當下，國際社會尤其是發展中國家，面臨著缺乏安全飲用水、基本衛生條件堪憂、水資源缺乏、水汙染嚴重等挑戰。爲了解決這些相互關聯的問題，2016 年 12 月 21日，聯合國大會通過了71/222項決議，宣布2018-2028爲“水促進可持續發展國際行動十年”。
針對上述目標，爲了調動各國政府、聯合國機構、國際和非政府組織等機構的積極性， 2018年6月19-22 日，聯合國與塔吉克斯坦共和國政府在塔吉克斯坦首都杜尚別共同主辦了“可持續發展水資源大會 2018-2028”高級別國際會議。
聯合國水資源大會開幕式現場一瞥
藍偉光教授在聯合國水資源大會會場入口處
本次大會聚焦與水相關的可持續發展目標，關注內容包括如何調動財政資源幫助水資源項目的有效推行，加強水資源的合理利用和管理能力，解決清潔飲水和衛生設施，以及現代科技與創新在其中的應用等多個領域。塔吉克斯坦總統拉赫蒙率其內閣總理、多位內閣部長出席了這一高級別的水資源十年行動計劃國際會議，巴基斯坦總統候賽因及鄰近多個國家的內閣總理、副總理，聯合國副秘書長劉振民及多國駐聯合國大使與高級官員、國際及地域組織、商界領袖、學者、教育家、非政府組織官員、河流湖泊盆地組織，以及婦女兒童與青年組織等1000多位嘉賓從世界各地來到杜尚別，出席了此次會議。
廈門大學水科技與政策研究中心首席科學家、新加坡中國科技促進與交流協會常務副會長、中國膜工業協會副理事長藍偉光教授受作爲演講嘉賓受邀出席了這一高級別的會議，並在塔吉克斯坦政府與南南合作金融中心主辦的“水資源利用和水環境治理”論壇上作了題爲“Applying innovative technologies to improve water quality and increase water supply across the world”的主題演講，受到了聯合國高層官員、塔吉克斯坦共和國政府部長以及其他許多參會代表的高度評價與充分肯定。
藍偉光教授與南南合作金融中心主席蔡鄂生攝于會議論壇
藍偉光教授在演講中就科技改善水質的問題闡述了他的觀點，他認爲應用創新的技術確保飲水安全與增加水的供給，既有技術的可行性，也有投資的經濟性。藍教授以他所領導的團隊創新開發的兩項技術“nanopurification (納濾淨化)” 與“membrane box (三達膜箱)” 的具體應用爲例說明，無論是飲用水安全還是水資源短缺問題，都可以用創新的科技手段來加以解決。
藍偉光教授向塔吉克斯坦環境保護部的官員介紹三達納濾芯技術
藍偉光教授在演講中還指出，今天人類面臨的水危機，歸根結底，可以總結爲“水資源短缺、水汙染嚴重、水分布不均”三大水問題。但應用現代的科技，不管什麽樣的水都可以變成所需要的水。因此，只要借鑒推廣新加坡的經驗，重新定義水資源、應用科技淨化水、循環利用再生水，前述三大水問題都可以迎刃而解。進一步地，藍偉光教授提出了“截汙減排、分散處理、按需淨化、分質用水、源頭控制、終端把關”的二十四字淨水方略，引起了參會代表的高度興趣與廣泛關注。
藍偉光教授現場接受塔吉克斯坦國家電視台的采訪
藍偉光教授在演講中重申了他多年來一直堅持的與衆不同的觀點：世界不缺水與水處理的技術，缺的是水循環的意識與水利用的政策。他希望聯合國可以利用其獨特的平台與管道，科普正確的水知識、喚醒公衆的水意識，呼籲公共的水政策。如此，各國政府就可以依靠應用已經開發成功的水技術，不但解決其面臨的水問題（保護綠水青山)，而且還可以創造一個新興的水工業（成就金山銀山)。藍偉光教授認爲，上述理念是對中國國家主席習近平確立的“綠水青山就是金山銀山”生態文明思想的最佳诠釋。
正在演講中的藍偉光教授
演講的最後，藍偉光教授基于塔基克斯坦共和國的水資源狀況，爲承辦這一高級別水資源會議的東道主提供了“Given Tajikistan’s abundant freshwater resources, I suggest that they develop their water industry by applying innovative technologies such as nanopurification and membrane box”的建議，由此吸引了塔基克斯坦方面的濃厚興趣。由此，塔吉克斯坦的國家電視台還專門采訪了藍偉光教授。
隨附藍偉光教授的演講文稿如下：
Applying innovative technologies to improve water quality and increase water supply across the world
One of the most pressing and ubiquitous problem facing people across the world is the ever-growing demand for clean water. While much attention has been given to the protection and redistribution of existing clean water resources, emerging threats are forcing us to reassess what should be considered clean water resources in the first place. In a similar fashion, innovative technologies are challenging us to reevaluate the potential value of unconventional water resources such as wastewater.
Traditional methods based on the protection and redistribution of clean water resources require significant upfront capital investment to build out infrastructure and develop expertise. All in return for a technically imperfect solution that is unable to remove all potentially toxic micro-pollutants. A solution that is also impractical in developing regions due to the high financial, operational and energy costs associated; costs that restrict its application even in developed nations.
Fortunately, we have seen some countries successfully apply innovative technologies to recycle wastewater as well as improve the quality of drinking water; therebyaddressing the issues of water safety and shortage. Singapore is such an example. Firstly, all tap water plants are equipped with membrane systems designed to improve water quality. Secondly, taking an approach that collects and makes full use of every drop of water, Singapore has established its “Four National Taps”. The “Four National Taps” includes three new sources of water (rainfall stored in catchments and reservoirs, high-quality reclaimed water or NEWater, and desalinated water) in addition to imported water from Malaysia. As of 2016, the three new taps together provide more than 65% of the total demand for water in Singapore. This number is expected to reach 100% in 2060.
As a policy researcher in the water sector, I have personally observed a trend towards developing less energy intensive, more economic, more environmentally friendly and more user-friendly technologies. One example is nanopurification, an innovative water purification technology based on the integration of membrane filtration and active carbon adsorption, which can efficiently retain natural minerals while removing harmful contaminants. Nanopurification requires only regular tap pressure to generate adequate water flux and neither require electricity nor produce wastewater. In contrast, reverse osmosis technology which is widely adopted in water purification requires electricity to operate and produces wastewater as a byproduct. Therefore, in comparison to existing water treatment technologies such as reverse osmosis, the newly developed nanopurification is a more suitable option for developing countries.
A second example of innovative water technology is what I call “membrane box”. The “membrane box” is an integrated smart membrane bioreactor (MBR) system built into a shipping container. The key advantages of the “membrane box” includes lower investment, smaller physical footprint, easier installation and maintenance, enhanced effects of biological treatment, and higher quality of reclaimed water. This is a prime example of decentralized treatment technology that can be applied to under-developed regions and areas with low population density and/or insufficient financial capacity for large infrastructure projects.
I am proud to say that it was our research team that invented the two aforementioned technologies. As an acknowledgement of our efforts, we have received a series of invention patents as well as various awards from the Chinese Government.
While I have only given two examples, technologies of this nature have potential in both developed and developing countries. With technology, we can redefine the term “water resources” – producing abundant quantities clean water by tapping into previously unfeasible sources, including municipal and industrial wastewater, seawater, and brackish water. This new definition leads to new ideas in water production and management.
First and foremost, we should control pollution by reducing emission and discharge. With the increasing impact of manmade products and activities on nature, the quantity and types of harmful matters that are abandoned after use and discharged into the environment and water sources have risen dramatically. This situation requires that we remove all harmful matters, especially micro-chemical pollutants, in the water before it is being used.
Current technologies have the capability to clean up these water sources to meet our different needs at a lower cost.The key is to choose the technology that best fits local conditions. Local conditions include, but are not limited to, the main source of the pollution, the concentration level of these pollutants, and the intended use of the reclaimed water. To better address these local conditions, we recommend decentralized solutions such as the “membrane box” to control pollution and reduce emission and discharge, while recycling used water to increase water supply as well as recover by-products such as valuable metals and chemicals used in industry.
Second, when producing or purifying water, we should tailor the process according to actual demand. While under-purification may result in unsafe drinking water; over-purification results in a waste of money and resources that should be avoided as well. For instance, nitrogen and phosphorus are necessary nutrients for plants, but are considered contaminants in water meant for consumption. This suggests that applying drinking water standards, which requires the removal of nutrients for plants such as nitrogen and phosphorus, to irrigation water is neither economical nor optimal. Therefore, the method of purification chosen should fit the actual use of the water. This calls for the setup of multiple safety standards for water in different use cases.
Third, we should ensure drinking and cooking water is both safe and healthy. For example, pure or distilled water would not meet this requirement as they may be safe but definitely not healthy. The report Calcium and Magnesium in Drinking-water published through the WHO has articulated that, based on available evidence, many people in most countries do not obtain sufficient intakes of magnesium and/or calcium from their diets due to various reasons, and that mineral-rich drinking-water may provide substantial contributions to total intakes of these nutrients. In short, safe and healthy drinking water refers to weakly alkaline water within which microbial and chemical hazards have been removed while natural minerals already existing in the water have been retained.
While we should rightfully demand that water meant for consumption to be of the highest quality, the total volume actually required for consumption is relatively small – making up only about 2% of total water demand. If we overhaul current tap water plants to produce water that meets the aforementioned standards and rebuild pipeline networks to avoid secondary pollution, it would be both costly and wasteful. Alternatively, we could adopt purification technologies at the point of use (purifiers on taps) to dramatically reduce the costs. However, it is worth mentioning that the technologies selected should not only remove pollutants but also retain minerals that are beneficial to human health.
As a scientist, I do not worry about the readiness of appropriate technologies but would call for more supportive policies and wider public awareness to ensure that these ideas can be put into action. I believe the UN to be a powerful educational platform that can effectively disseminate knowledge about the capabilities of newly available innovative technologies, spread awareness about the state and nature of our water resources, and engage governments at all levels to adopt policies that support the growth and application of these technologies. I believe, together with wider public awareness and more supportive government policies, these innovative technologies will better solve the water crisis by improving water quality and increasing the water supply. Additionally, a new global industry in water, health and environment that is beneficial to human society would emerge as a result.
Tajikistan is a Central Asian country rich in freshwater resources. It has plenty of rainfall within its territory and a large number of glaciers and lakes with abundant freshwater in its mountainous regions. Its freshwater resources account for more than 60% of Central Asia’s, and it ranks the 8th and the 1st in the world in terms of the total freshwater reservation and the per capita freshwater reservation respectively. However, the water resources of the Tajikistan have not been used optimally and have yet to become a driving force of its economic and societal development. Due to the limited farmland, outdated irrigation facilities and highly water-consuming crops such as cotton and rice, the water used for agriculture has not generated optimal economic returns. Due to an underdeveloped water infrastructure, the problem of sanitary and safe drinking water for urban and rural residents has been unresolved for a long time.
Given the economically under-developed status and the urgent needs of Tajikistan, I would offer three suggestions at this point of time.
- First, to secure the quality of drinking water for the benefit of public health with the least cost financially and easiest implementation technically, I suggest that nanopurificationtechnology at the point of use be adopted as soon as possible.
- Second, to implement a plan to upgrade Tajikistan’s water production and distribution systems. The guiding principle of the plan should be a decentralized system leveraging innovative technologies such as the “membrane box”; so as to avoid expensive capital investments into infrastructure.
- Third, to develop a water industry based on products such as bottled water that combines the advantages of innovativetechnologies as well as Tajikistan’s superior freshwater resources.
In doing so, the rich water resources in Tajikistan can be turned into a powerful force to drive a positive change in Tajikistan’s economic, societal and environmental spheres.
藍偉光教授受邀參加的塔吉克斯總統Rahmon舉辦的歡迎晚宴現場一瞥
藍偉光受邀參加聯合國秘書長劉振民舉行的歡迎晚宴，上圖從右到左分別爲：聯合國副秘書長劉振民、塔吉克斯坦駐聯合國大使Mahmadamin Mahmadaminov, 新加坡駐聯合國大使Burhan Cafoor, 藍偉光教授