Cambridge | Jan-14 | Water for All: Technological and Cultural Implications
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The document discusses the implications of water technologies, such as nanotechnology and LifeStraw, on health and the environment amidst a growing global population. It highlights regulatory challenges related to nanomaterials and potential unintended consequences of providing clean water, including increased consumer demand and loss of local lifestyles. The text emphasizes the need for innovative solutions in water purification while considering the socio-economic impacts and cultural context.
Cambridge | Jan-14 | Water for All: Technological and Cultural Implications
- 1. Water for All: Technological and Cultural Implications Professor Michael Depledge DSc FSB FRSA
- 11. Benefits of New Technologies Nanotechnology & the Life Straw
- 12. The Lifestraw
- 13. Nanomaterials: Regulatory Challenges • Exposure ? - too small to detect • Toxicity ? - altered chemistry, nano- toxicology) • Persistence ? – lack of monitoring tools • Current regulatory protection - do production volumes trigger action ? • Regulation ?- who is responsible for regulating and monitoring nano-materials in the environment ?
- 14. What kind of studies are required to demonstrate the benefits of clean water technologies?
- 15. Solar powered water purifiers
- 17. Energy for moving water around
- 18. Smart Villages: Combined Approaches? Clean Water Light Energy Communication
- 19. Does access to clean water fuel demand?
- 20. Unintended consequences of providing clean water. • Increased demand for consumer products • Increased production of waste (with lack of waste disposal infrastructure). • Loss of cultural practices and local lifestyles • Increased dependence on technologies and loss of resilience. • Marked increase in carbon and water footprints.
- 21. Unexpected challenges associated with providing clean water. • Unwillingness to adopt new technologies • Ownership • Theft of equipment • Corruption • Competing demands • Conflict
- 22. May, 2009.
- 23. “We are the healthiest, wealthiest, longest-lived people in history” “Risk” by Dan Gardner