, blood pressure, BMI or any other. This innovative idea will simplify your life and if permitted, it can even track your social media accounts and post results there. The new invention was designed considering the fact that toilet is a
known place where everyone visits at least once a day. It has made the toilet talk to the humans by analyzing the patient’s urine and giving a report on it. A sort of needle sprouts out of the throne to take your samples when you do your thing. It then, analyzes and displays the results on the screen. So, next time when you plan to visit a doctor for your menstrual cycles, pregnancy or sugar levels, think about trying this innovative device once. This one-time investment can save you huge money for years to come. Now, your toilet will always be there for your help! Photo by Walyou
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WHY I MARRIED AN ENGINEER By Margaret Banford
Reader, I married him. The man of my dreams, the love of my life, an engineer. I know what most of you will be thinking right now – an engineer?! A civil engineer?! Aren’t they all introverted, unsociable nerds who have pocket protectors? Well, reader, maybe the stereotype has a grain of truth to it (though obviously not in every case), but why is that automatically a bad thing? Not everybody likes going out that much – I certainly don’t – and while it might take a few glasses of wine to get me to admit to an encyclopedic knowledge of the Wheel of Time series (I’ll never tell), what’s wrong with being nerdy? In practice, all it means is that you are knowledgeable about the things you love, and really…is there anything wrong with that?
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Be assured: smart really is the new sexy. I admit that sometimes we have our differences – our personalities can be very different, with him not understanding that I just need to vent sometimes: I don’t need any problems solved, I don’t want a reasonable voice explaining to me what is happening – I just want to be heard with a sympathetic ear! But all types of engineers – chemical engineers, mechanical engineers – have been trained to seek solutions for problems. That’s just how they approach things, and unfortunately it sometimes bleeds over into their personal lives too. All it took was an explanation (and, to be completely honest, a few reminders…), and my husband now lets me vent, gives me a hug or a drink depending on how bad the venting session was, and we get on with our lives!
Photo by newsfeedtoday
We all have our quirks – I may not understand why my husband has to have his socks rolled up into perfectly symmetrical balls in the sock drawer (I mean, seriously…WHO DOES THAT?!), but I’m sure he finds my habit of leaving my shoes and coat in a heap by the door after I’ve had a hard day equally annoying. We all annoy each other, and are annoyed in our turn by them. At the end of the day, we love each other, so I will roll his socks if I’ve done a load of washing, and he will hang my coat up if I haven’t got round to it yet. He can fix next to anything! Even if he is a bit useless at deciding what colour we should paint the hall (hint: cream), the actual painting is a dream, because he brings the same intensity towards it that he does towards most aspects of his life – electrical engineers are particularly good for this, because they straddle the line between building things and making them run properly. No light fixture is safe in his domain! That intensity is probably the highlight of my life right now – my husband is an extremely focused man, and while the majority of his focus is on his work, when that focus is turned to me, he makes me feel like the only woman in the world!
Does his engineering brain ever make life difficult? Well, yes, sometimes. Perhaps. It can be difficult for him to switch off, just because of how he thinks. I can quite easily switch off my brain after coming home from work (sometimes with the aid of aforementioned venting session), and spend a happy evening watching tv, reading, playing against in a game of League Of Legends…but he finds it much more difficult to stop thinking in that way. It can be frustrating, because if I’ve had a bad day, I just want to leave it behind and focus on an enjoyable evening, and my software engineer husband is still lost in thought about the latest technical issue which is plaguing his work this week. My husband could work on his romantic gestures a bit more (it was a lonely Valentine’s Day this year…) but I wish I could show you just how dedicated he can be. I am the happiest woman in the world, I promise. About the author: Margaret Banford, when not writing, spends her time reading and playing several musical instruments. She is also a fair baker and the CEO of C.M. Cornes, Birmingham UK.
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WATER FOR PEOPLE: BRINGING SAFE WATER AND SANITATION TO 4 MILLION PEOPLE ACROSS 9 COUNTRIES
and thriving, instead of walking for water and fighting off illness.” GineersNow conducted an exclusive interview with Eleanor Allen, the CEO of Water For People.
THE PERSON
“1.8 billion people around the world don't have access to safe water and 2.4 billion lack access to adequate sanitation. Women and children spend more than 4 hours walking for water each day, and more than 840,000 people die each year from water-related diseases.” Water For People aims to change this bleak statistic. As they said on their website, they want to “see communities break free from the cycle of poverty and spend time growing, learning,
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Eleanor Allen has been working in the water sector for 24 years. She is a registered professional civil engineer and a board certified environmental engineer. Before becoming the CEO of Water for People, she was the Global Director of Water at ARCADIS, the Latin America Director of Water at CH2M, and a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic.
THE COMPANY Water For People is a nonprofit organization that has been around for 25 years. They envision a world where every person has access to reliable and safe drinking water and
Technologies to make processes more efficient, conserve water, and improve water quality are all being continuously developed and we are on track. sanitation. Their mission is to promote the development of high-quality drinking water and sanitation services, accessible to all, and sustained by active communities, businesses, and governments. Their values center on demonstrating integrity in everything that they do: Accountability, Courage, Empowerment, Partnership, and Transparency.
GN: Where is this company headed? What are your future expansion plans? Describe your strategic goals briefly. Allen: In 10 years, we plan to have a complete infrastructure and establish services for 7 million people; as well as grow our advisory & social enterprises. In 29 years, we'll act extensively in an advisory capacity for sustainable operations &
social enterprises since the infrastructure will be complete.
INTRODUCTION GN: How does your company define clean water and wastewater? Allen: Clean water = safe to drink. Drinking water standards for each of our nine countries and liters/per capita/per day for basic water service are all different. Wastewater = There is no standard definition. We are working in rural areas with on-site sanitation and collection of fecal sludge from latrines and septic tanks. No sewer system, therefore, no wastewater! GN: How do people gain access to clean water? Allen: Household connections and community water points. We have an extensive monitoring and evaluation program for our district-level work. We track over 40 indicators that measure progress in 4 categories: Level of service for water, the level of sustainability for the service provider (utility or service authority), household data for sanitation, and public institution (clinics and schools) level of service. We also have asset registers and an exit strategy for both water and sanitation – when the districts can maintain reliable and quality level of sustainable service and aid independence then Water For People can exit. GN: Do we have limited access to clean, drinkable water? Are we running out of it? Allen: Not running out – there is enough water in the world. It needs to be allocated adequately to people/agriculture/industry, with proper stewardship, to meet the basic needs of all and treated to be safe. In our districts, we often have to develop secondary sources as we have lost water supply due to climate change.
THE MACRO LEVEL OF THE WORLD’S WATER TECHNOLOGY GN: Where are we today? What is the current situation of clean
water and wastewater? Allen: 1.8 billion people globally do not have access to safe water and 2.4 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation. This is a global crisis! Each day, women and children spend 200 million hours collecting water for their families –equivalent to 20% of the US workforce dedicated to continuously collecting water! Additionally, 840,000 people die each year from diarrhea from contaminated water. Solving the global water and sanitation crisis would be a dramatic positive change on health, quality of life, and the economy. There is a 5:1 benefit to cost ratio. It will cost $50B per year through 2030 to meet SDG6 (United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #6) which is water and sanitation for all. The return on this investment is incredible - $250B per year! Without a doubt, the investment is worth it!
governments, and communities to create systems and services that last. It isn't just about digging wells, building water systems, and installing toilets. We focus our Everyone Forever model on the long-term change and societal progress in developing (no longer third world) countries. We deliver measurable impact as we help build water and sanitation infrastructure as well as local institutions and service authorities (utilities). They operate and maintain the systems for generations to come, supported by local entrepreneurs and market forces. We have reached the tipping point in several of our districts, and we are now replicating and scaling our model. GN: What are the future innovations that you or your
company is pursuing? Allen: We are working on innovations to scale and replicate faster. We are pleased that others are replicating Everyone Forever, for example, in places like Bolivia. GN: What impact have you delivered (social, economic and environmental)? Do you have metrics or statistics of your accomplishments? Allen: We are implementing our 2013 strategy to provide sustainable services to 4 million people. Currently, we have reached over 600,000 and will reach 4 million by 2022. In 2017 a second program will begin for 3 million more people. Our monitoring and evaluation program (called EF Tracker) is world-class. Also, we have developed numerous water and sanitation offices staffed with
GN: What are the latest water technologies today? Allen: There are new ones every day. We have the technologies we need. To successfully implement technology we need national leadership to prioritize water and sanitation, governance, regulation, supply chain development, and investment in infrastructure and institution building (without corruption). GN: Where is water tech heading 20 years from now? Are we on the right track? Are we delayed? Are we progressing? Allen: Technologies to make processes more efficient, conserve water and improve water quality are all under continuous development, and we are on track.
THE MICRO LEVEL OF THE WORLD’S WATER TECHNOLOGY GN: What are the initiatives/ projects that you are doing (or have done) that will provide clean water to third world countries? Allen: Our innovative approach to development brings together local entrepreneurs, technology,
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municipal employees that we train to operate and maintain the systems. Their scope of work includes water resources management, monitoring and evaluation, rate setting/collection, and asset management. We have also trained craft workers to build and manage their water systems and toilets. Additionally, our school and community hygiene programs for behavior change are very successful. We have trained sanitation entrepreneurs and helped them start their businesses selling toilet/septic systems, pit emptying services, decentralized fecal sludge treatment plants, and sludge repurposing for biofuels and fertilizers. We also have developed water and sanitation product lines for microfinance lenders and community cooperatives for water and sanitation credit to build water systems and toilets. Some of these are self-funded by the communities through revenue collection.
THE CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS
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GN: What are the greatest challenges in the water industry? Allen: To reach the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #6(SDG6) we need national leadership to prioritize water and sanitation, governance, regulation, supply chain development, and investment in infrastructure and institution building (without corruption). GN: What do you think the government, private companies and NGO of each country need to do to get rid of these? Allen: To reach SDG 6 we need to achieve greater collaboration between governments (those providing aid and those needing aid), private industry, and NGOs. Development of country-wide plans with bottoms-up bankable investment plans to meet SDG 6 is already underway (we are helping Bolivia, Rwanda, and Uganda) where national leaders have prioritized water and sanitation. All 193 signatory countries of the SDGs need to do this to achieve SDG 6 globally. Today between national governments, aid, private
industry, and philanthropy the world invests $10B per year. So we need to step it up to get to the $50B per year. In the scale of the global economy, this is not a large number – we just need to make clean water and sanitation a priority. We need to raise awareness and educate to get to this level of funding. And the business case is there – we know there is a 5:1 return! GN: How do we provide water accessibility to more than 7 billion people? Allen: We need to develop infrastructure in each country, village by village, and city by city. Just like we did in the US and other nations around the world. We have done this before, and we know how to do it. It isn’t easy and needs all the items above to happen!
ADVICE TO THE YOUNG ENGINEERS GN: Please give advice and words of wisdom about the clean water campaign to our young global audience. What would you like
to tell to the millennials? Any inspiring words that you can share? Allen: Water is one of the most rewarding fields - challenging for its technical and societal aspects. Development work is infrastructure and social engineering – the perfect combination! Imagine you have an orchestra of community voices, government, business, and technology. When they make music together, it is amazing!! This truly is a career for those that want to build a better world and improve the quality of life, especially for women and children. Plus, in this field, you can help clean up the environment by treating human waste appropriately for reuse and resource recovery. By doing this, we will leave the earth in better shape for our children and future generations.
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AVISCUS: CREATING A WORLD WHERE ACCESS TO WATER, SHELTER, AND ELECTRICITY IS AFFORDABLE
The Gaia Dam, a project licensed under the Philippinebased start-up company Aviscus, is a small, low-cost and environment-friendly dam that serves primarily as an irrigation dam. The dam was also designed to be utilized in helping prevent extreme flooding due to heavy rains by re-routing the flow of surface water through the storm runoff pathway and swales present in the area. Another use of this dam is that it could help in the generation of hydroelectric power by diverting water into the intake structure, which will eventually reach the penstock and then into the turbine. GineersNow conducted an exclusive interview with Kent Renier Carandang, the CEO and President of Aviscus. Kent Renier Carandang is a civil engineering graduate from the University of the Philippines Diliman, and has been working in the engineering industry for more than two years. He started working as a climate and flood consultant for the Philippine local government, and at the same time as a water resources engineering consultant. After a year, he joined a US based company in Guam that specializes in constructing structures and installations for the United States military.
THE COMPANY
(left to right) Top: Kent Renier Carandang, Rhey Joseph Daway, Ralph John Barte; Down: Dr. Leonardo Liongson, Dr Mark Albert Zarco, Ian Kaye Alejandrino, Jeanne Chrystel Dellosa 58
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GN: Tell us about your company. Describe your mission, vision, and values, where this company headed and what are your future expansion plans? Carandang: Aviscus is an engineering and construction social enterprise operating in the Philippines, comprised of a small group of engineers and an architect. Our board of advisers is a mix of professionals from the fields of engineering, science, business, finance, and law and they add value and provide the needed advices for the growth and development of the company. Our mission is to create infrastructures with
the highest level of quality from our design and construction services. Our vision, on the other hand, is to create a world where access to water, shelter, and electricity is affordable. Integrity, excellence, innovation, and accountability are the core values that we practice in our company.
INTRODUCTION GN: How does your company define clean water and wastewater? Carandang: Clean water is also known as potable or drinking water while wastewater is any water which has been affected by human actions such as farming, commercial, residential, industrial, etc. GN: How do people gain access to clean water? Do we have limited access to clean, drinkable water? Are we running out of it? Carandang: According to the United Nations, 783 million people do not have access to clean water and considering the demand of the growing population, this number will tend to grow. Providing access to clean water and sanitation is one of the basic human rights recognized by the UN during its 2010 General Assembly which place the main responsibility to
the governments. We can help people to gain access to clean water by building dams to store storm run-offs and surface water, recharging aquifers, putting up wastewater treatment plants and distributing it to off-grid areas. Almost 900 million people have limited access to clean and drinkable water and the projected number of people that will be located in areas that has limited access to clean water shall rise to 3 billion if we are not going to act now. We are currently running out water supply but we can still turn the tide if we’ll have a concerted action and focus all efforts to innovate and tackle this problem as soon as possible.
THE MACRO LEVEL OF THE WORLD’S WATER TECHNOLOGY GN: Where are we today? What is the current situation of clean water and wastewater (locally or globally)? Carandang: There are numerous advancements in water technology today, however, these are mostly being developed in first-world countries. Sadly, development in the local water sector is slow and sporadic, and the start-ups are struggling to scale because people are not ready to accept
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the poorest people. Eventhough there are setbacks in the development of new water technologies, we believe that there is already an increasing interest towards its due to the pressing demand to clean water and the effects of climate change. Governments and private enterprises are looking for ways on how to manage the water resources of their countries because of the existing issues. Though progress is still slow, we can only strive and continue to pursue research and development.
THE MICRO LEVEL
The emerging water technologies todayaside from Gaia Dam- are focused on providing more affordable ways to treat wastewater, be it for domestic use or for farming use
GN: What are the initiatives / projects that you are doing (or have done) that will provide clean water to third world countries? Carandang: I have co-invented the Gaia Dam - a low-cost dam that is environmental-friendly yet equally effective with its counterparts – which is being licensed by the University of the Philippines to our company (Aviscus Construction Corporation) in order to implement the technology in its projects. The dam’s core produces nutrients and enzymes which act as natural fertilizer and pesticides, thus, helping to produce organic crops.
changes or try a new technology. GN: What are the latest water technologies today? Where is water tech heading 20 years from now? Are we on the right track? Are we delayed? Are we progressing? Carandang: The emerging water technologies today- aside from Gaia Dam- are focused on providing more affordable ways to treat wastewater, be it for domestic use or for farming use. Ranging from the usage of natural cleaning methods through solar technology up to the utilization of thin graphene sheets with a biomaterial that treats three kinds of bacteria in the water, such developments are very promising in the crusade to provide access to clean water to
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GN: What are the future innovations that you or your company is pursuing? Carandang: In line with its promise to modernize its green engineering commitment, the company shall develop the water treatment capabilities of the dam’s core in order to treat polluted water that will pass through it and the wireless connectivity and communication of the chains of dams in order to smartly impound and store storm water for future usage. Though our company is a new startup, we have already conducted initial talks with several government agencies for potential partnership and adoption of the technology in their future projects especially
in the field of agriculture and disaster adaptation.
THE CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS GN: What are the greatest challenges in the water industry? Carandang: The greatest challenge in the water industry aside from the adoption and scalability of the technology is the cost to distribute water to the poorest and underprivileged people. Majority, if not all, of the people who lack accesses to water are the ones who live below the poverty line. They do not have the means and financial capability to because aside from the skepticism of the government, private corporations, and NGOs of every country with introduction of new technology in their portfolio, they are also
looking on the profitability of when they adopt it. I think that if we just allow ourselves to really focus on the problem and provide and implement solutions, we can truly achieve the change we want. By doing a whole system approach by utilizing, treating, and distributing water. GN: What do you think should the government, private companies and NGO of each country do to get rid of these? How do we provide water accessibility to more than 7 billion people? Carandang: In order for us to provide water to more than 7 billion people across the world, we must first have the political will to implement stricter sanctions and penalties to people and organizations that fail to comply with environmental regulations
which adversely affects our fresh water sources and also to prioritize projects and regulations that will enable the connectivity of the off-grid areas to the main distribution system. Lastly, we can also increase our supply by impounding and utilizing flood and surface water and by recharging aquifers. ADVICE TO THE YOUNG ENGINEERS GN: Please give advice and words of wisdom about the clean water campaign to our young global audience. What would you like to tell to the millennials? Any inspiring words that you can share? Carandang: As we all know, humanity is standing in a threshold now and our generation will be the one to carry the burden of saving our planet. Still,
we need to remember that no matter how deep the despair, hope always rises out of it. We are the new light of the worldthe ones who’ll guide humanity to a promising future. For this very reason, no matter what your age, race, gender, or social status, we can help each other and make use of our knowledge, passion, and dedication so that together, we can make our world a better place especially to our brothers and sisters in need.
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THE REALITY OF WATER SCARCITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Photo by: ibtimes
by Cielo Panda
Is desalination the only option to solve water scarcity in this region? Lately, The Middle East has been experiencing numerous environmental concerns, especially so when it comes to water concerns. Water resources in the Middle East are becoming scarce, especially for the millions of people there who have already been lacking access to sanitary water. This includes some of the most water scarce countries in the world: Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. According to The Water Project, these countries have one thing in common, they all lack water resources and have poor water management. The Middle East is known to have some of the largest oil reserves in the world, and this is where most of the area’s wealth comes from. But even if this is so, their geographical climate and environment can be very harsh to live in. The Middle East needs water resources and the proper type of land for agriculture, since most of their land that is available for producing food gets destroyed due to increasing desertification.
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Desertification
Desertification is the process by which rich, fertile land turns into a desert due to drought, deforestation, unsustainable agriculture, and overgrazing. This is a big environmental problem that has vast effects on countries like Jordan, Iran, and Iraq. In this region, agriculture uses 85 percent of water and it has been common to misuse land by irrigation in the Middle East. This is especially so in areas where droughts are more frequent. Overusing water in agriculture can affect the countries’ already scarce water resources. Jordan which is found in the Syrian Desert, and Yemen which is on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, are both enduring severe water scarcity in the Middle East. According to an article by The Water Project, the freshwater withdrawal in Jordan is less than 10 percent than that of Portugal’s average— despite the two countries having the same size. Since there has been a quick shortage of groundwater in the past 10 years, the cost of water in Jordan has increased by 30 percent. Yemen, on the other hand, has one of the world’s highest rates of malnutrition—more than 30 percent of its population doesn’t
meet their proper food needs. Over the past few years, Yemen has not been able to produce the right amount of food to sustain its populations. The standard of living in the Middle East has definitely affected the standard of living of its inhabitants. The United Arab Emirates, which is found on the Arabia Peninsula, is world famous for its beautiful, luxurious cities that are full of expensive resorts, shopping centers, and enormous attractions. Because of this, no one would ever think that water scarcity is a problem for these rich states. However, in reality, the UAE is being confronted with a serious depletion of their area’s available water resources. According to a report from the Emirates Industrial Bank in 2005, it said that the UAE had the highest per capita consumption of water in the world. Also, this region’s water table has dropped about one meter year, for the past 30 years. If this continues, the United Arab Emirates will deplete its natural freshwater resources in around 50 years. Although this region has a large amount of desalination plants to help solve water deficiency, it is still important for this region to adjust their water consumption habits before it may be too late.
Overuse of Desalination Plants
Photo by: thenational
Ras Al Khair Desalination Plant, Saudi Arabia Photo by: susris
Drilling for Water in the Jordanian Desert Photo by: bund
In the Middle East, desalination plants are overusing water resources. Seventy percent of the world’s desalination plants are found in this area— most of which are found in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain. Though these desalination plants produce water that is needed by this region, they could cause health problems and pollution in the environment. The seawater that is mostly used in desalination plants have high doses of boron and bromide, and the desalination process can also remove essential minerals like calcium. Another concern is that the concentrated salt is often disposed back into the oceans which will increase in the salinity of the water and can have harmful effects to the ocean environment. Additionally, desalination is the most energy-costing water resource. According to the Pacific Institute, an American non-profit research institute, the high use of energy results in increasing energy prices and higher prices on water produced as well, which would financially hurt the consumer. It is true that the water produced could be beneficial towards substituting the lack of freshwater in the region, but these areas have the tendency to overuse their natural resources. Instead of encouraging alternative forms of water, energy, and conserving freshwater, large amounts of desalination plants is the method that Middle East focuses on. With the water scarcity Middle East is having, the region needs more than just one solution to solve their environmental problem.
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Photo by The Quint
It Might Get Worse: The Best Prediction About Asia’s Water Problem An MIT study probes Asia’s water problem with an in-depth model. by Dion Greg Reyes About half of the world’s total population reside in the largest continent. More people only means more demand with water, among other needs. But it looks like Asia’s relationship with water will be much more complicated as we reach the year 2050. A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology entitled, “Projections of Water Stress Based on an Ensemble of Socioeconomic Growth and Climate Change Scenarios: A Case Study in Asia” suggests that in 35 years, Asia will suffer from serious water shortages with roots from economic and population growth on top of climate change. Using a detailed modelling to measure the full range of scenarios involving water availability and use in the future, the scientists conclude that there is a “high risk of severe water stress” across Asia.
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The scientists find that the median amounts of projected growth and climate change by 2050 would lead to about 1 billion more people becoming “water-stressed” compared to today. They looked at a large number of simulations of future scenarios to arrive to this conclusion. The scientists used an existing model developed previously at MIT called the Integrated Global Systems Model (IGSM). It has the probabilistic projections of population growth, economic expansion, climate, and carbon emissions from human activity, which they linked with detailed models of water use in Asian countries like China, India, and many smaller nations. Three main scenarios were used as an approach to tease out the human and environmental factors. They were done in extensive series of repeated projections using varying conditions.
In one scenario they call “Just Growth,” they held climate conditions constant and evaluated the effects of economic and population growth on the water supply. In another scenario called “Just Climate,” they held growth constant and measured the climate-change effects alone. The third scenario, which is “Climate and Growth,” the scientists used the rising economic activity, growing populations, and climate change as studies of impact. The distinct kind of modelling enabled the scientists to evaluate some of the particular factors that affect the different countries in Asia to varying extents. For example, in China, the industrial growth has the greatest impact as people get wealthier. Meanwhile in India, population growth brings upon the greatest effect. The factors vary by region. What the scientists also emphasized in their modelling is its complexity: it’s not merely adding the effects of economic growth and climate change, but also on the networked water supply into and out of the area. Part of the model is a network of water basins, which means involvement of upstream and downstream – both of which affect each other. One cited situation is when the amount of rainfall near upstream basins is lowered because of climate change while the population is growing, the basins farther away from the initial water shortage would be affected more acutely. The team of scientists includes Adam Schlosser, a senior research scientist and deputy director at MIT’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change; Charles Fant, lead author of the paper and a researcher at the Join Program; Xiang Gao and Kenneth Strzepek, who are also researchers at the Joint Program; and John Reilly, a co-director of the Joint Program who is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Photo by South Asia Water Initiative
Taking the Study Conclusions Further
Photo by adb
While the scientists from MIT have used a complicated tool to predict the roots of an impending water crisis in Asia, it got commendation it deserves from various bodies. The United Nations’ World Institute for Development Economics Research, through its agricultural economist Channing Arndt, said that the paper is “looking at a really important issue for the world” and thought that the basic finding of the study “makes sense.” Arndt added that the scope and evaluation approach of the paper, which is integrating climate change with economic and population growth, is “worthwhile.” MIT’s scientists is taking its study further by working on related projects, like one on the effects of mitigation on water shortages. They are extending on adaptation practices such as more efficient irrigation technologies which will help in alleviating the water problem in nations who are categorized to have high water stress. Their preliminary findings indicate strong cases for effective actions and measures to reduce risk. It doesn’t stop there though, as the team aims to still look for ways in fine-tuning their modelling, ultimately to estimate significant water shortages in the future.
Photo by ipsnews
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WATERAID: TRANSFORMING THE LIVES OF MANY WITH CLEAN WATER
Vincent Casey, Technical Support Manager - Water Security, WaterAid
Clean water is one the primary needs of human living and it’s devastating to see that there are still some communities in the world who do not have access to it. These are the poorest and most marginalized people that are deprived of the most basic service. This is what drove WaterAid to bring clean water, good sanitation, and proper hygiene to these communities. GineersNow conducted an exclusive interview with Vincent Casey, Senior WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Advisor of WaterAid.
THE COMPANY
GineersNow: Tell us about WaterAid. Describe your mission, vision, values, and where the company is headed. What are your future expansion plans? Vincent: WaterAid is an international non-governmental development organization based in the UK with federation members in the United States, Canada, Sweden, Australia, India and Japan. We were founded in the UK in 1981 by the water companies to bring clean water to poor communities. Today, we have over 200 full-time staff in the UK, and work in 37 countries across SubSaharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Pacific to bring clean water, good sanitation and hygiene promotion to the world’s poorest people. We work with local partners in communities, at household level and in schools and healthcare facilities. Over the next five years to 2020, we will strengthen our partnerships and focus on accelerating progress towards everyone, everywhere having access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030.
INTRODUCTION
GineersNow: How does your company define clean water and wastewater? Vincent: WaterAid aims that the quality of drinking water delivered to consumers by the programmes that it supports should: • Be such that no significant health risk arises from its use • Conform to at least the broadly accepted quality standards of the region or the country where the installation is located (or be better if this can be achieved at reasonable cost and effort) • Be acceptable in appearance, taste and other local aesthetic aspects Wastewater is generally taken to mean runoff from domestic, agricultural or industrial processes that is contaminated in some way, and unfit for human consumption. GineersNow: How do people gain access to clean water? Vincent: Usually, and ideally, people
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get access to clean water through government or utility investment in improved water supply services that are able to capture, store, treat if necessary, convey and deliver water to people as close to their homes as possible. Groundwater is a big source of water for domestic supply – over half of the global population depends on it for drinking. Tapping into it requires a good understanding of hydro-geology to ensure that there is actually water present, and a good understanding of the social and political context in each setting, as well as governance and financing issues. Once services are introduced, they need to keep running, and this requires a functioning in-country government, community and private-sector institutions. GineersNow: Do we have limited access to clean, drinkable water? Are we running out of it? Vincent: Some 650 million people in the world today do not have access to clean water. However, water is a renewable resource -- we are not running out of it. The issue is that water cannot always be found where and when it is needed most. There are also situations where demand for water outstrips available supply or where available water is unfit for human consumption. In situations where demand outstrips supply, careful management of water resources is required to allocate between different water users and the environment. Water resource management is going to become increasingly important in the years to come, as climate change and extreme weather patterns exacerbate existing challenges. At least 2.7 billion people live in basins where water scarcity is severe for at least one month each year. And competition for water is increasing – from population increases, a lack of political and economic power behind water management infrastructure, and freshwater pollution and alteration.
THE MACRO LEVEL OF THE WORLD’S WATER TECHNOLOGY
GineersNow: Where are we today? What is the current situation of clean water and wastewater (locally or globally) and what are the latest water technologies today? Vincent: Water supply is not solely a technical problem – it cannot be solved with a new silver bullet technology. The technology for making water supplies available has been around for the last 100 years. It is largely a management problem whereby the skills, human resources, finances and political willingness do not always exist to extend services to the unserved, manage existing services and manage water resources. That being said, big advancements have been made in large scale coastal desalination, not just in technology but also in management arrangements which means the cost of desalination has fallen dramatically, to as low as $0.5 per cubic meter in some places. This is still more expensive than conventional treatment but it enables wealthy, water-stressed nation-states to bring more water into the equation, allowing them to avoid difficult, political water management and allocation decisions. However, desalination is not an option for many developing countries as it remains expensive and energy-intensive. GineersNow: Where is water tech heading 20 years from now? Are we on the right track? Are we delayed? Are we progressing? Vincent: Again, the issue is not a technical problem – the focus needs to be on management, financing and governance of efficient, effective institutions.
Wealthy nations with very little renewable fresh water and high institutional capacity for management, such as Singapore, can invest in coastal desalination, interbasin water transfers, wastewater reuse, food imports, tariff adjustments to regulate demand, and cutting the amount of water allocated to ‘thirsty’ agricultural practices. However when it comes to lowincome countries, the innovations required cannot be transposed from someone’s garden shed in the UK, but rather developed in the countries facing water supply problems, in government instutions and in utilities and service providers. Particularly in remote rural settings, we need innovation in how services are managed and financed. A breakdown might leave a community without water for weeks if there is no system to ensure it’s fixed in a timely way.
THE MICRO LEVEL
GineersNow: What are the initiatives / projects that you are doing (or have done) that will provide clean water to developing world countries? What are the future innovations that you or your company is pursuing? Vincent: WaterAid focuses mainly on developing groundwater, which is less drought-prone than surface sources, can be developed close to where people live, is usually of good quality and is generally cost-effective, requiring less treatment than surface sources of water. Manually-operated handpumps can be used where groundwater levels are up to 50m below the surface, which is the case for about 85% of Africa’s population. Motorized pumping is generally required at greater depths or where a large
Wastewater is generally taken to mean runoff from domestic, agricultural or industrial processes that is contaminated in some way, and unfit for human consumption
number of people need to be served such as in towns or cities. In WaterAid’s work, we generally use technologies that are low cost, appropriate to the local area and are relatively easy to maintain – including gravity-fed water schemes, hand-dug wells, handpumps, protected spring sources and rainwater harvesting. We promote household filtration, exploring business models that enhance product availability on local markets. Solar and diesel-powered pumped schemes are also used where appropriate. We work to strengthen ownership of services and promote good water management practices. We promote the use of water retention structures to encourage soil water infiltration and groundwater recharge. Catchment protection is also encouraged. Other technical innovations including pre-paid water dispensing machines in East African urban slums, simplified sewer systems and the Gulper pit-emptying pump are important means of addressing water and sanitation challenges, but they work best if they are developed in response to residents’ needs and led by local water and sanitation authorities, and fit within broader plans. Finally, we focus on strengthening in-country institutions so they can manage the services better. This requires attention to planning, monitoring, financing, service delivery, post implementation support and asset management, as well as choosing appropriate technologies. GineersNow: What impact have you delivered (social, economic and environmental)? Do you have metrics or statistics of your accomplishments? Vincent: 2015 marked the final year of our 2009-15 Global Strategy, which focused on promoting the right to safe water and supporting governments in developing their capacity to achieve this. During this period, we reached a total of 9.6 million people with safe water. We now work across 37 countries to promote and secure poor people’s rights to clean water
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The challenge of bringing clean water to people is immense, and the role of engineers who understand social, political and economic constraints as well as the opportunities is critical and sanitation through advocacy with the governments and decisionmakers, through support for municipal and national departments working in water and sanitation, and through work with local partners to deliver water and sanitation services. In one innovative example, we conducted studies in Maputo, Lagos, Kinshasa and Lusaka to improve city-wide planning for water and sanitation services that would reach poor communities as well as the better-off. In another, we organized menstrual hygiene training for schools, women’s groups and government employees across 14 countries including Bangladesh, Ethiopia and India, to combat the existing taboos which become more entrenched in the absence of clean water and sanitation.
THE CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS
GineersNow: What are the greatest challenges in the water industry? What do you think should the government, private companies and NGOs of each country do to get rid of these? How do we provide water accessibility to more than 7 billion people? Vincent: Some of the main challenges that exist in the countries where WaterAid works include: • Insufficient political will to improve water supply services and management of water resources • Insufficient investment in water supply services and management of water resources • Insufficient skills to manage water supply services and water resources • Insufficient human capital to manage water supply services and
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water resources • Exclusion of certain groups, because of inability to pay, political affiliation, disability, race, caste, gender, age or social status.
around equality, sustainable services, integration and hygiene; working with the smallest communities to the largest governmental organizations to ensure everyone has the right to clean water.
In many places, water industries are also coping with rapid urbanization, population growth and economic development which increase demands for water, and with balancing domestic needs against those of agriculture, energy and industry. Another key challenge is sustaining water and sanitation services because of the lack of funding. To deal with these challenges, first and foremost, governments, private sectors and NGOs need to work together to strengthen institutions tasked with delivery and management of services, to ensure they can fulfil their roles and responsibilities. Governments need to play a lead role in ensuring equitable access to domestic water in the face of competing demands; both governments and service providers need to pay more attention to skilled management and maintenance of facilities that are appropriate, affordable and accessible, so that services continue to function. The UN Global Goals on Sustainable Development call for universal access to water and sanitation by 2030. To achieve this, developing countries need effective leadership that prioritizes water and sanitation, and to finance these programmes accordingly. Our strategic aims are centered
Continued support from our cooperate partners, public fundraising and donations play a vital role in realizing the potential to get clean, safe water and sanitation to everyone and everywhere by 2030.
ADVICE TO THE YOUNG ENGINEERS
GineersNow: Please give advice and words of wisdom about the clean water campaign to our young global audience. What would you like to tell to the millennials? Any inspiring words that you can share. Vincent: The challenge of bringing clean water to people is immense, and the role of engineers who understand social, political and economic constraints as well as the opportunities is critical. The Sustainable Development Goals places an emphasis on “sustainable management” of services. This is where the greatest challenges exist and where the greatest need for innovation is required. Even the most basic technology requires some level of management and maintenance. Without viable management arrangements, technologies would frequently fail or offer sub-standard service levels (poor water quality, unreliable supplies). More can be done to resolve these challenges, this makes the role of engineers important.
BREWERY WASTES CAN NOW BE REUSED AS CLEAN WATER If you are drinking quite a lot of liters of beer in a week, you are in a way helping treat water, although far indirectly – because there is now a water treatment system that converts used brewing water into reusable water. Developed by Cambrian Innovation, this water treatment system called EcoVolt Mini will allow the Seismic Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, California to use its wastewater into usable water. Chris Jackson, founder and CEO of the company, said he wanted his new brewery to be water efficient considering California is a drought-stricken state. He aimed to have a water to beer ratio of 2:1. The odds are on his side as Cambrian had an on-site, onecontainer water treatment
and reuse system ready to order. The system is designed for small and midsize food and beverage producers. This will remove 99.9 per cent of contaminants and solidsfrom Seismic’s brewing wastewater; in turn, the recycled water will be used for the industrial processes in the brewery. In essence, Seismic will significantly reduce freshwater use causing company’s expenses with water bills to cut down. Cambrian estimated that a brewery can save from $100,000 to more than $1 million a year using an EcoVolt system. Let’s drink to that!
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The Ugly Truth About Our Global Water Crisis
Photo by alarabiya
Dissecting the world’s problem with water availability, supply, usage and demand Anyone who has seen a map of the world can easily conclude that it is bluer than greener, signifying that the majority of the Earth is water. According to the United States Geological Survey Water Science School, about 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is water-covered, with the oceans holding about 96.5 percent of all Earth’s water. There is roughly 326 million cubic miles (1.332 billion cubic kilometers) of water on Earth. Over 95% of this quantity is comprised of the groundwater aquifers, with the remaining 5% as rain, rivers, and lakes. The huge quantity of this water at our disposal, however, is not suitable for drinking. That fact alone and a couple other complex reasons
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connected to the humans’ interaction with water, the growing population, the uneven water distribution largely contribute to the perennial global water crisis. And engineers are up for the challenge to turn this all around. A report from the World Bank indicated that 80 countries suffer from water shortages and 2 billion people lack access to clean water. This is supported by a separate from the World Health Organization, who says that 1 billion people lack enough water to simply meet their basic needs. The Global Water Availability and Usage For every person on the planet, there is an allotted water of about 1,700 cubic meters. This is alarmingly low number, since the Water Stress Index categorizes any region with less than 1,700 cubic meters per capita as
“water stressed.” There is also a problem on the water distribution among countries in terms of location and availability. Certain areas of the world do not have adequate access to water and they do not have water equally available throughout the year. This map below shows the water availability per person within a country. The blue countries in the map show that they have more readily available freshwater supply, but such fact is still illusive. These countries with high annual averages of per capita per year experience alternating seasons of drought and monsoons. Notable, the availability of freshwater in North Africa is a cause of alarm. When it comes to usage, there lies a difference between developing countries and developed ones. For developing countries, 90% of their water usage goes to agriculture, 5% for industry, and 5% for urban areas.
For developed countries, 45% is used for agriculture, 45% for industry, and 10% for urban areas. The water usage is also affected by the ballooning global population. In 2016, the world is home to 7.4 billion people, a significant increase from the last century’s 1.7 billion people. As the population continues to grow, the groundwater supply depletes and the potable water decreases. A graph by World Resources Institute illustrates the water consumption rate of countries, with red reaching a non-renewable rate. The Sectors Consuming the Most Water Being the largest consumer of freshwater resources at 70% global consumption, the agricultural sector is the most at risk in this crisis. Irrigation eats up most of agriculture’s water which is a critical factor in farming. The industrial sector, which uses 22% of the total water consumption, is growing to the point that this may soon take precedence over agriculture because of one reason: it is cheaper. A thousand ton of water used can produce 1 ton of wheat, valued at $200; in contrast, the same amount of water in the industrial sector can make $14,000 worth of goods. On the other hand, the residential sector consuming 8% of the total water supply has an impending growth of water consumption in the future. The increased urban population now utilizes modern luxuries like flush toilets, showers and washing machines which establishes a potential large demand. How Our Water Becomes Polluted One of the greatest challenges of our global water crisis is the pollution of our waters. A report from the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) states that 1.2 billion people are being affected by polluted water, and that dirty water contributes to 15 million child deaths every year. This problem persists along with modernization as both exist as a pair. As developing countries enter the industrial age, water pollution will still be anchored to our water problem. The agricultural sector having the greatest demand largely contribute as well especially in food production wherein excess amounts of nitrates, posing risk to plant and animal life, go along with runoff. The industrial sector, through the vast amounts of animal feces, is partly
Photo by New Indian Express
Photo by API
responsible of the constant water pollution. The Challenge for Engineers Water is an essential natural resource that humans now compromise. It is given that we only have so little valuable water at our disposal, with some factors beyond our control that affect its availability and supply. Having identified the sources of our global water crisis and disregarding the politics that comes with it, engineers can act on them and identify viable solutions that will help alleviate the problem.
done in the most economical ways possible. Engineers need to devise methods and processes in converting seawater and wastewater to potable and usable water – the magic lies in the technologies only engineers can provide.
The challenge for engineers is to make sure that the Earth won’t dry up on water resources through developing techniques, innovations, and systems that will provide water for our sustainable living on a large scale. Not only that, it should be
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Imagine H2O is an international startup accelerator, and a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. They have been around since 2009, with around 200 people in their organization working together to inspire and empower other water entrepreneurs to succeed. GineersNow conducted an exclusive interview with Tom Ferguson, the organization’s VP of Programming.
THE COMPANY
GineersNow: Describe your mission, vision and values. Tom: Our vision is a global ecosystem for water innovation and entrepreneurship, and our mission is to empower entrepreneurs, businesses and communities to develop and deploy innovation to solve water challenges. We have ten core values, but the most important are “focus on the innovator”, “celebrate success” and “have fun”. GN: Where is this company headed? What are your future expansion plans? Describe briefly your strategic goals (10 years to 20 years plan) Tom: We’re lucky in that we have some fantastic backers including Wells Fargo, Suez NA, Tetra Tech and others, which are allowing us to build out our support not only for entrepreneurs in business, but entrepreneurs in policy. We
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Ignitia (IH2O '16)
IMAGINE H2O: INSPIRING PEOPLE TO TURN WATER CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES have plans to support the piloting of water technology in California, and eventually further afield, to reduce barriers to implementation of innovative technology which is the single most important issue around improving California and America’s water infrastructure.
INTRODUCTION
GN: How does your company define clean water and wastewater? Tom: While there are scientific definitions for clean water and wastewater, water can be viewed through different lenses. For instance, one industry’s wastewater can be an opportunity for an entrepreneur to create a recycling marketplace--a venture one of the startups in our accelerator is working on. You can argue that wastewater is a misnomer, and that it should actually be called “opportunitywater” but we doubt that will stick. We define clean water as just that - clean, and that is what utilities strive every day to deliver and they do an amazing job at it. GN: How do people gain access to clean water? Tom: It’s difficult to accept that people don’t have access to clean water in 2016. It is unconscionable that we spend $750m of public money on football stadiums when there are 1M people in California
alone without clean running water. The way to gain access is for people to demand it of their elected representatives. That’s as true in California as it is in Sao Paolo, Addis Ababa, and Jakarta. GN: Do we have limited access to clean, drinkable water? Are we running out of it? Tom: Considering less than 1% of the planet’s water is available for drinking, clean water is absolutely a limited resource that we need to be making smart decisions with. It’s basically supply and demand. Supply is increasingly limited in many regions due to drought and climate change, and yet demand is growing as our population expands. Water is going to get scarcer and scarcer, so we have to get better at managing it. That includes thinking not only about how we grow, but what we grow.
THE MACRO LEVEL OF THE WORLD’S WATER TECHNOLOGY
GN: Where are we today? What is the current situation of clean water and wastewater (locally or globally)? Tom: Water challenges dominate our headlines from California to Flint, Michigan. The good news is that the unprecedented level of public awareness is helping to prioritize more resources towards these issues. In moving forward, the question becomes how to
Ayyeka (IH2O '16)- Water Supply Installation in Bat Yam, Israel
Lisa Petrykowska, Managing Director of Ignitia (IH2O '16)
best leverage the spotlight to create the political, financial, and technological solutions necessary to unlock change. We think this is a trend that will continue. Our own view is that the water industry is at an inflection point, in that the infrastructure that went in the early to mid-20th century is due for replacement. In other major markets like China, Indonesia, India, and Brazil, the reality of water scarcity is setting in and it will become a major spending priority for their governments, both on the drinking and wastewater side of things. It’s a good time for any young engineer to get involved because the opportunities are vast and international. GN: What are the latest water technologies today? Tom: This year, our accelerator is focused on the water data space, and there are a number of promising water technologies that have emerged. Ceres Imaging is a platform-agnostic aerial imaging company that can reduce a farmer’s water usage by 30%. Ignitia, a social enterprise in North Africa, helps small-scale farmers manage drought through highly accurate weather forecasting. For communities served by outdated lead pipes, ANDalyze offers a hand-held sensor that can detect lead concentrations in real time. All of these technologies, if
deployed on a large scale, have the potential to solve many of the water problems that our world faces. GN: Where is water tech heading 20 years from now? Are we on the right track? Are we delayed? Are we progressing? Tom: We think the first step has to be data. For an undertaking the size of fixing the water systems of the world, we have to be able to prioritize, and we can’t prioritize without data. The water network has to move from “Dumb” to “Smart”, and fast. Alongside data, we think that distributed treatment and recycling will be a huge deal. There is no question we are progressing, but there is always room for things to move faster regarding water tech. Things will look different in 20 years but the central priority remains the same - predictably deliver the right quantity, at the right quality, to the right place, when it is needed. Sounds simple, and yet it’s an incredible challenge!
THE MICRO LEVEL
GN: What are the initiatives / projects that you are doing that will provide clean water to third world countries? Tom: Our accelerator is a global ecosystem for water innovation. Several of the startups we work with are focused on water challenges in developing countries
- from the drought in Ghana to arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh. These entrepreneurs are on the ground talking to locals and building out solutions. One example is DloHaiti, a venture that provides clean drinking water to locals in Haiti using a decentralized production model. With DloHaiti’s locally-operated water kiosks, locals are able to access drinking water without relying on dirty and expensive trucks to deliver it. GN: What are the future innovations that you or your company is pursuing? Tom: Data and “smart” technologies are revolutionizing our lives. We believe in the potential of these same technologies to transform the water sector. Our accelerator is embarking on a multi-year initiative to provide a path-tomarket for new data innovations from early-stage companies. Alongside our accelerator, we’re spotlighting policy ideas that can increase the deployment of data technologies for water. The future is data. GN: What impact have you delivered (social, economic and environmental)? Do you have metrics or statistics of your accomplishments? Tom: To date, we have worked with over 550 startups from
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GN: What do you think should the government, private companies and NGO of each country do to get rid of these? Tom: There are many potential solutions to encourage the adoption of water innovations, but I’ll choose a big one. Currently, most Utility revenue in the US depends on how much water they deliver to the customer, so many utilities lose revenue when their customers conserve water. As a result, utilities are not incentivized to pursue any conservation measures. If water rates were decoupled, utilities would be more receptive to technology that reduces water usage.
THE CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS
GN: How do we provide water accessibility to more than 7 billion people? Tom: We believe innovation is the key to increasing water accessibility. Better policies along with the right pieces of technology are both critical for managing water for 7 billion people. Policy and technology go hand in hand, and our accelerator is an ecosystem that supports innovation in both sectors. That said, this stuff doesn’t go into the ground without leadership. Social, political, and business leaders need to stand up for the 7 billion. Without that leadership, nothing happens.
GN: What are the greatest challenges in the water industry? Tom: That’s not an easy question to answer. The challenges in the water industry are unusually complex in terms of incentives and structures. A key issue we run up against in our work is the conservative nature of the water industry. When the primary goal is just to ensure clean water flows from the tap, decision makers at utilities understandably prefer to maintain existing operations. But we need early adopters in the water industry to support innovations that can have a vast impact on improving monitoring, access, and quality. Proof points for new technology are critical, and don’t happen fast enough.
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ADVICE TO THE YOUNG ENGINEERS
GN: Please give advice and words
Natel Energy (IH2O '15)
Ashwin Madgavkar, Founder of Ceres Imaging (IH2O '16)
20 countries. Our accelerator represents 1 in every 10 dollars of early-stage water investments. The startups we accelerate have a vast and quantifiable impact. Some like Ayyeka, a provider of remote monitoring solutions, deliver services to large municipal utilities with thousands of customers. Others like Ignitia, a mobile drought forecasting subscription with 80,000 users, have products that directly benefit their end-users. There is no limit to the innovation that can happen in water, and we are proud to support entrepreneurs who are solving vital problems in the industry.
of wisdom about the clean water campaign to our young global audience. What would you like to tell to the millennials? Any inspiring words that you can share? Tom: One, build your network. Aspiring water entrepreneurs have more resources than ever, including accelerators like Imagine H2O and an increasing number of funding sources, to create deployable solutions. Two, understand the problem you’re solving. Talk to as many customers as you can so you can figure what job they need you to do, what problem they need you to solve. Three, be impatient. Demand change, and try and create it yourself. The more energy the better. Looking across the industry, the stage is set for new ideas and the next generation of water leaders. It’s an exciting time to be a water entrepreneur!
Photo by Regmedia
THESE AUTONOMOUS SWIMMING MICROBOTS SOAK UP 95% OF SPILT LEAD
A group of researchers namely Diana Vilela, Jemish Parmar, and Samuel Sånchez from the Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and Yongfei Zeng and Yanli Zhao of Nanyang Technological University have found out that Graphene-Based Microbots can be used to clean up toxic heavy metals in contaminated water. It can remove 95 percent of lead in an hour. "Heavy metal contamination in water is a serious risk to the public health and other life forms on earth," the team says. "We report graphene oxidebased microbots (GOxmicrobots) as active selfpropelled systems for the capture, transfer, and removal of [lead] and its subsequent recovery for recycling purposes.�
"Mobile GOx-microbots remove lead 10 times more efficiently than nonmotile GOx-microbots, cleaning water from 1000 ppb down to below 50 ppb in 60 min." These microbots are made of nanosized multilayers of graphene oxide, nickel, and platinum. The graphen oxide outer coat captures the suspended lead, while the inner platinum layer decomposes hydrogen peroxide for self-propulsion, and the middle nickel band lets the machines be magnetically retrieved from the water. They can also be reused as soon as the lead is chemically separated.
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System configuration A waterless self-contained toilet for private household of 10 people
Urine processing 1. Weir channel
Faeces processing
Urine will pass over the weir and into the channel where it will warm up around the exhaust of the gasifier
1. Archimedes screw
Removes solid waste from holding after settling period
2. Membrane bundle
The urine will pass into the membrane chamber and pure water will pass out of the hollow membrane fibres
2. Drier pelletizer Reduces moisture content of the solid waste before dosing the fuel into the gasifier below
3. Gasifier
4. Reservoir
Burns the faeces to produce the energy for the system
CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY: REINVENTING THE TOILET Treating human waste without the need for external energy or water
The pathogen free water will be stored ready for either use around the home or easy disposal by the home owner
A research team in Cranfield University is developing the Nano Membrane Toilet, a toilet that can treat human water onsite without external energy or water. This toilet is being developed in response to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Reinvent the Toilet Challenge. GineersNow conducted an exclusive interview with Dr Alison Parker, a member of the team developing the Nano Membrane Toilet. Dr Parker has been working on sanitation research for eight years, and her role within the team is to ensure that the potential users’ views are represented and that the Nano Membrane Toilet will be accepted by their target users.
THE COMPANY GN: Tell company.
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3. Heat exchanger
us about Describe
your your
The water vapour will condense to liquid and fall to the bottom
mission, vision and values, where this company is headed and what are your future expansion plans? Dr Parker: Our team works at Cranfield University in one of its four schools – the School of Water, Energy and Environment (SWEE). The team has 21 members, a mix of research students, research staff and senior academic advisors. We are all based at the Cranfield campus in Bedfordshire in the UK. The team’s vision is to develop and test the Nano Membrane Toilet and see it commercialized so that the number of people who do not have access to a toilet at all is reduced. Our target market is people living in dense urban areas where providing other forms of sanitation is challenging.
INTRODUCTION
GN: How does your company
Dr Alison Parker
define clean water and wastewater? How do people gain access to clean water? Dr Parker: We use the WHO (World Health Organization) / UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) definition of ‘improved water source’ and ‘improved sanitation’. Many communities, governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other agencies are working towards providing clean water. However, providing good sanitation is also important so that water sources do not become contaminated with human waste.
THE MACRO LEVEL OF THE WORLD’S WATER TECHNOLOGY
GN: Where are we today? What is the current situation of clean water and wastewater? What are the latest water technologies today? Dr Parker: UNICEF and the WHO provide regular updates on the progress towards universal water and sani-tation coverage. There are still some technological changes to achieving universal coverage, including finding a hygienic way to empty existing pit latrines and finding alternatives to pit latrines.
THE MICRO LEVEL
GN: What are the initiatives / projects that you are doing (or have done) that will provide clean water to third world countries? Dr Parker: Cranfield University is developing the Nano Membrane Toilet which will be able to treat human waste onsite without external energy or water. The Cranfield toilet is designed for single-household use (equivalent to 10 people) and will accept urine and faeces as a mixture. It is still under development but this is the vision of how it will work. The Cranfield toilet flush uses a unique rotating mechanism to transport the mixture into the
toilet without using any water while simultaneously blocking odour and the user’s view of the waste. Solids separation (faeces) is principally accomplished through sedimentation. Loosely bound water (mostly from urine) is separated using low glass transition temperature hollow-fibre membranes. The unique nanostructured membrane wall facilitates water transport in the vapour state rather than as a liquid state which yields high rejection of pathogens and some odorous volatile compounds. The water will be collected for reuse at the household level in washing or irrigation applications. Following release of unbound water, the residual solids are transported by mechanical screw into a gasifier which will convert them into ash and energy. The energy will power the membrane processes, and there may be extra energy for charging mobile phones or other low voltage items. The Cranfield toilet will be rented by the households and maintenance will be undertaken with a trained operative responsible for the franchised area.
ADVICE TO THE YOUNG ENGINEERS
GN: Please give advice and words of wisdom about the clean water campaign to our young global audience. What would you like to tell to the millennials? Any inspiring words that you can share? Dr Parker: The water sector has many challenges that need solving – not only technical challenges but social, political and institutional challenges as well. We need well-trained scientists, engineers, designers and social scientists who have a good understanding of these challenges and who aren’t afraid to propose radical new solutions.
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Photo by BBC
How The Water Crisis Is Causing Headaches For The People In Latin America by By Alice Hernandez Having four of the world’s 25 largest rivers, Latin America is known to have a large supply of freshwater. It also has some of the world’s largest lakes around. An estimated 110,500 cubic feet per person per year is expected because of the supply naturally provided by the environment. However, it is often a mystery to most researchers why the region suffer from water shortages. Given the water crisis it is going through these past few years, it has affected the political and economic agendas of the countries involved. According to the World Water Council, about 77 million Latin Americans do not have access to safe water while 100 million of them do not have access to sanitation. People also suffer from lack of treatment of sanitation wastes while dealing with large water pricing inequality.
So what exactly is going on in Latin American countries? Global Policy Forum reports that some of the major factors that have affected the distribution of water resources include “poor farming practices, unregulated industrialization and urban poverty.” With a major
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increase in the population growth, more demands must be attended to thus industrialization has devoured a lot of the water supply. With more people to feed, farming practices must be enough to feed millions of people, which may lead to unregulated distribution of pesticides. All these practices have led to contributing to water pollution. Water pollution is the main reason why water resources become more limited than it is before. People have made water basins and other water bodies a dumping site for different kinds of wastes - garbage, effluent, industrial and mining.
What has this water shortage led to? Latin America was known for being a global leader in clean energy because it is abundant in water. The water shortage has affected the energy distribution in these countries. Energy usually comes from hydropower production but the water crisis has made it impossible for the people in the region to rely solely on it. A lot of these countries like Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Chile and Bolivia have experienced power blackouts most of the time. Some governments have resorted to using fossil fuels lately. Costa Rica invested almost $1 billion in order to use geothermal energy while Uruguay will be investing over $1.4 billion for wind energy. Other countries have imported natural gas from the US. The water shortage has also affected the water distribution between the rich and the poor people in the region. In a study conducted by World Bank (2006), it showed that people in Latin America have the highest water bills in the developing world. Those who suffer from this are the poor ones who have to pay more than the rich ones for clean water. These people also spend more time collecting water. Studies have also shown that they are more likely to be exposed to different water-
Photo by BBC World Online
related health problems. In a study reported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), it stated, "People suffering the most from the water and sanitation crisis -- poor people in general and poor women in particular -- often lack the political voice needed to assert their claims to water.” Different organizations have been made to fight for the people’s right to access to clean water. While there have also been an increase in private and public partnerships throughout the area in an attempt to support sustainable development. One private company, the US-based brewing company Anheuser-Busch, help water management pilot projects that would help barley-growing regions like Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina.
What can people do to improve it? Now, if these organizations would be able to preserve their water resources, there’s still a chance that these countries will run out of freshwater. Water pollution, which has been a major factor as to why there’s a water crisis going on, should be a priority for the private institutions and governments. They must find a way to reduce the pollution at all cost. Not only has the water crisis affected the economic and political growth of the region. It has also affected the quality of life for its people. Millions of people suffer from not being able to drink enough water or have access to proper sanitation. It is up to engineers, researchers, scientists and businessmen to come up with creative solutions to address these problems that not only affects Latin America, but also the whole world.
Photo by PRI
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THE MOST WATER-STRESSED COUNTRIES BY 2040
by By Alice Hernandez
The world is already in deep trouble. Whatever news channel you go to, whatever newspaper you read, there are things everyone should be aware of. This includes being environmental problems the world is facing because of climate change. We all know how it has dramatically changed the landscapes of different places but did you know that decades from now, the world will be living in a planet that may not be able to sustain human life anymore? One of the alarming environmental issues we must be aware of is the high demand of water now. Given this demand, there is low supply of water consumable for people in each country. Adding climate change to the issue, water levels have changed in different regions - affecting not only the environmental situations of different countries, but also the political and economic sectors. With some areas becoming drier and others having more water than expected, we’re not entirely sure where to get the water we need to sustain the lives of people from different nations. In a study conducted by the World Resources Institute (WRI), they have identified the places that will likely have trouble getting enough supply of water. Their study includes a ranking of the future water stress by each country in the year 2040. Water stress is based on the ration of withdrawals to the supply of water available in each country. Water stress are categorized from low to extremely high, which depend on the given scores. 0 be-ing the lowest and 5 being the highest. 33 countries were ranked in the category of being the most water stressed countries where 14 of them will be coming from the Middle East. 9 out of 14 got a score of 5.0! This may be expected since geographically speaking, these countries have the least supply of water. These countries rely on groundwater and desalinated sea water for their supply. These countries are: Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Palestine, Kuwait, Isra-el, Oman and Bahrain. The challenges these countries face 80
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have affected the livelihoods of different nations. For exam-ple,Saudi Arabia normally plants their own supply of grains but due to the water scarcity the coun-try is facing, its government announced it will be relying on grain imports this year. Water has also played a major factor in different national and international problems several countries face in the-se areas. As for the countries with the largest economies, United States, India and China also are at risk with their water supply. While these countries will see a constant level of water stress by 2040, there are specific regions for each country that will have a water stress level increase by up to 40-70%. These huge countries have different regional variations which cause a difference in the actual wa-ter stress level in each region. One must also take note that there are countries that manage their water supply exceptionally well, which may cause the difference between the actual and expected water stress level. For each country, there are different factors why the water stress level is high. Usually, it’s a com-bination of these different factors that worsens the amount of water supply available. For example, Chile is projected to have extremely high stress (compared to a previous medium water stress in 2010) because of rising temperatures and precipitation patterns. While countries like Botswana and Namibia have limited water supplies and more likely at risk from floods and droughts. While this study wouldn’t be able to predict the water conditions in the future, it will certainly help different organizations, private institutions and governments in dealing with whatever possible solu-tions necessary to improve the situation. Water is very crucial to human life and the progress of every nation to obtain such high water stress level can pose as a threat economic growth and may lead to more problems in the future. Water organizations and different governments all over the world must work hand in hand to manage these water problems and make rules that will allow eve-ryone to join in on the different conservation practices out there. Again, the world is in danger. Once the water demand is too low, there’s no telling whether humans will still have a bright future or not.
Photo by Carbon Neutral
Photo by BBC
Photo by World Resources Institute
Photo by Washington Post
These are the top 33 water-stressed countries by the year 2040: Source: World Resources Institute SEPTEMBER 2016 Clean Water Technologies
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WATER SCARCITY: A PROBLEM EVERYBODY SHOULD BE AWARE OF by By Alice Hernandez
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Take a look at the water you’re drinking right now? Amazing how one sip can energize the body. Incredible how one drop of water can save lives. Take a look at it now. Marvel at how engineers across the globe have found a way to make it safe to drink and how it was delivered to you like it was that easy. Take a look at it now before one day, you’ll realize what was once something we took for granted becomes so scarce that people will spend millions just to get a taste of it. That’s the scary future of the water we’re using now. It’s not going to be available for human con-sumption forever. You may think, “But 70% of the planet is covered with water, how is it possible for it to be scarce?” Yes, the world is covered with 70% water but only 3% of that is freshwater - the one safe to use for drinking, bathing and irrigation. Two-thirds of this freshwater, however, is tucked away in frozen glaciers. Now, can you imagine how limited our supply to freshwater is? According to the World Wildlife Organization (WWF), around 1.1 billion people do not have access to water while 2.7 billion people experience water scarcity for at least one month. Due to lack of water available, millions of people die - usually from diarrheal diseases. Climate change has also played a huge part in this problem since it has affected the water stress level from medium to extremely high levels. Water stress is the ratio of the withdrawal of water needed to the supply. As greenhouse gases increase in the environment, the weather we’re dealt with has affected the ecosystem. Places become drier while the others become wetter. It is esti-mated that by 2025, only 1/3 of the world’s population will be left with enough water for consump-tion. What will happen to the remaining 2/3? What is the future for the whole world when we won’t have enough water available? Another factor that plays a huge part in water scarcity is water pollution. Water pollution is caused by industrial wastes, untreated human wastewater and the pesticides that come from farms. These wastes poll the water
by leaching into underground aquifers. The water then becomes unsafe to use for everyone. As for the pollutants that come from farming, did you know that 70% of the freshwater accessible to humans is used in agriculture? The terrible thing about this is that 60% of that water used is wasted due to inefficient systems used in farming. Imagine rivers and lakes be-ing dried up but only wasted in irrigation systems. Population growth also plays an important factor in water scarcity since more demands must be supplied to the growing population. However, there is limited supply already. With more people to feed, more production of energy and commodities are also needed which leads to a decrease in water availability. So how does this affect us all? Aside from the obvious answer which is we will suffer from water shortage years from now, this also damages ecosystems. Dried out lakes and rivers means sever-al species have died. Pollution has resulted to destruction of homes to different kinds of animals - invertebrates, fish, birds and even mammals. This has also affected the cultivation of rice and a shortage in food production. But what can we do? Is there anything that can be done to prevent the increase in mortality rate because of the water shortage? Different organizations and governments must work together to find solutions to manage water scarcity. Proper water management must be implemented in different regions to control the water distribution and to avoid water shortages if possible. Actions must also be done to further avoid water pollution. To end this special coverage on water scarcity, here’s an important thought we want to let you know. There’s still time to save the planet. Take a look again at that glass of water in front of you. It’s still drinkable. But if you don’t do you part in protecting our water, you won’t be seeing drinkable water a few years from now. So from an engineer to another engineer, let’s work together in saving our water. It’s possible if we work together. It still is.
Photo by Emazet
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THE DAYS OF ABUNDANT POWER AND WATER MAY BE OVER by Raymond Gerard del Valle For most of us, having electricity and water in our homes, schools or offices is a foregone conclusion. These days, turning on the tap and finding that water is freely flowing no longer merits hurrahs and hallelujahs. In the same vein, connecting a charger to your mobile phone and seeing the battery bar virtually fill up should no longer come as a surprise. Indeed, water and electricity are ubiquitous, that life without them is unimaginable. This, however, is not the case for everyone. Currently, there are 650 million people without access to water, and more than a billion without access to electricity. And with the continuous growth in the world’s population, which spurs a proportional increase in the demand for power and water, meeting the future demand for the two assets is set to become more challenging in the coming years. As power and water are intertwined in more ways than one, a collective analysis of both holds the potential to greatly help stakeholders in coming up with sustainable solutions to the world’s escalating utility challenges.
How power and water are intertwined
Photo by Energy.gov
Water for power
All types of electric power generation involve the use of water, either in processing raw materials utilized in the energy facilities, constructing or maintaining power plants, or in producing electricity. In fact, even renewable sources of energy, like solar and wind, which use very little or no water in generating energy, may still require water in the development of raw materials used in building turbines and solar panels. 84
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Photo by AltaaqaGlobal
Photo by Boschrexroth One of the methods of power generation that is highly dependent on the availability of water is, of course, hydropower generation. A consistent supply of water is extremely important in hydropower plants, that even minute variations in rainfall and ambient temperature, and a small dip in water levels in dams and reservoirs can have a huge effect on hydropower generation and on the health of the turbines. Water-related weather phenomena like droughts, El NiĂąo, or floods can lead to exceedingly low levels of water in dams, or to destruction of and damage to turbines due to silt, respectively. When these happen to hydropower plants, a shortage in electricity supply may ensue, which may jeopardize business and industrial operations, and the daily activities of common residents.
Power for water
Water supply and sewage disposal requires power. A considerable amount of electricity is needed to extract, transport, treat and use water in urban and rural areas. For instance, drinking water must
be pumped to treatment facilities, pre-treated, and then pushed or transported to consumers. According to experts, energy consumed in pumping groundwater is within the area of 537 kWh and 2,270 kWh per million gallons depending on the pumping depth.
cannot happen overnight nor even in a span of few years. There are numerous factors involved in shifting a paradigm, and for new technologies to gain traction, all variables should fall into place, and all parties involved should agree to head to the same direction.
Water desalination is another process that involves a copious amount of power. As fresh water may not always be abundant or available, salt water is desalinated to produce water suitable for human consumption or irrigation. Compared to extracting water from rivers or the ground, water recycling or water conservations process, desalination entails a relatively increased level of electricity.
While industry experts are looking into the wider adoption and improvement of renewable energy sources, like solar and wind, they may find merit in tapping the support of other stable power technologies, like multi-megawatt temporary power solutions. As the world transitions to water-friendly, alternative power sources, the need of the hour is to find a balanced energy mix – traditional, renewable and temporary – where sources complement each other to create a system capable of providing the most sustainable and stable electricity supply possible.
Managing power and water for the next generations In the interest of maintaining a buoyant supply of power and water for the future, there is a steady drumbeat on harnessing viable alternative sources of energy that only require a negligible amount of water, or are completely independent. But as one may predict, the adoption of nascent technologies
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ECO-UV PROJECT BY EU FORWARDS NONCHEMICAL WATER TREATMENT PROCESS Towards an environmentally friendly approach to clean water, an Eco-UV research project was funded by the European Union with EUR 3.9 million which is under the Horizon 2020 program, to be participated by engineers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). They are tasked to develop efficient ultraviolet (UV) emitters and long-lived electronic systems in treating the universal solvent.
How UV water filter and purification systems work.
Dr. Rainer Kling of KIT. Photo by 3DPrint
The concept of UV radiation is not unfamiliar in water purification. The use of short-wave radiation is an alternative to chemical additives by still reducing significantly the bacterial count present in water in short periods of time. The Eco-UV project will focus
on the water processing – from drinking water disinfection to detoxification of industrial process water. Along with their focus is to reduce the carbon dioxide emission and overall environmental pollution. Dr. Rainer Kling of KIT’s Light Technology Institute said, “A high energy efficiency and long service life will be major features of the new system. At KIT, we are working on the key component, a new, mercury-free UV emitter. With silicon carbide as semiconductor material, we reach a very high power density. This does not only increase efficiency, but also reduces energy consumption and CO2 emission.” The emitters produced by the KIT engineers will be integrated into a system of Hanovia, a British manufacturer of UV systems.
Researchers in Georgia Tech’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences shows that for decades, air pollution that drifts from East Asia to the world’s largest ocean has started a chain reaction which has contributed to the depletion of oxygen levels in tropical waters thousands of miles away. According to Taka Ito, an associate professor at Georgia Tech, "There's a growing awareness that oxygen levels in the ocean
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may be changing over time. One reason for that is the warming environment -- warm water holds less gas. But in the tropical Pacific, the oxygen level has been falling at a much faster rate than the temperature change can explain." This study was published May 16th in Nature Geoscience, and was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, a Georgia Power Faculty Scholar Chair and a Cullen-Peck Faculty Fellowship.
The researchers described in the report how air pollution from industrial activities increased the levels of iron and nitrogen in the ocean of the coast of East Asia. Iron and Nitrogen are key nutrients for marine life, and are carried into the tropical regions by ocean currents, where they will be consumed by photosynthesizing phytoplankton. But while tropical phytoplankton may release more oxygen into the
Photo by EScienceNews
IRON-RICH DUST CAUSES OXYGEN LOSS IN OUR OCEANS atmosphere, their consumption of excess nutrients have a negative effect on the dissolved oxygen levels deeper in the ocean.
HOW LAS VEGAS ROSE FROM THEIR WATER CRISIS Perhaps quite an application to the famous adage “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” is with their water, although water is not very exclusive to them – only they have an edge due to their water technology. The thirstiest city in Nevada, a state wherein they only get 4 inches of rain annually, Las Vegas has to find a way around their lack of water blessing, and so far they are delivering well in conserving their water. New front lawns have been banned for years; golf courses are being punished with fines due to their excessive water rationing. Not only that, they also have a recycling program wherein the city’s indoor water goes back and forth Lake Mead that enabled them to trim their aggregate
water use by a third despite the considerable population growth since 2000. Behind these efforts are more, especially in their water innovation. Research and development in Las Vegas grew more with the area’s umbrella water utility, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, being a recognized water quality treatment. It has state-of-the-art laboratory that produced major academic journals together with their accomplished group of scientists. There are also efforts from the teaming up of the state, the city, the University of Nevada’s Desert Research Institute, the regional water authority and private industry that produced what they call as WaterStart, a tiny incubator
that treats water for research. Vegas locals and visitors can gamble and need not to worry about water anymore as things are patching up despite their history with water. They can even be rightfully called the Silicon Valley of Water with their water innovation.
Photo by OutsideOnline
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eliminate surcharges. Although the first option was the cheaper one, the second one was chosen as it was seen to be most beneficial in the long run. The brewery invested $13 million in an anaerobic digestion system that will remove surcharges and will also meet the natural gas demand for plant boilers of up to 5 per cent. What they did was contrary to the popular mantra among water treatment circles which is “the solution to pollution is dilution,” but Oland managed to control the problem just fine. See, the problem with food and beverage wastewater discharge is taking responsible of where the water goes before the effect becomes irreversible. That is why companies like Oland are worth emulating when it comes to their social responsibility with water treatment.
Photo by TheChronicleHerald
Truth be told, water treatment is taken for granted in the food and beverage production sector. It only comes to mind when there is a problem after the water they utilize is discharged; but nonetheless, it will soon become a problem. Such is the case of Oland Brewery, who two years ago had a wastewater discharge problem that affected the Halifax municipal treatment plant. The brewery forced the Nova Scotia city to release water with dangerous levels of biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS) into the Halifax Harbor. Here’s the catch: Oland Brewery was torn between two options to solve the problem: one, is to upgrade the municipal plant which would cause surcharges to quintuple to almost $1 million annually based on the BOD and TSS levels at the time; or two, is to invest in a new system that will
Photo by SustainabilityMatters
THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON FOOD AND BEVERAGE’S WASTEWATER DISCHARGE
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Photo by WarnerLeisureHotels
HERE’S A BOOZE THAT WILL MAKE YOU LOOK YOUNGER Have you ever wanted to look young through alcohol? Although the thought may be disconnected, but it’s already happening: you can now enjoy a gin that is reportedly to have anti-aging properties. Cleverly named Anti-AGin, this age-defying booze is distilled with ingestible collagen and botanicals like chamomile and tea tree that will do the anti-aging magic. Collagen declines as we age
which causes wrinkles and loose skin, which is why that protein is the main component of this gin. Beauty shops and food in Japan also use the same secret to keep the Japanese beauty ‘intact.’ The gin was made by food and drink alchemists Bompas & Parr and commissioned by Warner Leisure Hotels. It comes with quite a price tag though – it can be bought for
retail at £34.99 ($50) over this website, drinksupermarket.com. This new booze gives alcoholics more reason to justify their habit of drinking, and we can’t blame them if they want to look young. This will also allow others to just drink gallons of this gin than undergo the actual plastic surgery. Here’s for a drunker and younger version of you!
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