Household water treatment (HWT)

The World Health Organization as an affordable and effective solution for addressing water quality has recognized household water treatment (HWT). Effective technologies such as Biosand filters and ceramic filters exist. The question is how to disseminate these technologies to the billion-plus that need access to clean drinking water. Household water treatment has emerged as a viable solution for small and large populations, especially in rural areas. In early 2003 the World Health Organization formed the International Network to Promote Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage with the mission, "To contribute to a significant reduction in waterborne disease, especially among vulnerable populations, by promoting safe household water treatment and safe storage as a key component of water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.

Since 2003, the body of evidence supporting household water treatment as a method to achieve health gains has been growing. A recent meta-analysis by Clasen, et al. in the British Medical Journal found that water quality interventions are effective at reducing diarrheal disease in children under 5 years old and all ages (Clasen, et al. 2007). As an active member of this Network, CAWST is dedicated to providing information on household water and sanitation technologies that we have reviewed and we believe to be appropriate for poor communities.

Agriculture

Agriculture, also called farming or husbandry, is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms for food, fiber, biofuel and other products used to sustain life.[1] Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticatedspecies created food surpluses that nurtured the development of civilization. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. Agriculture generally speaking refers to human activities, although it is also observed in certain species of ant and termite. [2][3] The word agriculture is the English adaptation of Latin agricultra, from ager, "a field",[4] and cultra, "cultivation" in the strict sense of "tillage of the soil".[5] Thus, a literal reading of the word yields "tillage of fields".

Industry

Industry is often classified into three sectors: primary or extractive, secondary or manufacturing, and tertiary or services. Some authors add quaternary (knowledge) or even quinary (culture and research) sectors. Industries can be classified on the basis of raw materials, size and ownership. Raw Materials: Industries may be agriculture based, Marine based, Mineral based, Forest based.... Size: It refers to the amount of capital invested, number of people employed and the volume of production. Ownership: Industries can be classified into private sector, state owned or public sector, joint sector and co-operative sector

Industry in the sense of manufacturing became a key sector of production and labour in European and North Americancountries during the Industrial Revolution, which upset previous mercantile and feudal economies through many successive rapid advances in technology, such as the steel and coal production. It is aided by technological advances, and has continued to develop into new types and sectors to this day. Industrial countries then assumed a capitalisteconomic policy. Railroads and steam-powered ships began speedily establishing links with previously unreachable world markets, enabling private companies to develop to then-unheard of size and wealth. Following the Industrial Revolution, perhaps a third of the world's economic output is derived from manufacturing industriesmore thanagriculture's share.

Irrigation water

Sources of irrigation water can be groundwater extracted from springs or by using wells, surface water withdrawn from rivers, lakes or reservoirs or non-conventional sources like treated wastewater, desalinated water or drainage water. A special form of irrigation using surface water is spate irrigation, also called floodwater harvesting. In case of a flood (spate) water is diverted to normally dry river beds (wadis) using a network of dams, gates and channels and spread over large areas. The moisture stored in the soil will be used thereafter to grow crops. Spate irrigation areas are in particular located in semi-arid or arid, mountainous regions. While floodwater harvesting belongs to the accepted irrigation methods, rainwater harvesting is usually not considered as a form of irrigation. Rainwater harvesting is the collection of runoff water from roofs or unused land and the concentration of this. Some of Ancient India's water systems were pulled by oxen. Around 90% of wastewater produced globally remains untreated, causing widespread water pollution, especially in low-income countries. Increasingly, agriculture is using untreated wastewater as a source of irrigation water. Cities provide lucrative markets for fresh produce, so are attractive to farmers. However, because agriculture has to compete for increasingly scarce water resources with industry and municipal users (see Water scarcity below), there is often no alternative for farmers but to use water polluted with urban waste, including sewage, directly to water their crops. There can be significant health hazards related to using water loaded with pathogens in this way, especially if people eat raw vegetables that have been irrigated with the polluted water. The International Water Management Institute has worked in India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mexico and other countries on various projects aimed at assessing and reducing risks of wastewater irrigation. They advocate a multiple-barrier approach to wastewater use, where farmers are encouraged to adopt various risk-reducing behaviours. These include ceasing irrigation a few days before harvesting to allow pathogens to die off in the sunlight, applying water carefully so it does not contaminate leaves likely to be eaten raw, cleaning vegetables with disinfectant or allowing fecal sludge used in farming to dry before being used as a human [31] manure. The World Health Organization has developed guidelines for safe water use.