TU Delft Global Drinking Water-IWA conference and Best Paper Award 2019
By Suzanne van der Poel
On 25-26 November 2019, the TU Delft | Global Drinking Water programme organized in collaboration with UNESCO-IHE The Role of Technology conference in Delft, with the aim to address the role of technology in reaching Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.1: Access to Safe Water. With over 100 participants, the first edition this IWA supported conference was a big success, connecting international delegates from all over the world.
The conference started off with a keynote presentation from Dr. Silver Mugisha, Managing Director of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) in Uganda, in which he addressed global water issues and adequate opportunities for the NWSC. To reach the aim of being the best customer service-oriented utility in the world, NWSC prioritizes government systems, strategies aligning SDGs, financial independence and capacity at all levels.
Dr. Marco Schouten, CEO of Vitens Evides International (VEI) critically pinpointed the characteristics of the WASH sector in his presentation. Also, he emphasized the need for upscaling of technological innovations to reach impact. Which linked to the debate during the subsequent technology session, where four inspiring pitch presentations were given on different drinking water technologies for global development. Including the Dyson award winning Jerrycan Filter of Olivier de Gruijter and the RO-system of Elemental Water Makers, presented by Sid Vollebregt.
After a vivid science exhibition during lunch, the TU Delft Global Drinking Water Best Paper Award 2019 was presented to Dr. Mohammed Hossain. Dr. Hossain was the first author of the paper "Sediment color tool for targeting arsenic-safe aquifers for the installation of shallow drinking water tubewells". The research, conducted as part of his PhD at KTH Stockholm (Sweden), was celebrated by the jury because of its completeness, novelty and applicability.
Subsequently, the audience was divided into groups for three intensive break-out sessions on Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage, Water Supply, Social Processes and Behavior, and Intermittent Water Supply. The created ideas, including the input from the panel discussion with the speakers and session leaders, were visualized by two artists from Flatland Agency. The summarizing drawings of this conference day can be downloaded at https://www.tudelft.nl/globaldrinkingwater/.
The second conference day was jointly with TU Delft Global Initiative’s Impact Day, with various workshops (e.g., IoT Dragon’s Den) and prototype competition. In the plenary session a keynote address was given by Princess Abze Djigma, sharing her experience with the development of the MAMA-LIGHT® Initiative for Sustainable Energy. A highlight for the water engineers was the serious game on water reuse: The African Water Corridor Challenge: (Re)using Every Drop. Ten different African country teams competed against each other in developing the best circular system for their specific town.
Altogether, it was a pleasure to organize the 1st Role of Technology: Access to Safe Water conference and are looking forward to the next edition in 2021!
Suzanne van der Poel, Doris van Halem, Giuliana Ferrero and Edo Abraham
