Purdue Water Community

Lack of access to potable water is a chronic problem for approximately 800 million people (roughly one-ninth of the world's population), leading to increased rates of morbidity and mortality among people of many developing countries. These effects tend to be most pronounced among women and children, who often have responsibility for collection of water in developing countries. Sustainable solutions to water supply and sanitation problems in developing countries require a multidisciplinary, holistic approach. To address this issue, a multidisciplinary service-learning class was initiated in fall 2012 and is continuing. Undergraduate and graduate students from agricultural economics, biology, civil engineering, environmental and ecological engineering, food science, and nursing participate in the class. The class objective is to design and implement a community-scale water treatment system in a developing country. The target community for this project is Las Canas, Dominican Republic. The Las Canas project represents a pilot project for this class. Additional communities in the Dominican Republic with similar water problems have been identified as targets for future iterations of this class. Work on this project involves coordination with Aqua Clara International (Holland, Mich.), a nonprofit organization that works to provide affordable safe water solutions for communities in developing countries, as well as Rotary International. WATER SUPPLY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES US-CHINA ECOPARTNERSHIP FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY Water is not only the indispensible ingredient for life it is also the driving force shaping our economic growth, environmental health and national security. The U.S.-China Ecopartnership for Environmental Sustainability (USCEES), part of the Global Sustainability Institute in Purdue's Discovery Park is working to address many of our common environmental research challenges related to water access and management in the U.S. and China by promoting environmental solutions that lower barriers to the exchange of faculty, information and technology. The USCEES is one of 24 ecopartnerships nationwide that were established by a joint agreement between the U.S. State Department and China's National Development and Reform Commission. The Purdue-led ecopartnership, which includes six university partners in the U.S. and China, has the goal to foster U.S.- China collaborations to address the interconnected challenges of environmental and economic sustainability. The partnership also works to create new commercialization opportunities for university and research institute partners and to bring technology to bear on environmental challenges in China. Programs include a U.S.-China visiting scholars network, seed travel grants, thematic workshops and conferences, and IP, research, and technology transfer assistance.

• Cover