{"id":2519,"date":"2013-02-22T15:35:11","date_gmt":"2013-02-22T10:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cawater-info.net\/all_about_water\/en\/?p=2519"},"modified":"2013-02-22T15:36:39","modified_gmt":"2013-02-22T10:36:39","slug":"latin-america-the-waters-are-murky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.cawater-info.net\/all_about_water\/en\/?p=2519","title":{"rendered":"LATIN AMERICA: The waters are murky"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"waters-are-murky\"<\/a>More than 20 percent of Latin Americans and Caribbeans have no basic sanitation and 15 percent of them directly without access to clean water, a resource victim of poor management, say experts meeting in Brazil.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must recognize that water quality is a serious problem with serious pollution situation due to mishandling and disabilities in management, and aquifers deplete its reserves at a rapid pace\u201d, as stated by Walter Ubal, International Research Center Development, Government of Canada (IDRC ).<\/p>\n

The super concentrates urban grow the demand for the resource and, consequently, the cost of search and purify is \u201chigh,\u201d said the specialist in management of natural and environmental resources present at the XIV World Water Congress, held in Porto de Galinhas in northern Brazil.<\/p>\n

The meeting was organized by the Pernambuco state government and the International Water Resources Association (IWRA ), an international NGO.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe worst thing is that we are dealing with treatment options that may be more expensive and generate greater environmental impacts,\u201d warned Ubal, who acknowledges that there is no way to purify water that is 100 percent sustainable.<\/p>\n

He explained that \u201cit is necessary to find ways not as bad , in turn, can be incorporated social elements.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this is a very big effort, because a large water treatment plant residual may be generated odors and changes the value of homes, leading to face a complexity beyond the technical, which is the social\u201d, analyzed.<\/p>\n

In order to understand the status of the plant wastewater treatment in the region, the director of the<\/p>\n

Institute of Engineering of the National University Autonomous of Mexico (UNAM), Adalberto Noyola, coordinates a team of specialists who seek to adapt processes and technologies that are more sustainable to improve the situation in Latin America.<\/p>\n

The goal of the research, which includes Mexico, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Colombia, Chile and<\/p>\n

Brazil, to assess the environmental impacts of the technologies applied in the field in the region and identify strategies to mitigate greenhouse gases, Noyola said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe treat the water to avoid contaminating the river, sea or land and as society progresses and more demand for water in many areas for resource reuse in irrigation for agriculture and industry, although not for home use, \u201che said.<\/p>\n

Brazil and Mexico, whose combined population equal to half that of Latin America and the Caribbean, have a percentage of its sewage treatment ranging from 30 to 40 percent.<\/p>\n

Chile, meanwhile, was included in the study because it has characteristics of water and sanitation services similar to those \u201cin the industrialized world for its long-term continuous policy of privatization,\u201d said Noyola, who said that in 2012 the country will reach the index 100 percent of its water treatment used.<\/p>\n

Dominican Republic and Colombia, however, perform purification treatment only 25 percent of water used, while Guatemala just do it with 10 or 15 percent.<\/p>\n

Noyola explained that in the region are used basically three types of technologies to treat wastewater, which are the stabilization ponds, activated sludge and anaerobic reactors.<\/p>\n

Stabilization ponds, which are large tanks coated with cement, compacted clay or plastic sheets to prevent infiltration, \u201chave the advantage that their cost of operation is very low, although its size can only be installed on land planes, \u201che noted.<\/p>\n

The activated sludge is more compact, but requires equipment, engines and technology, and operating costs for electric power is greater. \u201cYou can have a constant water quality\u201d with this method, he said.<\/p>\n

As anaerobic reactors, compact airless count \u201cwith the advantage that their cost of operation is very low.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it produces methane instead of generating organic matter. \u201cThe disadvantage is that water quality is less than the system\u2019s assets and must be supplemented with a post treatment,\u201d he said. Noyola Ubal agrees that there is a technology for treating wastewater that is entirely sustainable and environmentally sound in its entirety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are greener than others. The whole process involving energy will bring a result, however small. The challenge is to reduce the impacts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To Noyola, there is no single technology for use in water treatment in Latin America, since \u201cthere are many scenarios of treatment plant sizes and even different geographical areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

When treating water consumes energy, which generates a load of greenhouse gas emissions, he argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cMethane gas is dangerous, with a big impact on climate change.<\/p>\n

If you delete and do not get it can be contributing negatively. You\u2019re moving water pollution to the atmosphere, or a problem is changed to move to another, \u201csaid Loyola.<\/p>\n

This expert is coordinating a pioneering study that aims to develop a representative of the current diagnosis and treatment of wastewater in the cities of Latin America, and gather information in a guide that is available to municipal governments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will make recommendations to guide the decision maker select the best technology that best suits your needs. Some countries have made progress on recommendations, but more of a technical and economic.<\/p>\n

We also bring the environmental study, \u201che said. According to engineer Noyola, the water treatment plants also have negative impacts and we need to minimize them and make a more sustainable choice of technology.<\/p>\n

FROM | ipsnoticias.net<\/p>\n

Source: http:\/\/www.bluechannel24.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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