Monroe L. Weber-Shirk

School of Civil and

Environmental Engineering

The State of the PlanetThe State of the Planet

Millennium GoalsMillennium Goals

OutlineOutline

Burden of unsafe waterGlobal Water Supply and Sanitation

Assessment 2000 Report The Millennium Development GoalsSafe and Improved…UNDP Human Development Reports

Global Burden of Unsafe Water Global Burden of Unsafe Water

Over 1 billion persons have no access to improved water sources

Daniele Lantagne, CDC

Hundreds of millions more drink unsafe water from “improved” sources

Mortality and Morbidity From Unsafe Drinking Water

Mortality and Morbidity From Unsafe Drinking Water

1.7 million persons die from waterborne diseases each year

1 billion episodes of gastroenteritis and other infections are caused by unsafe drinking water each year

5,000 children die from infectious diarrhea acquired from unsafe drinking water each day

What do you conclude from these statistics?1 significant digitThe 1.7 million

persons are all childrenThe 1 billion without

access to clean water get sick once per year (on average)

Daniele Lantagne, CDC

Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 Report

Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 Report

To meet the 2015 development target of halving the fraction of the population without services in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of people served by water supply must increase by 1.6 billion (32%), and those served by sanitation must increase by 2.2 billion (59%).

For water, this means providing services for an additional 107 million people each year, or 292,000 every day, until 2015. Considering that only 816 million people gained access to improved water services during the 1990s, the pace has to be accelerated over the next 15 years.

For sanitation, the challenge is even greater, with services to be provided for an additional 145 million people each year until 2015, or 397,000 every day until 2015. During the 1990s, only 75 million people a year gained access to improved sanitation services.

Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 Report

Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 Report

Rapid urban growth means that more than half of the additional services must be in urban areas, despite the higher current levels of coverage.

The lower levels of service in rural areas also mean that nearly half of the improvements will need to come in rural areas, even though the rural population will grow more slowly than the urban population.

Current progress is inadequate to meet the targets. Something will have to change dramatically if the targets

are to be met. A wide range of issues would need to be resolved, and the

majority of these are institutional and social, rather than technical.

Engineers could expand the solution space so that the limited resources are used more effectively

The Millennium Development GoalsThe Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals are an ambitious agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives that world leaders agreed on at the Millennium Summit in September 2000. For each goal one or more targets have been set, most for 2015, using 1990 as a benchmark:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2. Achieve universal primary education 3. Promote gender equality and empower women 4. Reduce child mortality5. Improve maternal health6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases7. Ensure environmental sustainability 8. Develop a global partnership for development

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

9. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources

10.Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water

11.By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

25. Proportion of land area covered by forest26. Land area protected to maintain

biological diversity27. GDP per unit of energy use (as proxy for

energy efficiency)28. Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita)

[Plus two figures of global atmospheric pollution: ozone depletion and the accumulation of global warming gases]

29. Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source

30. Proportion of people with access to improved sanitation

31. Proportion of people with access to secure tenure [Urban/rural disaggregation of several of the above indicators may be relevant for monitoring improvement in the lives of slum dwellers]

Targets Indicator

Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Millennium Goal 4: Reduce child mortalityMillennium Goal 4:

Reduce child mortality

Diarrhoeal diseases claim the lives of around two million children each year- 5,000 per day, and cause countless more to fall ill.

Children already suffering from poor diets and the ravages of other diseases are the first to get sick and die from water and sanitation-related diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid

Diarrhoea spreads most readily in environments of poor sanitation where safe water is unavailable – often areas that have been hit by human made or natural disasters. 

Water-borne diseases are one of the major cases of under-five mortality, along with pneumonia, malaria, and measles.

Improved Water SupplyImproved Water Supply

Reasonable access to at least 20 liters per person per day from a source within one kilometer of the user’s dwelling from one of these sourceshousehold connectionspublic standpipesboreholesprotected dug wellsprotected springsrainwater collection

Quality?

How would you define “improved water supply”?

How would you define “improved water supply”?

Adequate quantitySafe to drinkHow far are you willing to walk?Reliability (Intermittent service)

Intermittent SuppliesIntermittent Supplies

It is estimated that over one-third of the urban water supplies in Africa, and in Latin America and the Caribbean, and more than half those in Asia, operate intermittently.

Why are supplies intermittent? _______________Crude form of rationingLack of metersLeaking systemSome sections of the city might never receive water

otherwise

Rolling blackouts

Consequences of Intermittent Supplies

Consequences of Intermittent Supplies

Intermittent water supply is a significant constraint on the availability of water for hygieneAnd personal hygiene is very important!!!

Encourages the low-income urban population to turn to alternatives such as water vendorsThat are expensive and from dubious sources

Point of Use StorageThat create considerable risks of contamination Is there back flow prevention?

Consequences of Intermittent Supplies

Consequences of Intermittent Supplies

Contamination may also occur by intrusion of contaminated water into the pipelines through faulty joints, cracks, etc.

Opportunity for contamination by siphoning Loss of chlorine residual in stagnant water The pipelines are subject to additional stress

caused by transient flows (water hammer), affecting the durability of the system and weakening pipes and joints (more leaks…)

Water waste increases Complaints about metering air (if there are meters)

Point of Use StoragePoint of Use Storage

When there is frequent intermittence in the water distribution system, the consumers are commonly equipped with domestic storage tanks

Although these devices help to reduce hourly peaks in demand and mask short-term interruptions for users, they are often neither properly protected nor regularly cleaned and disinfected

Eliminating IntermittencyEliminating Intermittency

Reduce demand – meteringEliminate leaks – need a sound revenue Eliminating intermittency may have a more

significant improvement in public health than any steps taken to improve the water quality

This might be a Monroe Myth!

Honduras: Documenting the Progress, Exploring the Reality

Honduras: Documenting the Progress, Exploring the Reality

“improved”

ReflectionsReflections

Obstacles to meeting Millennium Goals

How can engineers make a difference?

TegucigalpaTegucigalpa

The share of the population with reasonable access to any of the following types of water supply for drinking: household connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and rainwater collection. Reasonable access is defined as the availability of at least 20 litres a person per day from a source within one kilometre of the user’s dwelling

Photo by Chris Boone

TegucigalpaTegucigalpa

Photo by Chris Boone

Water Storage TanksWater Storage Tanks

Photo by Chris Boone

Vara de Cohete, HondurasWater Source

Vara de Cohete, HondurasWater Source

Photo by Chris Boone

TeamsTeams

Andrea Gruber, Alex Mikszewski, Christopher Boone Rudi Schuech, Jeannette Harduby, Heather Nelson Christina Hynes, Stephanie Arbelovsky, Andrea Hektor Roslyn Odum, Alana Jonat, Peter von Bucher Stephanie Wedekind, Laura Mar, Kimberly Wilson Russ Dudley, Brian Rahm, Brendan Lazar Drew Lebowitz, Stephen Song, Daniel Smith, Jacob Krall Melanie Tan, Morgan Rog, Shubha Bhar, Lindsay Ellis Michael Sorensen, Melanie Stansbury, Brett Gleitsmann, Lindsey

Ehinger David Harrison, Haixian Huang, Justin Ferrentino, Barry Schnorr Scott Weeks, James Berg, Jamison Hill, Stephen Russo

ReferencesReferences

PowerPoint speaker notes have the references

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Course OverviewCourse Overview

Setting the stageLearning from History – How did the North

solve this problem?Exploring treatment technology optionsThe question of scale: Point of Use vs

Centralized systemsWater delivery systems