{"72262":{"#nid":"72262","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Studies Assess Foreign Water and Sanitation Needs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWorldwide, more than one billion people lack access to an improved water source, such as a rainwater collection or dug well, and two billion still need access to basic sanitation facilities, such as a latrine.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy 2015, the international community hopes to reduce by half the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis target for sustainable water and sanitation is just one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals adopted in September 2000 at the Millennium Summit. These goals serve as the world\u0027s time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELocal communities in the developing world and professional researchers are working to meet this goal. Researchers recently presented their work toward this end at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the developed world, the moment a drop of water hits the ground, it goes into the water system until it becomes wastewater. Then it\u0027s treated and put it back into the system. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have a large-scale infrastructure in the United States to provide clean water,\u0022 said Joseph Hughes, chair of the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. \u0022Using our current approach will not provide the rapid fix the United Nations is looking for in developing countries. It would take decades.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHughes outlined four steps in solving the developing world\u0027s water and sanitation problems. First, researchers must determine how big the problem is, then analyze the dynamics of water distribution, understand the complexity of the systems required and, finally, create new approaches to water supply and sanitation through research and development. This includes new methods of storing, treating and disinfecting water and developing sanitation systems that minimize pathogen release.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUrbanization, climate changes, water scarcity and economic development will affect where water will be available in the future and where concentrated amounts of water will be required to meet the needs of large populations, Hughes says. The United Nations projects that by 2025, two-thirds of the world\u0027s population will live in areas that face water scarcity.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Historically we\u0027ve tried to go to groundwater sources, such as a well, to initiate improved water sources, but there\u0027s a very finite capacity in groundwater,\u0022 Hughes noted. \u0022We have to work much harder to make ocean or surface waters safe.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe water must be safe and reliable in quality and quantity.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We need to go beyond providing better water,\u0022 Hughes added. \u0022We need to provide water that you and I would drink and consider safe. If a pregnant woman drank it, she wouldn\u0027t be worried about her health or the baby\u0027s health.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EInternational research has been under way for some time to help improve the water supply and sanitation in developing countries. Georgia Tech Professor of Public Policy Susan Cozzens is leading new research, funded by the National Science Foundation, to determine whether these efforts have been effective.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the United States, the only thing consumers need to know about their water supply is how to pay their bill and call a plumber if there\u0027s a leak, said Cozzens, who organized the AAAS session on water and sanitation in developing countries. But a family in a developing country with a latrine needs to know a tremendous amount - how to build the latrine and how to maintain it. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If a part breaks, what does that family do? Does the family stay in touch with the organization that came and provided the service or part originally? Is there someone who assumes the role of civil engineer in every town?\u0022 asked Cozzens, who is also director of the Georgia Tech Technology Policy and Assessment Center. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECozzens also plans to investigate how communities in developing countries share their knowledge. She will conduct case studies in urban and rural locations in four countries-- Mozambique, South Africa, Costa Rica and Brazil -- to answer these questions.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECozzens\u0027 interest lies in how different places are addressing a lack of safe water and sanitation, and whether engineering, health and social science research plays any role in that.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There\u0027s a research front out there, but we still need to think innovatively about problems with water supply and sanitation in developing countries,\u0022 Cozzens said. \u0022Even though there\u0027s only a little bit of social science (research) literature on water supply and sanitation, about half of it is about developing countries.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECozzens\u0027 goal is to provide insight to international and local water authorities in developing countries on how to set the right conditions for people to learn and solve the problems of unsafe water and sanitation. This insight will come from studying the limitations of research knowledge in relation to this problem and studying communities in the developing world that have solved the problem, she added.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA \n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Assistance: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Susan Cozzens (404-385-0397); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:susan.cozzens@pubpolicy.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Esusan.cozzens@pubpolicy.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Joseph Hughes (404-894-2201); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:joseph.hughes@ce.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejoseph.hughes@ce.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWRITER:\u003C\/strong\u003E  Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Researchers work to meet international goal"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Worldwide, more than one billion people lack access to an improved water source, such as a rainwater collection or dug well, and two billion still need access to basic sanitation facilities, such as a latrine.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Developing countries need clean water."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-03-12 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-03-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-03-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72263":{"id":"72263","type":"image","title":"Woman gathers water","body":null,"created":"1449177446","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:26","changed":"1475894653","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:13"},"72264":{"id":"72264","type":"image","title":"Professor Cozzens in Brazil","body":null,"created":"1449177446","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:26","changed":"1475894653","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:13"}},"media_ids":["72263","72264"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ce.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/research_bio.php?active_id=jh453","title":"Joseph Hughes"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.spp.gatech.edu\/faculty\/faculty\/scozzens.php","title":"Susan Cozzens"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ce.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Civil and Environmental Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.spp.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Public Policy"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"516","name":"engineering"},{"id":"807","name":"environment"},{"id":"3892","name":"foreign"},{"id":"398","name":"health"},{"id":"767","name":"Policy"},{"id":"169391","name":"sanitation"},{"id":"788","name":"Water"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}