.About the Congress
The conservation of water resources is essential to our lives: the good status of water ecosystems depends on it, which means we have to ensure water supplies of both sufficient quality and quantity for future generations. And we should not forget that the health of millions of human beings who have no access to a safe drinking water or to an improved sanitation system, rely on the quality of water resources.
Across the world, urban areas are acceptably well provided, but there are significant deficiencies in rural and disperse areas. In developed countries, this poses a serious environmental problem locally from a structural rather than a quantitative perspective. However, in less favoured areas, the environmental component is linked to a devastating human health problem, especially for children and the poor.
In such a scenario, aggravated by the effects of climate change on water resources, it is necessary to have appropriate and robust technologies, but also to set up political strategies to tackle the problem of sanitation and water purification successfully where it is most needed.
In answer to the need of a platform aimed at updating technological progress and creating an opportunity for reflexion and the study of sanitation in general and, more specifically, of sanitation and water purification in small and scattered communities and rural areas, we are promoting the 3rd International Congress Smallwat11. Wastewater in Small Communities. Towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the Water Framework Directive (WFD), to be held in Seville (Spain) from 25 to 28 April 2011.
Smallwatt11 is, therefore, an essential forum for scientists, technical experts and politicians. During the meeting, we will review the latest international research and hold a debate on how the international agenda have been fulfilled, just four years before the decisive date of 2015.
In this respect, Smallwat11 will focus on the WFD, on how to achieve the good ecological status of water bodies through the measures foreseen in the hydrological plans and on the MDG as regards the objective of reducing the population without a basic, adequate sanitation system by 50%.
