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

Presentation flow Introduction Water – A Key to Meeting the Millennium Development Goals in Pakistan MDG Goals and Pakistan’s position Water related diseases Key Challenges Role of Biotechnology in Water and Wastewater Technology Bayesian methods for livelihood, water, and poverty analysis

Introduction The 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 Goals Goal 1: Halve extreme poverty and hunger Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women Goal 4: Reduce child mortality Goal 5: Improve maternal health Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Water related diseases Anaemia Arsenicosis Ascariasis Botulism Campylobacteriosis Cholera Cryptosporiodiosis Cyanobacterial toxins Dengue

Key Challenges There 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 Categories The 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

Conclusion In 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??