The importance of accessing water that’s safe to drink and enough for washing, cleaning and cooking is clear, but little attention has been given to the safety of water collection away from home.
The decision recognises that water rights are critical for Indigenous people to restore customs, protect their culture, become economically independent and heal Country.
Apies river downstream of the informal settlement and the village of Hammanskraal.
Author supplied
Communication between programmers and local communities can provide good opportunities in the toilet prototyping process from the beginning of the design process.
An invisible crisis is brewing in US farm country as the overpumped Ogallala-High Plains Aquifer drains. The key drivers are federal farm subsidies and the tax code.
Emad Hasan, Binghamton University, State University of New York y Aondover Tarhule, Illinois State University
Treaties are needed to govern water resource allocation in the Nile basin region. For this to happen it’s critical to have accurate data on how much water there is.
Researchers have long suspected there’s water - or ice, to be precise - on the Moon. New research now confirms it, and suggests it lurks in sun-starved nooks and crannies called ‘cold traps’.
A mixed-conifer forest in the central Sierra Nevada after restoration, with unthinned forest in the background.
Roger Bales
Restoring western forests – thinning out small trees and dead wood – is an important strategy for reducing the risk of massive wildfires. But these projects aren’t fast, easy or cheap.
Two environmental engineers say governments need to do more to protect people from possible water contamination after wildfires.
Schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania have already found Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, in their water systems.
Andrew Whelton/Purdue University
When water stagnates in pipes, harmful metals and bacteria can accumulate and make people sick. Buildings that were shut down for weeks during the pandemic may be at risk.
High-efficiency showerheads save water and energy.
mppix/iStock via Getty Images
The Trump administration is rolling back a regulation that requires showerheads to conserve water, which saved owners an average of US$70 and nearly 3,000 gallons of water yearly per showerhead.
Residents of Kibera slum carry jerrycans to fill them with water from a bowser.
Gordwin Odhiambo/AFP via Getty Images
Despite high prices, poor quality and inconvenience, Kenya’s urban poor continued to buy water from private vendors because it’s still their best option.
Poor sanitation has a well documented effect on child health.
ALEXANDER JOE/AFP via Getty Images
There is no clear delineation of roles and responsibilities relating to the integration of clean water, sanitation, safe hygiene and nutritional status.
The 2018 Camp Fire north of Sacramento burned everything in its path: cars, power lines, and buildings – and contaminated local drinking water.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Buildings aren’t the only things at risk in wildfires. Recent disasters in California have left local water system contaminated with toxic chemicals afterward, slowing return and recovery.
Across the NSW portion of the Murray-Darling Basin, Aboriginal people make up almost 10% of the population. Yet they hold a mere 0.2% of all available surface water.
Professor of Civil, Environmental & Ecological Engineering, Director of the Healthy Plumbing Consortium and Center for Plumbing Safety, Purdue University
Professor in Practice on Environmental Innovation, School of Social and Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow, UK, National University of Singapore
Associate Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy, School of Environment, Science and Engineering, and Fellow of the Marine Ecology Research Centre, Southern Cross University