Dale Whittington , professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) and visiting scholar at Oxford University, will lead a seminar on reducing leaks and demand in municipal water systems while promoting desalination and potable reuse.
The free talk - "Getting ready for the Anthropocene: the development path for municipal water and sanitation service and the economics of a circular urban water system" - will begin at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 10, in 157 Hosler Building, at Penn State University Park. It's the first event in the fall seminar series hosted by the Initiative for Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy (EEEPI).
Whittington will explore political, technological, socio-institutional, financial and public health factors in the development of municipal water and sanitation services in the Anthropocene - which is defined as the "most recent period in the Earth's history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet's climate and ecosystems."
According to Whittington, most urban water systems currently operate as "flow-through" systems, withdrawing raw water and discharging treated wastewater without reusing it. He advocates for a shift toward a "circular" urban water system, which involves greater water reuse and recycling.
"Cities at different stages on the development path will need to reduce freshwater withdrawals to adapt to the changing climatic conditions of the Anthropocene; reduce the risks of 'Day Zeros,' when municipal water systems are shut off; and reduce disruption to the global hydrological cycle," Whittington said.
A simulation of a hypothetical high-income city illustrates that four policy interventions - leakage reduction, demand reduction, potable water reuse and desalination - together "can dramatically reduce a city's raw water withdrawals without proportionally large increases in systemwide costs," he said.
At UNC-Chapel Hill, Whittington holds appointments in the Department of Environmental of Sciences and Engineering and in the Department of City and Regional Planning. His research focuses on water and sanitation in low- and mid-income countries, transboundary river basin management and nonmarket valuation techniques.
Since 2014, more than 40,000 students from 184 countries have participated in the virtual and free course, "Water Supply and Sanitation Policy in Developing Countries," offered by Whittington and Professor Duncan Thomas of Duke University.
About EEEPI
Established in 2011, EEEPI operates as a university-wide initiative at Penn State with support from the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute and the Institute of Energy and the Environment. EEEPI seeks to catalyze research in energy and environmental systems economics across the university and to build a world-class group of economists with interests in interdisciplinary collaboration.
