Drinking water quality
Developing and enhancing access to sustainable, safe water sources
Impacts of climate change, such as floods and droughts, manifest themselves in poor access to enough drinking water but also impact the quality of drinking water by spreading infectious diseases.
Consuming unsafe water leads to illnesses such as diarrhoea, which can subsequently pollute both groundwater and surface water sources relied upon for drinking, irrigation, hygiene, cooking, and recreational activities.
The resilience of our water systems will be crucial in coping with the global water crisis. It'll also be a critical determinant of how health systems can serve the populations that they are intended for.
Sustainable water provision is a global challenge, not limited to low-income countries. Ensuring access to safe drinking water requires ongoing investment in both small-scale and large-scale infrastructure development across all regions.
This includes advancement in monitoring and management, innovation, supply chain optimisation and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the accessibility of clean water systems.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), up to 1.4 million deaths annually could be prevented with better access to water, sanitation and hygiene services.
WHO emphasise the potential for progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goal, SDG6 through targeted investment, better governance, data optimisation and compliance with drinking-water and sanitation standards. These measures improve health, stop disease transmission and improve resilience against climate change and other pressures.
Read the University of Surrey's Sustainability Development Goal Report for 2021/2022 to see the impact Dr Kathy Pond's work is making for SDG6: Clean Water and Sanitation.
Small drinking-water supplies, used by 40% of the global population, are especially vulnerable due to the lack of investment, management, and remote nature of people using these supplies. Small supplies are the focus of Kathy's work to target the sustainable provision of safely managed drinking water from source to tap.
Kathy's research aims to improve and implement low-cost tools to enhance provision of sustainable water supplies, in terms of quantity and quality, by looking at the water sources. Her work with colleagues also involves making tools to identify hazards to drinking-water quality in the catchment area for the source.
One in four handpumps in sub-Saharan Africa are non-functional at any time, leaving communities having to walk considerable distances to find a suitable replacement supply. Inevitably, this takes women and children particularly away from other activities such as education and caring for family. Through laboratory and field studies, Kathy's work investigates how climate change may exacerbate the breakdown of this technology and look for solutions.
Dr Kathy Pond heads the research efforts focused on drinking water quality, advancing understanding and strategies to ensure safe and sustainable water supplies. Kathy's research group serves as a WHO Collaborating Centre. The group has played a pivotal role in updating the WHO Guidelines for small drinking-water quality—key resources for owners and managers of small water supplies and sanitary risk assessments worldwide.
