Water and sanitation

Water and sanitation are pivotal elements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), primarily encapsulated in SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). This goal seeks to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030. This objective directly addresses the current global water crisis, where nearly 2.2 billion people live without access to safe water, and about 4.2 billion lack access to adequate sanitation.

By focusing on improving water quality, increasing water-use efficiency, implementing integrated water resources management at all levels, and protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems, SDG 6 addresses not only direct human needs but also the broader ecological health of the planet. Furthermore, efforts towards achieving SDG 6 indirectly promote several other SDGs.

For instance, water and sanitation are crucial to achieving SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), as clean water and proper sanitation facilities reduce the spread of water-borne diseases and significantly lower child and maternal mortality rates. Likewise, they are foundational to SDG 4 (Quality Education), given that the provision of water and sanitation facilities in schools significantly impacts the attendance and performance of students, particularly for girls.

SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) also intersects with water and sanitation, as sustainable and efficient water management is critical for agriculture, which remains the largest global water consumer. The necessity of water for food production and the potential impact of improved water management on crop yields and livestock health makes SDG 6 integral to achieving zero hunger.

SDG 6 contributes to SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) as well. Access to clean water and sanitation can enhance economic productivity by reducing time spent gathering water, reducing healthcare costs due to water-related diseases, and even creating jobs in water and sanitation services sectors.

In terms of environmental impact, the sustainable management of water resources is essential for SDG 13 (Climate Action), as water is a key factor in managing climate change due to its role in agriculture and energy production.

Elsevier,

Handbook of Advanced Approaches Towards Pollution Prevention and Control, 2021, Pages 281-305

This book chapter advances SDGs 3 and 6 by explaining why SDG goals toward clean water are so essential to those targeting good health.
Trichlorfon is an organophosphate pesticide used extensively for controlling ectoparasites in aquaculture. Studies have found that trichlorfon caused environmental pollution and severe neurotoxic effects in several freshwater species. Feed additives such as flavonoids may reduce or prevent pesticide-induced toxicity in fish. The aim of the present study was to determine whether acute exposure to trichlorfon impairs behaviour and causes oxidative damage in brains of silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen).
Elsevier,

Gemma C. Cotton, Natalie R. Lagesse, Liam S. Parke, Carla J. Meledandri, 3.04 - Antibacterial Nanoparticles, Editor(s): David L. Andrews, Robert H. Lipson, Thomas Nann, Comprehensive Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Second Edition), Academic Press, 2019, Pages 65-82

This chapter advances SDGs 3 and 6 by showing how increasing bacterial resistance to commonly used antibiotics is a pressing threat to the human population on a global scale. As the development of new combative drugs is complex, expensive, time consuming and risky, there has been a strong focus in recent years to develop alternative strategies for the treatment of bacterial infections, and nanoscale materials have emerged a strong contender for this purpose.
In this study, the authors investigate the effect of phosphate functionalisation on the removal of uranyl ions from mine-drainage contaminated water.
Elsevier,

Water Resources and Economics, Volume 33, January 2021

This study analyzes the effects of a local water market formation on the efficiency of groundwater use productivity. These results demonstrate the role of a market-based groundwater allocation approach under water scarcity conditions.
This chapter advances SDG 6, 7, and 11 by examining the role of resource recovery technologies in reducing the demand of fossil fuels and conventional fossil-based mineral fertilizers, including through the production of sustainable biofuels such as hydrogen, syngas, and bio-oil.
Elsevier, International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Volume 31, December 2020
Early and accurate anomaly detection in critical infrastructure (CI), such as water treatment plants and electric power grid, is necessary to avoid plant damage and service disruption. Several machine learning techniques have been employed for the design of an effective anomaly detector in such systems. However, threats such as from insiders and state actors, introduce challenges in the design of an effective anomaly detector. This work presents a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) based anomaly detector that uses an unsupervised approach to safeguard CI from the adverse impacts of cyber-attacks.
The reported number of cases of Acanthamoeba amebic keratitis (AK) is continually increasing. Molecular diagnosis has become the first choice of ophthalmologists for identifying and confirming this clinically problematic diagnosis. However, in-house molecular diagnostic procedures are time-consuming and may not be compatible with the urgency of the situation. In this study, a previous in-house AK-PCR technique was adapted for use on BD MAX (Becton Dickinson, Heidelberg, Germany), a fully integrated, automated platform for molecular biology, for the rapid routine diagnosis of AK.
Reaching the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on water and sanitation is fundamentally important and conditional to the achievement of all the other SDGs. Nonetheless, achieving this goal by 2030 is challenging, especially in the Global South. Science lies at the root of sustainable development and is a key to new solutions for addressing SDG 6. However, SDG 6-related scientific outputs are often unknown, forming disconnections between academic world and practitioners implementing solutions.
Recent policy developments in Europe consider the importance of water ecosystems to human wellbeing and the detrimental effects that multiple pressures may have on them. Several directives and measures which culminated with the design and the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, have attempted to address the issue of sustainable water management while aligning with targets of economic development.

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