World Water Week: Turkish Teen Wins Stockholm Junior Water Prize

"We have a new energy source from rain with a piezoelectric effect with this project," Dag said at the award ceremony held Tuesday night as part of World Water Week. "I hope that my work will contribute to the development of the next generation of energy panels where rain, sun, and wind are combined."

Ceren Burcak Dag, winner of the 2009 Stockholm Junior Water Prize (Photo courtesy SIWI)

Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials to generate an electric potential when mechanical stress, such as the impact of a raindrop, is applied.

Dag used the specialty plastic polyvinylidene fluoride, PVDF, a non-reactive and pure thermoplastic fluoropolymer, to transfer the kinetic energy of raindrops into electrical energy.

The Stockholm Water Foundation and the Stockholm International Water Institute announced the prize winner to an audience that included high-school students from 29 countries who won their national competitions, qualifying them to compete for the international prize. As the winner, Dag received a US$5,000 award and a crystal sculpture.

Water issues are the planet's top environmental problem, ahead of air pollution, depletion of natural resources, loss of habitat and climate change, according to a public opinion poll of 15,000 people in 15 countries released in Stockholm as part of World Water Week.

Ninety-three percent say water pollution is a very serious (72 percent) or somewhat serious (21 percent) problem and similar percentages believe that a shortage of fresh water is a very serious or somewhat serious problem.

Pollsters did in depth surveys of 500 people in each of seven countries - Canada, China, India, Mexico, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In all those countries, more than half of those surveyed agree that government is responsible for ensuring clean water. When asked whether individual citizens are responsible, responses vary widely by country, from a high of 76 percent in Mexico to a low of 30 percent in China.

People in Mexico are the most concerned about "lack of water for agriculture," while people in India are most concerned about "the high cost of water." compared to other countries.

The survey was commissioned by Circle of Blue, a Michigan-based international network of journalists, scientists and communicators focused on global water issues. Molson Coors Brewing Company sponsored the research, which was conducted by GlobeScan, a global survey research firm.

Celebrating drinking water in Yosemite National Park, California (Photo by Rex Polito)

"This research shows that across the globe, concerns about water are reaching a critical level of public consciousness," said J. Carl Ganter, Circle of Blue co-founder and director. "People think water is the most important environmental concern, in many cases more pressing than climate change. It's the axis issue that intersects the world's greatest challenges, from health, poverty and security to climate, immigration and environment, even financial and commodities markets."

Organized and directed by The Stockholm International Water Institute, The World Water Week has brought together some 2,000 participants from the scientific, business, policy and civic sectors. SIWI says the program "aims to transcend rhetoric and provide real answers to the global water crisis."

Water scarcity is in fact one of the world's most serious environmental problems. More than five million people die each year due to a lack of safe drinking water, and the United Nations estimates that 5.5 billion people will lack adequate access to fresh water in the next 20 years.

To develop global standards for freshwater stewardship, the conservation organization WWF and other nongovernmental, research and business partners Tuesday announced the formation of a Global Water Roundtable.

"Water resources around the world are in a crisis and poor water management is a major factor," said Jason Clay, senior vice president for market transformation at WWF. "The Global Water Roundtable is a pragmatic, consensus-driven way to recognize those water users who are doing their best to lessen their water footprint."

A holy day on the River Ajoy, West Bengal, India. January 14, 2009. (Photo by Asis K. Chatt)

While the Roundtable's first focus will be a series of meetings with stakeholders around the world to set standards for responsible environmental and social water use and accountability, WWF says the initiative could lead to certification for responsible water use.

Other organizing members of the Alliance for Water Stewardship, which will manage the process, include World Wildlife Fund, the Pacific Institute, The Nature Conservancy, Water Witness International, The Water Stewardship Initiative, the Water Environment Federation and the European Water Partnership.

The initiative is supported by a $1 million grant from JohnsonDiversey, a global provider of commercial cleaning and hygiene solutions.

The Stockholm International Water Institute offers statistics that underline the urgency of finding solutions to the global water crisis.

Of all the water on Earth, 97 percent is salt water. Of the remaining three percent fresh water, some 70 percent is frozen in the polar icecaps. The other 30 percent is mostly present as soil moisture or lies in underground aquifers.

Less than one percent of the world's fresh water is readily accessible for direct human uses. Of that one percent, agriculture uses 70 percent, industry uses 22 percent, and eight percent is used by households.

The world's 10 largest water users, by volume, are India, China, the United States, Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mexico and the Russian Federation.

A child born in the developed world consumes 30 to 50 times as much water as a child in the developing world. And with rapid population growth, water withdrawals have tripled over the last 50 years.

To ensure our basic needs, we all need 20 to 50 liters (five to 13 gallons) of clean water every day.

Copyright Environment News Service, ENS, 2009. All rights reserved.