President of the Water Environment Federation
Happy New Year Waterbloggers! I was going to blog about all my priorities for this year as WEF president, (yes, it’s true), but in the interests of space (and keeping your attention), I’ll cut right to the chase on what’s the biggest deal to me and maybe you, too. That priority is a focus on water reuse and how we maximize its effectiveness to relieve stressed global water supplies and underscore the connection to public health.
My thought is that to be successful, we have to look beyond the related science and technology to make it happen. In addition to the science and technology, the social, cultural, and economic aspects of what it means to make water reuse a commonly accepted practice to preserve our water resources must be addressed--science alone is one justification for the effective reuse practices that are so vital to sustainability of our water resources. We’ve all had or heard of experiences where communities have rejected water recycling or biosolids land application programs for reasons ranging from affordability to some sort of fecal phobia. Sort of like that popular song, we wanted it to go to reuse, they said no, no, no. That’s why a more holistic approach—and sharing that broader thinking through the water quality field--will be absolutely essential to successful water sustainability.
I’m very excited about WEF’s upcoming disinfection conference, Disinfection 2009, which happens February 28 to March 3 in Atlanta, Ga., where the social, cultural and economic aspects of how to translate the developed water research and technology into successful and sustainable programs for the disinfection of water resources in developing country environments will be addressed. Chaired by Gary Hunter (Black and Veatch) and Daniele Lantagne, (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), this event will also serve to ramp up that connection between our work and public health. I’m hoping we’ll see more training, conferences, and forums that add new dimensions to water reuse in the very near future.
Please take a few moments to let us know what you think about the importance of going beyond the science in public communications about water reuse. What has been your experience and how can we best educate the public and build awareness about the role of reuse in global water sustainability? It’s a big question for all of us, but it’s one that I know we can answer together.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts or comments.
