More and more people in water-scarce countries rely on desalinated water for drinking, cooking and washing. The process involves removing salt from seawater and filtering it to produce drinking quality water. But the fossil fuels normally used in the energy-intensive desalination process contribute to global warming, and the toxic brine it produces pollutes coastal ecosystems.
Nairobi/Colombo, 17 December 2020 - From source to sea, our waters are contaminated by a plastics scourge. A new study by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) offers a number of technological solutions aimed at tackling one of the world’s most pressing issues.
In their efforts to stave off a second wave of COVID-19, scientists from around the world have turned to a new ally: sewage.
In the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain, researchers are poring over samples of wastewater for signs of the coronavirus, which is believed to be shed in human feces.
Despite the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is working with partners on the next round of global data collection for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on water and sanitation.
The world demands and produces more and more plastic every year, much of which eventually finds its way into rivers, lakes and the ocean.
With an estimated 56 per cent of Africa’s urban population living in slums, wastewater management on the continent is a problem that needs urgent attention.
World Health Day on 7 April is a reminder that effective wastewater management and sanitation systems are vital for human health.
The volume of sewage in the world is set to rise in line with population growth. Furthermore, the growth in global wealth means our wastewater, including sewage, contains increasing amounts of dangerous chemicals, toxic substances and the debris associated with modern consumer lifestyles.
Marine biologists will tell you that fish species such as tuna and swordfish, known as the deep-water divers of the ocean for hunting at depths of 200 metres, are today repeatedly coming to surface view.
“Walk along the Bagmati river in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, and you are hit by a pervasive stench, underlining the fact that poor wastewater management worsens air pollution,” says Birguy Lamizana, a UN Environment specialist on wastewater and pollution.
Twenty-one-year-old Brazilian Anna Luisa Baserra always wanted to be a scientist. From washing liquid to shampoo, no household item escaped the potential for becoming the next scientific experiment.
“I used to play with my cousins, trying to make chemical compounds from any liquids we could find, mixing them up and pretending to be professional scientists,” she recalls.
