Millions of people in the U.S. are without temporarily access to safe water and sanitation in the aftermath of the natural, public health and economic disasters from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Why is their research important? According to the United Nations, almost 1.8 billion people rely on a source of drinking water that is contaminated with feces, and each day, nearly 1,000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation-related diseases that cause diarrhea. Chang and Thorpe’s project could be used to help save many lives around the world. To put it succinctly: water quality is health.
What a luxury. It is the result of over a century of water science and technology research and innovations. (And of course, problems with our aging national drinking water infrastructure are only made worse by natural disasters.)