Launch of Computing for Clean Water Project

Certainly, access to safe drinking water has improved steadily and substantially over the last decades, but a lack of this precious resource is a major challenge facing much of the developing world today.

27/09/2010 Ámbito: Asia (Noticia leida 119 veces)

EWP.-Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, is providing the Computing for Clean Water Project in coordination with a consortium of institutions from all over the world, and hopes to understand the molecular scale properties of a new class of efficient and inexpensive water filter materials, which may help to satisfy demand for inexpensive, clean drinking water in developing countries.

As the world population continues to increase, the need for safe, clean water increases as well. Certainly, access to safe drinking water has improved steadily and substantially over the last decades, but a lack of this precious resource is a major challenge facing much of the developing world today.

In addition, contaminated water is a major source of illness and death. Millions of people die every year, due to diseases like diarrhea, that are transmitted through unsafe water.

While unsafe water can be made potable by filtration or distillation, these methods have historically been quite complicated and expensive. Desalination of sea water for example, a potentially abundant resource of drinking water, is similarly limited by filtering costs.

Because of this impending crisis, many talented scientists from around the world are investigating new approaches to efficient low-cost water filtering. One recently identified area that shows tremendous promise is the use of carbon nanotubes.

Computing for Clean Water is the seventeenth research project to be launched on World Community Grid and one of eight projects currently active, or intermittent.

Because there are eight research projects running on World Community Grid, your grid agent could receive work units from any of the projects depending on your Project profile. If you prefer, you may elect to focus your computer's time only on particular projects.