More information on this call can be accessed at:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and travel bans in 2020 the format has been changed to online, with the approval of both financing institutions.
In this new format, three mini projects on low cost water and wastewater technologies were proposed, as the following topics, but not restricted to:
Non-intrusive investigation of changing shear rates on the floc structure and strength of a plant-based coagulant.
Enhancing the performance of an Anaerobic Baffled Reactors with synthetic sludge tests
Aggregates formed by low-energy consumption fractal mixer and green coagulants
We intend to share all activities related to these projects (e.g. experimental design, collected data, etc) on our website, with the goal of attracting and engaging interested UK and Brazilian ECRs in these projects, enabling continuation beyond the end date of the project and the development of synergies.
Motivation
It is estimated that 5.5 M Brazilians have no access to safe water and 28 M live without any proper sanitation. This population mostly reside in urban slums or rural areas where means of livelihood are severely impaired and infrastructure is underdeveloped. Water treatment and sanitation issues are particularly challenging in these areas, due to the vast territory to cover, social inequalities and presence of indigenous populations. The use of contaminated drinking water and lack of sanitation has led to increased vulnerability to water-borne diseases, including diarrhoea, typhoid and hepatitis which are the main contributors to reduced productivity and poor health.
Possessing ~14 % of the world’s water resources, Brazil is a water rich country. However, its waters are not evenly distributed and many States, including São Paulo, face water scarcity and pollution problems due to increasing water demands, water losses, not collecting and recycling wastewater, deforestation and agro-industrial activities. Reports by the World Bank show that the quality of life of Brazil’s poorest citizens is closely related to the management of water resources, for which research, policies and investments are urgently needed.
This project, aims to bring together researchers and stakeholders in the area of water and sanitation from the UK and Brazil. Each of the workshop’s sessions, will include a key note speech followed by presentations and interactive discussions. The activities set out will help in strengthening the partnerships of UoB and UNESP (leading institutions in Water Research) and enable new links with local stakeholders. Early career participants will have the chance to showcase their work and establish new links through carefully designed networking sessions. The final outcome will be a strategic research plan for increasing access to WASH and reinforcing public health awareness in rural areas thereby contributing to the progress of Brazil towards achieving SDGs 3&6.