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Although more than 71 per cent of the Earth is covered by water, 97 per cent of that volume is saltwater held in the oceans. Of the remaining water, 2 per cent is freshwater locked away in snow and ice, leaving less than 1 per cent available for human requirements (Williams, 2016). Yet, water is crucial for human survival. Therefore, access to water must be recognised as a fundamental human right. In 2010, the United Nations adopted Resolution 64/292 which explicitly recognises the human right to water and sanitation, acknowledges that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential for the realisation of all human rights, and seeks to protect water as a national resource and the people that need it the most. Despite the adoption of the aforementioned Resolution, water remains a hugely pertinent issue across the world, particularly in areas where water is considered predominantly as a tradeable commodity. Hence, Water and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the 2015 UN-Water Annual International Zaragoza Conference are extremely important in terms of water protection, preservation and sustainable development. This chapter discusses access to water as a fundamental precondition of life, noting that the Republic of Slovenia became one of the first countries in the world to include the human right to water in its Constitution in 2017. The authors believe that this is an excellent example for other countries to change their legislation in favour of protecting the fundamental human right to access to water. It also presents further possibilities for achieving SDG 6.1 (and other SDGs related to water) in practice.

Although access to safe drinking water is one of the most important health-related infrastructure programs in the world, drinking water remains a large problem in China today, especially in rural areas. Despite increased government investment in water resource protection and management, there is still an absence of academic studies that are able to document what path the investment has taken and whether it has had any tangible impact. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of drinking water investment on drinking water in China.

The authors make use of nationally representative data from 2005 and 2012 to measure the impact of drinking water investment among 2,028 rural households in 101 villages across five provinces. Both ordinary least squares regression and probit regression are used to analyze the correlates and the impact of drinking water investment.

The authors demonstrate that water quality was likely a significant problem in 2004 but that China’s investment into drinking water appears to have resulted in initial improvements during the study period. The authors show that the most significant change came about in terms of hardware: villages that received more drinking water investment now have more piped tap water and more access to water treatment infrastructure (disinfecting and filtering facilities). High rates of rural resident satisfaction with drinking water suggest the effects of drinking water investment are being felt at the village level.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study on drinking water investment over time in rural China using nationally representative data.

This study seeks to find out if chronic exposure via drinking water to high doses of a mixture of metals found as contaminants in tap and bottled water sources can alter the systemic physiology of residents.

A case control study was designed, 18 subjects drinking mainly tap water as main group (group I) and 15 subjects drinking exclusively bottled water as control group (group II) for a minimum of two years. Cadmium, lead, chromium and iron concentrations in drinking tap and bottled water samples were measured. The effect potential of the same metals were evaluated by assessing liver and kidney functions and haemoglobin levels for the studied subjects.

Iron concentration was found to be significantly higher in drinking tap water samples compared to bottled. Chromium, lead and iron were significantly higher in blood samples of group I subjects compared to the control group. Blood creatinine levels were positively correlated with that of chromium and cadmium of group I; and chromium levels of group II. Urea levels was positively correlated with lead levels of group I. Haemoglobin was positively correlated with iron blood levels of group I and negatively with lead levels of group II. No appreciable changes were found in the blood clinical markers of the liver functions of either group.

This study gives a concise idea about the higher level of some heavy metals in tap water compared to bottled and how heavy metal contaminants in drinking water may affect kidney function and haemoglobin level of consumers.

Bottled water consumption continues to break records worldwide and its environmental impact is often underestimated by the consumer. Many factors affect individuals’ choices to consume tap water and bottled water including perceived health risks and water quality. The University of South Florida (USF) has joined a nationwide initiative to become carbon-neutral, and reducing bottled water consumption was a chosen strategy. The purpose of this study was to assess the risk perceptions and drinking water choices of the USF-Tampa campus community.

A sample of 561 students, faculty and staff members responded to an online survey. The survey contained questions about the use of bottled water and tap water, reusable water bottles, risk perceptions and demographics.

The results revealed that certain groups – undergraduate students and ethnic/racial minorities (e.g. black/African American, Hispanic/Latino) – drank significantly more bottled water. Among political ideologies, Liberals drank the least bottled water. Females and minorities had significantly greater risk perceptions of the tap water on campus. Important perceived benefits were tap water being less expensive and better for the environment than bottled water. Important perceived barriers were poor tasting tap water and the desire for filtered water.

The findings suggest the need for public health campaigns to increase awareness of health, environmental and financial consequences of bottled water consumption. Such campaigns should aim to discourage bottled water and any potential increased sugar-sweetened beverage consumption while promoting tap water consumption.

The contamination of groundwater by natural arsenic is currently a worldwide epidemic. Arsenic-contaminated groundwater has been reported in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, China, Hungary, West Bengal in India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. Of these regions, Bangladesh and West Bengal are the most seriously affected in terms of the size of the population at risk and magnitude of health problems. Hence, chronic exposure to arsenic >50′′μg/L in drinking water can result in serious health problems. Common symptoms of arsenic-related ailments are skin, cardiovascular, renal, hematological, and respiratory disorders. Therefore, this chapter focuses on nature, origin, and extent of groundwater arsenic contamination, probable causes, and its impacts on food, drinking water, and social coverage. It further discloses mitigation approaches proposed and practiced by the different research groups to combat this problem and finally concludes.

This chapter reflects on the approach and learning of an innovative project in Bangladesh that addresses drinking water security issues of the poor and marginal communities through participatory research, innovation, and social mobilization. The people, living in the most difficult geophysical areas, are facing severe crisis of drinking water and associated health risks due to remoteness, seasonality, social isolation, and poor institutional links. The geophysical constraints such as growing salinity, arsenic, flood and drought, and drawdown of groundwater tables have aggravated the problems. The existing government services hardly reach to the most unserved and needy people because of remoteness and lack of responsiveness of the government departments. A participatory action research project led to collective understanding about the severity of the problems and associated health risks and vulnerability. This again built greater awareness and motivated the poor, women, and marginal communities to establish links with key actors and take various local and collective actions toward ensuring their greater access to drinking water, sanitation facilities, and health services from the relevant government departments and development agencies.

The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology for sustainable drinking water management by assessing the existing state of the water supply system in the study area (Allahabad, India). An attempt is made to identify various problems and gaps in the existing system and evolve solutions for the present water supply problems in a GIS framework. Finally, the paper proposes a conceptual framework for sustainable drinking water management.

The study was conducted in four stages. The first stage involved collection of data and background information through various primary and secondary sources including reports and publications of various organizations. This was followed by discussions with various officials of Uttar Pradesh (UP) Jal Nigam (Water Corporation), Jal Sansthan (Water Board), State Ground Water Board, Central Ground Water Board and Municipal Corporation of the city. The second stage involved field studies in a few zones of the city. The third stage involved data input and analysis on a GIS platform, and the fourth stage includes the development of a solution of the present problems and proposing a conceptual framework for ensuring sustainable drinking water management for Allahabad City.

ArcInfo 9.1 has been used as a tool for storing all types of relevant data for analysis and decision making. The various thematic maps include water supply zone map, water deficit localities map, land use map, location of tubewells, overhead tanks, zonal pumping station, ward boundaries, population map, water demand and supply map.

Applicability of a partnership between the public and the private sector has to be checked for proper institutional analysis in Allahabad City.

The paper assesses the problems in the existing water supply system in Allahabad and proposes to give a GIS‐based solution strategy for its sustainability. The proposed GIS‐based conceptual framework would improve the current practice of drinking water management and would reduce the present problem of water crisis. The findings of the study would be useful for cities with similar problems in underdeveloped and developing countries.

Iodine content in drinking water is a reflection of the iodine level of rocks and soil of the region. Different water sources have different levels of iodine; this makes variability in concentration of iodine content. The present study was done to estimate the iodine content in drinking water from different water sources of Ramtek villages in Nagpur district identified with sporadic cases of endemic goiter. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The water samples were collected from seven villages from Ramtek taluka, which included well, bore well and tap water. Water was collected in clean and dry glass bottles from each source from the entire villages under study. The analysis of the water samples was done by the method of Karmarkar et al.

Iodine content of water samples varied from 17.42 to 43.55 μg/l in tap water, 17.42-21.77 μg/l in well water and 8.7-37.02 μg/l bore well water. The mean iodine content was found to be highest (34.04±11.44 μg/l) in tap water, while bore well water and well water showed 20.46±14.16 μg/l and 19.59±3.07 μg/l, respectively.

The endemic area has been surveyed by the author – the data generated and analyzed – the findings of which are independently arrived. The study is helpful for students, academicians, independent researchers, and the government policy makers for their further research, policy formulation and implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to reveal gaps in knowledge about energy industries, federal and provincial governments and indigenous communities’ energy management policies and practices, as well as to highlight areas requiring further research and knowledge development.

This paper used a scoping review framework according to scoping methodological framework.

This paper suggests that researchers need to examine Indigenous communities on past leaks response records, pipelines leaks impacts in their health and environment and current risk management processes and regulations to identify weaknesses. This review paper also suggests that significant time will be required to meaningfully and honestly engage with communities to move from acceptance, through approval, to co-ownership of the project as the firm builds its legitimacy, credibility and trust with Indigenous communities.

The authors introduce an original approach to scoping methodological framework that directly addresses the processes of reveal gaps in knowledge and practice. It offers researchers, policy-makers, community and practitioners an alternative approach which is culturally appropriate for improving economic and environmental health outcomes of marginalised groups.

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study on how drinking water consumption could be potentially reduced by the introduction of dual water distribution networks. Since water of this quality is required only for drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing, delivering such water for uses that require non‐drinking water quality represents a tremendous waste of water and energy, and contributes to environmental pollution.

An overview of dual distribution networks in several countries is presented. Kuwait, in which 86 percent of the freshwater network has a parallel brackish water network, is the leader in this field, with brackish water used for a range of outdoor activities. The residential sector is the major consumer of freshwater in Kuwait and the control of demand in this sector will be a key factor in curbing the overall demand, which without any demand management measures is expected to quadruple by 2025. Computer modeling based on existing water use statistics and the proposed phasing‐in of a dual distribution network for indoor use in households has been undertaken to determine how the large quantities of reclaimed can be used to reduce drinking water consumption.

The paper presents a modeling exercise that demonstrates that by using reverse osmosis (RO) treated wastewater for toilet flushing and watering the gardens, water consumption demand can be stabilized at present levels over a 20‐year period.

The paper concludes that with foresight and long‐term planning it is feasible to implement a dual water supply network in a major city, on a scale which may lead to saving up to 25 percent of drinking quality water on top of other traditional water conservation measures.