Potable Water & Sanitation
Research Focus Area:
Water & Sanitation
Many environmental problems confront the world today: global warming, degradation of the world’s oceans, depletion of non-renewable natural resources and pollution of otherwise renewable resources, among others. Access to fresh water as a renewable resource is of particular concern to all humans. With over 1 billion people in the world lacking access to safe drinking water and 2.5 billion people lacking adequate sanitation facilities (United Nations 2005 Millennium Development Goals Report), the growing shortage of fresh water impacts human health and security, economic development, and food security and safety. Though sophisticated scientific breakthroughs are imperative, appropriate solutions to water and sanitation issues must also rely on the introduction of a range of technology applications that accommodate economic, geopolitical, and cultural considerations that differ between and within the developed and developing worlds.
Patel Center support to Daniel Yeh, in Civil and Environmental Engineering, is one example of a project in which cost-effective methods of treating wastewater are being developed so that they are economically feasible for implementation by poorer countries. Sound management of potable water and sanitation systems is another critical component to provision; the Patel Center has already begun an inventory of “best practices” with commissioned research on urban water management strategies in Mexico, Belize and Argentina.
Solid research cannot take place in any field without easy access to previously discovered information, data, and results. The Center has two projects – the Karst Information Portal and the Monteverde Portal - that facilitate research by supporting the creation of web-based portals that make difficult-access-information easily available.
EXAMPLES OF CURRENT PROJECTS
Innovative Wastewater Treatment Technology: develop membrane-bioreacter to clean wastewater, in an manner that is cost effective, can be made with materials locally available, and can be operated and maintained by local populations.
Researcher: Daniel Yeh, Civil and Environmental Engineering, USF
Goal: to provide cost-effective method of cleaning wastewater in developing countries
Indigenous Technologies for Clean Water: use of cactus mucilage to clean drinking water in Mexico
Researcher: Norma Alcantar, Chemical Engineering, USF
Goal: to provide natural and cheaply available, culturally appropriate method of cleaning drinking water, while developing a locally sustainable market for water filters
Integrated Water Resource Management: assess potable water and sanitation conditions in Miches, Dominican Republic
Researchers: Patel Center
Goal: improve water supply and sanitation systems, while developing sustainable forms of economic activity
Karst Information Portal: develop on-line site on information pertaining to karst, from which 25% of the world receives its drinking water
Researchers: Robert Brinkman, Geography, USF & Todd Chavez, USF Libraries Goal: to provide policy makers and urban planners improved knowledge about the relationship between urbanization and fresh water
Link to Portal http://karst.lib.usf.edu/
Monteverde Portal: develop on-line site on the state of water in Monteverde, Costa Rica, a region rich in natural resources that uses eco-tourism as a development strategy
Researchers: Todd Chavez, USF Libraries, and Patel Center staff
Goal: to facilitate access to high quality information on the state of water in Monteverde for planners, policymakers and researchers
Link to Portal http://www.lib.usf.edu/mvi/
People: USF Researchers