7/3/2012 By Kathryn L. Heine
Written by By Kathryn L. Heine
The forum was an opportunity for leading water scientists and national and international policy makers to exchange information and ideas about how science can help developing nations better address water problems. Shannon spoke about ways emerging technologies can address issues of drinking water and sanitation.
According to UNESCO, 1.1 billion people in developing countries-nearly one-sixth of Earth's population-have limited access to freshwater. The supply of freshwater is under rapidly increasing pressure from population growth, land use changes, deterioration of water quality, and climate change. The forum discussion focused on countries facing the most severe shortages, especially those in Africa.
Shannon, the James W. Bayne Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Illinois and director of the Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water with Systems (WaterCAMPWS), said that emerging science and technology can greatly improve how clean water is supplied and wastewater is reclaimed.
"Newer technologies can leapfrog current practices in the developed world to deliver appropriate solutions for specific problems in different regions in Africa, without having to first duplicate technologies in industrial countries such as the United States," said Shannon. "For instance, using new technology, we can safely disinfect water from shallow wells and can biologically clean water in a small area without needing large amounts of land. Improved and significantly smaller point-of-use systems can take fresh water from virtually any source and clean and disinfect it for direct use. Systems can range from the size of a breadbox for a single dwelling to larger systems designed for a group of dwellings or a village."
Shannon described other technologies appropriate to different regions and to both rural and urban areas of Africa. One point-of-use technology was specifically created for food processing-it prevents toxic cyanide from entering the water supply when the skins are removed from cassava root and also prevents bacteria and protozoa from contaminating the food. Another was a ceramic water carriage and storage pots that are coated on the interior with a thin layer of silver nanoparticles that kills pathogens on contact without the silver leaching out into the water.
New materials are being developed that can remove hard-to-treat compounds like petroleum distillates and by-products found particularly in urban and peri-urban areas and affecting not only surface waters, but shallow- and deep-water wells. Shannon described the So-Chlor process-a safe, low-cost solar-activated disinfection process in which small amounts of combined chlorine are added at the source for residual pathogen control. He also explained the use of crushed moringa seeds to naturally coagulate viruses and other pathogens in water, enabling them to be filtered from water far more effectively than when using chemical coagulants such as alum.
"By rapidly employing proven and new technologies, conducting major education programs, and enlisting the private and public sectors, the world can join together to provide innovative solutions to the problems of supplying drinking water and sanitation," said Shannon.
A large portion of the research that Shannon described is being conducted by U of I researchers who are also members of WaterCAMPWS, a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center headquartered at Illinois. WaterCAMPWS promotes interdisciplinary research among faculty and students at ten U.S. universities and seven partners at national laboratories and water institutions. Its mission is to develop revolutionary new materials and systems for safely and economically purifying water for human use, while simultaneously developing the diverse human resources needed to exploit the research advances and the knowledge base created. For more information, visit: http://watercampws.uiuc.edu.
Other Forum attendees included UNESCO Director General, Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura; US Permanent Representative to UNESCO, Ambassador Louise Oliver; Director of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Arden L. Bernent, Jr.; Department of State Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, Dr. Paula Dobriansky; and Office of Science and Technology Policy Director, Dr. John H. Marburger III.