So began Dr. David Pines in his presentation on “Sustainable Water Supplies,” the third lecture in the CETA Seminar Series on Sustainability. He went on to offer the definition of sustainability created by the World Commission on Environment and Development: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Dr. Pines went on to point out that water and energy are interdependent. For example, water is necessary to grow the corn and soy we use for biofuel. But water is in short supply. Almost 97 percent of the world’s water is ocean—and would require energy for desalinization. Only 3 percent of the world’s water is fresh, but of that 3 percent 70 percent is in the planet’s icecaps and glaciers. And of the 30 percent of fresh water that is ground water, about 13 percent is in lakes, rivers, and the like. The rest is in swamps and otherwise unavailable without energy to make it potable.
The hydrological cycle, evaporation to rain and back again, provides water, but even that cycle is not dependable. New England is a rare place that gets reasonably even rain throughout the year; we have no significant dry season here. But most places on the planet, including many places in the United States, are not so fortunate. There are locations, for instance, that depend on the winter’s snow pack to get them through the dry summer months; if the snowfall is too light, they will experience significant water shortages. And other locations around the globe can vary between too much rain and too little. The built environment also affects water availability. If there is material in the air from smokestacks and other sources, the rain will wash the air clean—and become polluted and undrinkable in the process.
Dr. Pines explains planning water runoff options in the built environment.
Dr. Pines went on to ask some questions: Is water a basic human right? Does water play a role in conflicts? What effect will climate change have on our water supplies.
He explained that more than a billion people worldwide have no access to safe drinking water. Another 2.6 billion live without access to sanitation systems that are necessary to avoid water-borne disease. Given that diarrhea is one of the leading causes of child death around the world, access to clean water is key to saving lives.
Climate change will affect our water supply: Snow packs will be affected, droughts will be longer and more severe, and there can be contamination of what is now drinkable water. For instance, as sea levels rise, water supplies near the coasts can be infiltrated by salt water.
These issues must be addressed by conservation and efficiency of use. For example, we can turn to greywater (from showers and sinks) to water lawns and flush toilets and similar uses. Currently, we purify water to drinking quality, but we actually drink very little of the water that is so treated—domestic use of water is only 7 percent of the 100 billion gallons of water used every day in the United States.
To address these issues locally, Dr. Pines is offering two courses in the spring semester. One is ES 591, Industrial Archeology, which will involve a trip to St. Vincent, in the Caribbean, to design and implement the refurbishment of an old sugar mill. Students will learn about the culture and economy of St. Vincent so that they will have “a historical perspective on the role that technology plays in society” and be prepared in their careers to understand how future technologies will affect society.
The second course is ES 591, Design for Extreme Affordability. In this class students will earn credits as they take part in the ACARA Challenge, a program created by the ACARA Institute, a non-profit organization that creates sustainable social businesses using the best practices from industry in concert with university courses to enable students to create real businesses. The program matches students with counterparts in another country, in this class India, and industry mentors and challenges them to develop solutions to problems like the lack of clean water and energy in urban slums. The winning team in the class will receive funding for travel to India and a two week stay so that they can further develop their business plan and secure funding for their venture. As Dr. Pines pointed out while discussing these two classes, though poor people cannot afford to spend a great deal on the necessities, there are a lot of poor people in the world, around 5 billion; the market is vast and untapped.
All undergraduate and graduate majors are welcome to participate in either class, but to enroll, you must send Dr. Pines (at pines@hartford.edu) a résumé and a two-paragraph summary about why you’re interested in the taking the course. Space is limited in both courses.
The CETA Seminar Series on Sustainability is organized by Dr. Clara Fang, assistant professor of Civil, Environmental, and Biomedical Engineering, and Dr. Tom Filburn, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, and sponsored by a Sustainability Grant from the Office of the Provost, as well as by the ASCE, ASHRAE, ASME, IEEE, and SWE student chapters in CETA.
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