Over the past two years, my colleagues and I have studied the Canadian water sector with an eye to better understanding its risks.
Infrastructure tops the list The first category includes infrastructure risks that can result in wasted water and water contamination.
These risks are often the domain of the technical experts, but we sometimes neglect important social considerations.
People don’t like to pay for the true cost of water.
But the second and third categories of risk to freshwater supply are more problematic.
While Canadian water service providers recognize some of the potential consequences of these threats, they spend less time worrying about these types of risks, largely because they exist outside of their routines and they don’t have adequate data, policies or training.
In order to improve our understanding risks, we need to continue to support research so we can understand them better.
We also need to allow those in the water sector and researchers to exchange information and learn from each other.
Environmental groups are opposed to fracking, for example, because they believe that fracking will contaminate the water supply, and that the consequences could be irreversible.
These approaches also lack clear indicators of who is paying the price for failing to advance new policies, and how we can provide evidence that people will accept before moving ahead with new policies.

The documentary, titled “The Power of Clean Water,” follows the lives of three women and their families, providing a first-hand perspective on the daily challenges of accessing clean drinking water.
Global awareness of the water crisis is growing, but in the US, many are still unaware of how many people struggle with the daily reality of not having access to clean water, something P&G sought to explore by commissioning a new survey to be released along with the documentary.
Survey findings show that most consumers are concerned about the safety of their drinking water, but do not know that approximately 1 in 10 people around the world lack access to clean drinking water.
Survey findings further highlighted that Americans are largely unaware of the progress that has been made to date to address the global water crisis.
Nearly 70 per cent of respondents believe that the crisis has stayed the same or gotten worse, with almost one in four saying that the problem has become much worse.
2.6 billion people have gained access to clean water in the last 25 years but there are still 844 million people yet to reach.
The P&G program, which started in 2004, works with more than 150 partners and organisations to provide water purification technology to communities that lack clean drinking water.
To learn more about the P&G CSDW Program, visit www.csdw.org.
To view all the video highlights of the documentary, visit this playlist.
The full documentary will be available at this site on March 22.

To address this situation, the EU funded an association of humanitarian organisations to work in rehabilitating such structures among vulnerable communities in the highly-impacted districts of Dhading, Lamjung, and Makwanpur.
Back then, his day-to-day life wasn’t so easy.
Like many other villages in central Nepal, the devastating earthquake in 2015 left local water resources, amongst other facilities, in ruins.
“Even providing water to my cattle is difficult”, he told me last year.
Six months after my first visit, the village hosts a large concrete reservoir which can accommodate up to 18 000 litres of drinking water and two other tanks with a capacity of 500 and 1 000 litres.
These facilities provide families with clean water round the clock.
Community contribution The communities welcomed the project wholeheartedly and made huge contributions in the form of construction materials and, most importantly, human resources and labour force.
In order to promote good hygiene and sanitation practices amongst the earthquake-affected families in three of the worst-hit districts of Dhading, Lamjung and Makwanpur, the EU-funded initiative supported the construction of close to 1 000 earthquake-resilient latrines in these areas.
The contributions from the communities to both water schemes and household latrine construction programmes mean the project has successfully engaged people in the activities.
Thanks to the EU funding, more than 8 200 people in Dhading, Makwanpur, and Lamjung districts of central Nepal now have access to clean and safe water and sanitation facilities.

CINCINNATI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) non-profit Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) Program and National Geographic are raising awareness about the global water crisis with the release of a new documentary and national survey in conjunction with World Water Day.
“This documentary reflects the very real and powerful stories of people whose lives have been impacted by programs that provide access to clean drinking water, and we are proud to join P&G to continue to drive awareness around this pressing issue and reach others in need.” Tweet this Global awareness of the water crisis is growing, but in the U.S., many are still unaware of how many people struggle with the daily reality of not having access to clean water, something P&G sought to explore by commissioning a new survey to be released along with the documentary.
Survey findings show that most consumers are concerned about the safety of their drinking water, but do not know that approximately 1 in 10 people around the world lack access to clean drinking water.
2.6 billion people have gained access to clean water in the last 25 years but there are still 844 million people yet to reach.
People in countries like Mexico, Indonesia and Kenya struggle with finding clean water to drink.
“Our goal, in partnering with National Geographic, is to share these stories about the power of clean water and to inspire others to make a difference and become a part of the solution.” “At National Geographic, we believe that great storytelling can spark curiosity, help solve big problems, and push the boundaries of what we already know,” said Jill Cress, chief marketing officer of National Geographic Partners.
“This documentary reflects the very real and powerful stories of people whose lives have been impacted by programs that provide access to clean drinking water, and we are proud to join P&G to continue to drive awareness around this pressing issue and reach others in need.” The P&G CSDW Program, which started in 2004, works with more than 150 partners and organizations to provide water purification technology to communities that lack clean drinking water.
To learn more about the P&G CSDW Program, visit www.csdw.org.
About National Geographic Partners National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between National Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets.
NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 19 2018 (IPS) – When disaster strikes, or conflict rages, families soon discover their most urgent need – water.
During such times, water and sanitation experts are often the first responders to communities affected by conflict and natural disasters.
But for the one in four children around the world who live in countries affected by conflict or disaster, it is an overwhelming preoccupation and a matter of survival.
Her resilience gave fresh meaning to our job – to install a water supply in her village – which was a major camp for thousands of Rwanda’s internally displaced people.
I saw the same strength and resilience in Myanmar when I visited displaced populations of Rohingya in Rakhine state in 2013.
The lack of sanitation and hygiene made living conditions not just unbearable, but a huge risk to life especially for children and their families living on hard-to-reach islands that were only accessible by boat.
Children, once again, were visibly malnourished and although UNICEF and partner organisations were providing water, children and families still had to walk long distances to collect it.
Over the past six years, I have witnessed the humanitarian response of delivering water, sanitation and hygiene in times of conflict and disaster.
We share the strength and determination of children like Aimee and the women and girls in Myanmar and Bangladesh, and we remain committed to preserving the rights of every child to water, sanitation and hygiene.
*UNICEF launched a fundraising appeal to support children and families affected by conflict and disaster globally.

An Ofsted inspector also found the quality of teaching to be weak at Music Box nursery in Salisbury Street, and that communication with parents was not always effective.
Inspector Trish Turney visited the Music Box at the start of February and published her findings this week.
She said in her report: "Children do not receive the support they need to make progress in their learning, particularly in their communication and language development.
They do not develop confidence or learn to participate in activities for long periods of time.
They have little motivation to play and learn.
"Children do not gain the key skills to help prepare them for the next stage of their learning or eventual move to school."
Temperature She added: "Staff do not always implement effective measures to keep children safe.
The premises are not always secure.
Unauthorised persons can enter the building and the nursery rooms without staff’s knowledge.
The temperature in the nursery is too low and staff do not ensure children have regular access to drinking water."

By U.S. Rep. Paul D. Tonko / CQ-Roll Call WASHINGTON America faces a tough reality when it comes to our drinking water infrastructure.
Even as water system failures hit communities all across the U.S., the professionals who keep these beleaguered systems operating safely are aging too.
Some are fed by groundwater wells that tap into vast underground aquifers that span communities.
Today, some water managers are trained engineers, while others are public works managers who do a hundred other jobs every day.
Jobs in water engineering are more than just a local public works concern.
This bill would deliver resources to help elementary and secondary schools provide students with formal and informal engineering education.
The bill also includes provisions to increase participation of underrepresented student groups in the engineering and engineering technology pipeline.
We need a workforce with the skills to manage critical water systems across all sectors of our economy.
As existing systems age, the pressure on water managers, systems engineers and local government budgets will only grow.
Rep. Paul Tonko, an engineer by training, is a Democrat representing New York’s 20th District.

Share Kolkata, Mar 18 (UNI) Safe and readily available water is important for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, food production or recreational purposes.
Improved water supply and sanitation, and better management of water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction.
In 2010, the UN General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation.
Everyone has the right to sufficient, continuous, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water for personal and domestic use.
Under the Millennium Development Goals, the target of reducing the proportion of the world’s population without sustainable access to safe water (MDG 7) was measured by the indicator of the population using improved drinking-water sources, but without taking into account the location, availability, or quality of the water.
Sustainable Development Goal target 6.1 calls for universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water.
The target is tracked with the indicator of “safely managed drinking water services” – drinking water from an improved water source that is located on premises, available when needed, and priority chemical contamination.
In 2015, 5.2 billion people used safely managed drinking-water services – that is, they used improved water sources located on premises, available when needed, and free from contamination.
The remaining 2.1 billion people without safely managed services in 2015 included: 1.3 billion people with basic services, meaning an improved water source located within a round trip of 30 minutes, 263 million people with limited services, or an improved water source requiring more than 30 minutes to collect water, 423 million people taking water from unprotected wells and springs and 159 million people collecting untreated surface water from lakes, ponds, rivers and streams.
Sharp geographic, sociocultural and economic inequalities persist, not only between rural and urban areas but also in towns and cities where people living in low-income, informal, or illegal settlements usually have less access to improved sources of drinking-water than other residents.

Gisèle Umuhumuza Deputy CEO in Charge of Rural Water and Sanitation Services at Water and Sanitation Corporation says the water supply sector has been challenged by the important investment (finances) required to reach the aspired total access to drinking water and that this has affected the completion and development of drinking water supply projects.
“This year’s world water day theme calls for joint efforts by the various stakeholders in the sector (water sector) for better management of water resources and its uses especially as we thrive for a resilient climate and sustainable development,” she says.
“For Rwanda this is paramount if we are to achieve the 100% access to clean water and sanitation by 2024,” she adds.
WASAC is implementing water production projects to address the supply gap (Upgrading Nzove, Kanzenze, Kanyonyomba, Gihira-Rubavu, and Rusizi water treatment plants), Umuhumuza notes.
The government also continues to attract private investors, we recently signed an agreement where the financing and implementation of Kigali Bulk Water project (Kanzenze WTP) which will add 40,000 m3 of water per day in Kigali and Bugesera has begun.” A program of Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation worth $282m which will improve water supply and sanitation in Kigali and six satellite cities (Muhanga, Rusizi, Rubavu, Musanze, Nyagatare, Huye Districts) in the coming four years is in the pipeline.
These effects have been observed at Rugeramigozi, Kadahokwa and Shyogwe dams which were dry in the previous dry season.
Although the extended dry seasons and increasing water demand can be of impact on water dams, the change and uncontrolled land use in catchments leave the dams at risk too.
Prolonged dry periods affect water dams.
The Deputy CEO explains that they have started the assessment of projects at a catchment level with large waters dams that will be able to sustain water supply during prolonged dry seasons; making sure management and development of water resources are integrated in all of their investments.
The newly constructed Nzove water treatment plant is provided with a newly constructed intake which eliminates the extended periods of treating water with high turbidity.

In June 2017, five graduate students in the School of Architecture’s Landscape Architecture program spent a month travelling along the Dakota Access Pipeline, exploring its impact on local communities and the environment.
In 2016, thousands of activists and Native American groups gathered at a camp near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota to protest the construction of this pipeline.
The Standing Rock Sioux and other native tribes raised concerns that the underground pipeline would pass through sacred burial grounds.
Furthermore, it would travel underneath the Missouri River, the primary drinking water source for the Standing Rock Sioux.
Inspired by the Standing Rock protests and the interplay between land and politics, Abbas, Casstevens, Harris, Turett and Walker received funding from the School of Architecture’s Benjamin C. Howland Traveling Fellowship to travel to, research and document the landscape surrounding the pipeline.
“We just felt like it really needed this other lens that we felt like we had the capacity to give it.” The five students began their trip and spent most of their time in North Dakota and then followed the pipeline through South Dakota and Iowa.
Throughout these different places, the group also looked at physical aspects of the pipeline, including its width, depth and materials used in its construction.
Their drawings in the exhibit show both the broad landscapes of the areas that they travelled to as well as close-up details such as the plants and soil.
In January 2017, NASU and the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition (VSEC), formerly the Climate Action Society, organized a protest in which over 100 students, faculty and community members demonstrated against the Dakota Access Pipeline and several others.
Fourth-year College student and NASU member Evelyn Immonen values the architecture exhibit for its inclusion of multiple perspectives and the importance placed on firsthand experience.