How can we ensure the access to water, a basic resource, for the global population?
This is the proposal of SDG6 from United Nations: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
A question with many possible answers for the different “Water Pathways”.
So which way to go?
We propose a “script” to guide us in identifying the different Paths traveled by Waters along the Human Activities, and which “tools” (knowledge and skills) can be useful to achieve the SDG6.
Our objective was to identify fundamental stages along the cycle of use/reuse of water at different human activities and to set up a “generic” flow diagram to identify the knowledge and skills needed in the various stages of this cycle.
We identified the following steps: Withdraw, Treatment, Analysis, Use/Reuse and Discharge which are organized according to the following flowchart provided in Figure 2.
Among the several challenges related to water, we can highlight the reduction of water availability due to the climate changes (Observed changes in dry-season water availability attributed to human-induced climate change, 2020), contamination of water sources due to the low sanitation levels (4.2 billion people lack safely managed sanitation), and losses related to leaking in the distribution system piping.
According to the World Bank, about 45 million of cubic meters of water are lost daily in developing countries, with an economic value of more than US$ 3 billion per year. (What is non-revenue water?)
But how to structure an “An Integrated Approach” so that the different entities: countries, cities, companies, universities, social organizations and individuals, can “cooperate” to act on these issues at different scales in a sustainable way?
Let's start from the principle that thinking about “Water” is thinking about “Flows” and analyze the Flows of Waters (Paths of Waters) along the stages of Use/Reuse of water in human activities.
To help the understanding let's consider the integration of the different tools as pieces of a puzzle with Water as the centerpiece.
