22 March 2017: World Water Day

22 March 2017: World Water Day - Why Waste Water?

World Water Day is 22 March.

In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated 22 March as World Water Day. World Water Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners.

World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is about taking action to tackle the water crisis. Today, 1.8 billion people use a source of drinking water contaminated with faeces, putting them at risk of contracting cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio. The Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015, include a target to ensure everyone has access to safe water by 2030, making water a key issue in the fight to eradicate extreme poverty.

About 12% of the world population lacks clean drinking water, and water-related diseases account for 3.5 million deaths each year, more than car accidents and AIDS combined, according to the World Water Council.

In Africa, 319 million people, representing 32% of sub-Saharan Africans, don’t have safe drinking water. Nearly 27 million people do not have access to clean water in Somalia, South Sudan, northeastern Nigeria and Yemen.

The 2017 theme for World Water Day is wastwater: Why Waste Water?

Globally, the vast majority of all the wastewater from our homes, cities, industry and agriculture flows back to nature without being treated or reused – polluting the environment, and losing valuable nutrients and other recoverable materials.

Instead of wasting wastewater, people need to reduce and reuse it. In homes, people can reuse greywater on gardens and plots. In cities, people can treat and reuse wastewater for green spaces. In industry and agriculture, people can treat and recycle discharge for cooling systems and irrigation.

Businesses can use wastewater through ‘industrial symbiosis.’ Industrial water consumption is responsible for 22% of global water use (UN-Water, 2012). In 2009 in Europe and North America, water consumption by industries was 50% compared to 4-12% in developing countries (WWAP, 2009). It is expected that in rapidly industrialising countries, this proportion could increase by a factor of five in the next 10-20 years. Therefore, there is a strong incentive to use wastewater in-house and locally, based on cost savings alone.

Businesses can directly use some wastewater, providing it is fit for purpose. For instance, using process water for cooling or heating, or rainwater from roof collection or concrete aprons for toilet flushing, irrigation or vehicle washing.

Partly to help maximise yields to meet demand, usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has increased in recent years, both in industrial and small farming, making agriculture a potential source of environmental pollution.

Pollution of groundwater and surface water by agricultural use of untreated or inadequately treated wastewater is a major issue in many developing countries where such irrigation is practised.

Farmers are increasingly looking into non-conventional water resources, mainly wastewater, whether due to its high nutrient content or lack of conventional water resources. If applied safely, wastewater is a valuable source of both water and nutrients, contributing to water and food security and livelihood improvements.

Improved wastewater management can improve the health of workers, especially in agriculture, by reducing the risk of pathogen exposure. It can also create direct and indirect jobs in water-dependent sectors and beyond.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog