World Water Day, held on 22 March every year since 1993, focuses on the importance of freshwater.

World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

“Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible” the theme of World Water Day 2022

Groundwater is water found underground in aquifers, which are geological formations of rocks, sands and gravels that hold substantial quantities of water.

Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere.

Out of sight, under our feet, groundwater is a hidden treasure that enriches our lives. Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater. As climate change gets worse, groundwater will become more and more critical. We need to work together to sustainably manage this precious resource. Groundwater may be out of sight, but it must not be out of mind.

Sources:

Staff Reporter. (2022). Groundwater - Making the Invisible Visible. https://guyanachronicle.com/2022/03/20/groundwater-making-the-invisible-visible/
United Nations. (2022). World Water Day22 March. https://www.un.org/en/observances/water-day
World Water Day 2022: Groundwater - Making the Invisible Visible. https://www.worldwaterday.org/

 

Water Resources Management in Assumption University of Thailand

          Water is an extremely important resource for human life in the aspects of agriculture, industry, transportation, power generation, travel and sports, and so on. Also, water is essential for sustaining the abundance of ecosystems and is an essential component of all living things.
          Due to substantial benefits of water, Assumption University of Thailand realizes the importance of water consumption. As for sustainable environmental management, the University is, hence, determined to be a part in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is the 6th goal targeted to ensure availability and sustainable water management and sanitation for all.
          On April 22, 2021, the University appointed the Sustainable Environmental Management Committee for Academic Year 2021. The committee chairman was Mr. Kawis Surapraphan, Head of Operations and Maintenance Department. To take the ambition into actions, the University, therefore, set a sustainable environmental management policy and announced it to all personnel on May 21, 2021.
          In terms of water resources control, the University has had the measures for the sustainable use of water resources by asking for cooperation of all the personnel to comply with the measures. The examples of guidelines and measures are as follows:

  1. Water-saving measures are to use water sparingly. The users do not keep running the tap for a long time while washing their hands and face. They turn off the water faucet every time after use. The water from a sewage treatment can be used to water plants by using sprinklers and drip irrigation pipes, etc.
  2. Maintenance measures are to check for leaks in equipment and water pipes. When found leak, the devices are repaired or sent for reparation immediately to reduce water loss. Also, sanitary ware operated by the water-saving system is more installed for water-saving consumption.

          In terms of sanitary wastewater management, the University has arranged wastewater treatment ponds located at different buildings, and they all work 24 hours a day. At Hua Mak Campus, there are all together 3 wastewater treatment ponds capable of treating the wastewater of 340 cubic meters per day. At Suvarnabhumi Campus, there are 46 ponds for treating the wastewater of 2,581 cubic meters per day. As for the management, there is a control and supervision overseeing the treated water before discharging into reservoirs and public water sources, by examining the effluent rate to meet the standard, according to the announcement of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The control and supervision are aimed at the efficiency of wastewater treatment with no bad effects on environment and aimed at sustainable water management. Also, The University aims at decreasing water resources consumption by using the treated wastewater for watering trees and lawns by the plant water systems using sprinklers and drip irrigation.

Water Resources Management Performance

          According to the implementation of the sustainable environmental management policy, all the personnel cooperated in reducing the use of water resources. As a result, within 6 months, in Academic Year 2021, at both campuses, the University was able to save water, at the amount of 29,881 units which could be calculated at 35.40% of the water consumption.
          To implement the wastewater management, the treated wastewater is added to the water tank and used for watering the trees, lawns, and green areas surrounding the buildings, by using sprinklers and drip irrigation hoses. Currently, the treated water is used for 60% of green areas. The installation of more irrigation pipes will be planned and implemented in the next academic year.


Underground sewage treatment ponds and the treated wastewater discharged in the reservoir and used for watering plants


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