Excerpt

Current United Nations estimates suggest that there are about 300 potential conflicts over water around the world, arising from disagreements over river borders and the drawing of water from shared lakes and aquifers (Oatridge, 1998). Avoiding these conflicts means using limited resources smarter and looking at new ways to manage and protect water. This is a daunting task, and the solutions will not come from a single sector of the water community but will require different expertise from engineers, health research and offices, economists, ecologists, and policy makers.

This two-day workshop held on October 17–18, 2007, in Washington, DC, follows up on previous workshops in 2003 and discusses how to provide people with access to drinking water in the context of sanitation and hygiene. The legislation of the 1970s started to show the value of water by providing protection. This workshop brings together people from various sectors of water services and from various countries to consider how to do this in a sustainable way.

Contents

• The National Academies
• Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine
• Reviewers
• 1. Workshop Introduction
  • LEARNING FROM THE PAST
  • WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES
• 2. Global Water Services: Short- and Long-Range Views
  • THE NATIVE AMERICAN APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE WATER: THE SEVENTH GENERATION CONCEPT
  • SUSTAINING PROGRESS FOR CLEAN AND SAFE WATER
  • CREATING THE SANITARY CITY: WATER, WASTEWATER, AND HEALTH IN AMERICAN CITIES
• 3. The Technology Pillar of Sustainable Water: Technology, Economics, and Health
  • MOVING TOWARD MEGACITIES: DECENTRALIZED SYSTEMS
  • OVERVIEW OF THE WATER SECTOR: POLICIES, INSTITUTIONAL ROLES, AND KEY ISSUES FOR UTILITY SERVICES DELIVERED IN GHANA
  • CLEAN DRINKING WATER: SOLVING THE ARSENIC CRISIS IN BANGLADESH THROUGH A SUSTAINABLE LOCAL FILTRATION TECHNOLOGY
  • SMALL- TO MEDIUM-SIZED SYSTEMS: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
  • THE USE OF TECHNOLOGIES: EXPOSURE (CROSS-CONTAMINATION), RISK ASSESSMENT, AND GUIDELINES
  • APPROACHES TO SUSTAINABLILITY: GLOBAL WATER PARTNERSHIPS
• 4. Panel Discussion: Coordination and Prioritization of Water Needs
  • DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABLE WATER SERVICES
  • PRIORITIES FOR ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE WATER SERVICES
  • STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT
  • AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
  • CURRENT CHALLENGES FOR WATER SERVICES
  • EFFECTIVENESS, LONGEVITY, AND EVALUATION
• 5. Achieving Water and Sanitation Services for Health in Developing Countries
  • IMPROVING WATER AND SANITATION ACCESS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES
  • THE DRINKING WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION IN LATIN AMERICA: MOVING TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY FOLLOWING TWO DECADES OF REFORMS
• 6. The Environmental Pillar of Sustainable Water: Ecological Services
  • DRINKING WATER VALUATION: CHALLENGES, APPROACHES, AND OPPORTUNITIES
  • IMPACTS OF DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES AND WATER MANAGEMENT POLICIES ON FRESHWATER RESOURCES
  • THE SUSTAINABILITY OF DRINKING WATER: SOME THOUGHTS FROM A MIDWESTERN PERSPECTIVE
• 7. The Social Pillar of Sustainable Water: Health Research Gaps
  • WATER AND HEALTH: THE GLOBAL PICTURE OF RISK OF WATER-BORNE DISEASE AND CHRONIC DISEASE
  • PRELIMINARY OVERVIEW OF CURRENT RESEARCH AND POSSIBLE RESEARCH PRIORITIES: SMALL COMMUNITY DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES
  • INTEGRATING WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE
  • WATER AND HEALTH: THE GLOBAL PICTURE OF RISK OF WATER-BORNE AND CHRONIC DISEASE
• 8. Panel Discussion: Moving Forward
  • EVALUATION OF INTERVENTIONS
  • COMMUNITY-BASED EVALUATION AND PARTICIPATION
• 9. Thinking About New Visions of Water Services
  • CLIMATE CHANGE
  • REGULATORY PERSPECTIVE
• 10. Breakout Group: Meeting Goals for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
  • STANDARDIZATION OF EVALUATION
  • BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN RESEARCH AND POLICY
  • AN ABSENCE OF LEADERSHIP AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL
  • AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH
  • THE COMMUNITY AGENDA
  • BUILDING COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY
  • THE ROLE OF DONORS
• References
• Appendixes
  • Appendix A Workshop Agenda
  • Appendix B Speakers and Panelists
  • Appendix C Workshop Participants

Rapporteur: Christine Coussens

Support for this project was provided by the American Chemistry Council (unnumbered grant); ExxonMobil Corporation (unnumbered grant); Institute of Public Health and Water Research (unnumbered grant); National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Contract No. 200-2000-00629, TO#7); National Health and Environment Effects Research Laboratory and the National Center for Environmental Research, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Contract 282-99-0045, TO#5); National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Contract 0000166930); and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health (Contract N01-OD-4-2193, TO#43).

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2009. Global Environmental Health: Research Gaps and Barriers for Providing Sustainable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

The views presented in this book are those of the individual presenters and are not necessarily those of the funding agencies or the Institute of Medicine.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.