Full name: Nguyen KhacDuy
Class: K4/01-AP-HUMG
Essay 2:
The NAE grand challenge that I think is the most interesting or important to slove is Provide access to clean water. I chose this because of the following reasons. Water is an indispensable condition for life on Earth. Water feed plants, animals and human. Humans usewater for agricultural production (irrigate crop plants,…), industrial production (metallurgy, chemical industry, paper, food industry,…). More importantly, people use water for drinking and cooking. People can live one week without food but will die if they don’t drink water for 3 continuous days.Although water is important to human, water is increasingly being polluted.Clean water supplies are contaminated by toxic chemical, industrial waste (arsenic, lead, Fe, Ag, etc.), domestic waste. Water in oceans accounts for over 95% of the water on earth but water in the ocean is so salty so it can’t be used without desalination. About 3 percent of the planet’s water is fresh, but most of that is in the form of snow or ice. Water contained in many aquifers has been used more than their replenishment.
Lack of clean water is responsible for more deaths in the world than war. Water pollution causes approximately 14,000 deaths per day, mostly due to eating contaminated by untreated water in developing countries(1). About 1 out of every 6 people living today do not have adequate access to water, and more than double that number lack basic sanitation, for which water is needed(2). From 1990 still 2010, this still leaves some 170 million people of South Asians not using drinking water from improved sources(3). “Overcoming the crisis in water and sanitation is one of the greatest human development challenges of the early 21st century.” a recent U.N. report warns(4).
For a healthy, future for the planet, developing methods of ensuring adequate water supplies pose engineering challenges of the first magnitude. Waste treatment technologies from production and domestic waste is one of the solutions should be developed. In addition, people need to develop technology to turn seawater into fresh water at low cost to peopleespecially the poor in developing countries can use. The technology that we are mentioning should be developed as desalination technology, nano-osmosis technology, drip irrigation technology, etc.
(1), (3): according to the report of UNICEF
(2), (4): according to GRAND CHALLENGES FOR ENGINEERING of NAE