By Momal Umer Water and Poverty: an issue of Life and Livelihoods and Role of Biotechnology in Water and Wastewater Technology.

ByMomal Umer

Water and Poverty: an issue of Life and Livelihoods

and Role of Biotechnology in Water

and Wastewater Technology

Presentation flowIntroductionWater – A Key to Meeting the Millennium

Development Goals in PakistanMDG Goals and Pakistan’s positionWater related diseasesKey ChallengesRole of Biotechnology in Water and Wastewater

TechnologyBayesian methods for livelihood, water, and

poverty analysis

IntroductionThe water crisis is a largely silent crisis in

Pakistan. Every year, some 1.4 million people in Pakistan, mostly children, die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.

Water – A Key to Meeting the Millennium Development Goals in Pakistan

Water is life, for people and for the planet. It is essential to the well-being of humankind and a basic requirement for the healthy functioning of all the world’s ecosystems.

Water availability in Pakistan

WATER AVAILABILITY VS POPULATION GROWTH

Millennium Development GoalsGoal 1: Halve extreme poverty and hungerGoal 2: Achieve universal primary educationGoal 3: Promote gender equality and

empower womenGoal 4: Reduce child mortalityGoal 5: Improve maternal healthGoal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other

diseasesGoal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Water related diseasesAnaemiaArsenicosisAscariasisBotulismCampylobacteriosisCholeraCryptosporiodiosisCyanobacterial toxinsDengue

Key ChallengesThere are significant social, economic,

ecological, and capacity obstacles to meeting the MDG for water and sanitation. Overcoming them will require more effective water governance and bio-technology.

Role of Biotechnology in Water and Wastewater Technology

Environmental biotechnology “manages microbial communities to provide services to society.”

Two timely examples are the reduction of oxidized water contaminants and the production of methane, hydrogen, electricity, ethanol, and biodiesel

Source: Nerenberg et al., 2002; Nerenberg and Rittmann, 2004

Two CategoriesThe Value of Reduced Products

The Revolution from Molecular Microbial Ecology

Source: Nerenberg et al., 2002; Nerenberg and Rittmann, 2004

Success Removal of one or several of the oxidized

contaminants from drinking water or groundwater.

Removal of one or several of the oxidized contaminants from industrial wastewater.

Advanced N removal in wastewater treatment.

Source: Nerenberg et al., 2002; Nerenberg and Rittmann, 2004

Bayesian methods for livelihood, water, and poverty analysis

Introduction This demonstrates methods for modeling

rural livelihood systems in water-poor communities as part of a larger goal of linking physical models to models of social and ecological systems

Methods Generating networks from field reports

Creating conditional probability tables

Results

Part of the model is shown as five submodels: Livelihood Assets, Land, Rice Production, Water Supply, and Finances

ConclusionIn order to alleviate the detrimental effects of

poor water management and a lack of adequate financial resources, we should get help from the technologies by using bio-informatics to save the life of poor people in our country.

Thank You

Questions??