At the International UV Association (IUVA) World Congress in 2023, the IUVA SDG Task Force convened a workshop focusing on ultraviolet (UV) disinfection for water treatment in low-to-middle income, humanitarian and rural settings worldwide. This session was a deep dive into the challenges of implementing UV systems and alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. Participants, representing academia, industry, policy and field implementation, engaged in discussions across four thematic areas: operations and maintenance, system specifications, critical control points, and user communication and engagement.
The SDG Task Force has created a report summarizing the outcomes of that workshop, mapping out challenges and proposing a series of initiatives to galvanize the IUVA membership and maintain a commitment to advancing UV disinfection solutions worldwide. The 22-page report was prepared by a team led by Karlye Wong (Ph.D. Candidate, University of Toronto) that included Nathan Moore (Ph.D. Candidate, University of Toronto) and Daniel Ma (Ph.D. Candidate, The Ohio State University). The authors acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Sara Marks (EAWEG), Jennfier LaFrance (WHO) and David Aidoo, who were interviewed for Section 2 of the workshop and report, and Dr. Sara Beck (University of British Columbia) and Dr. Hadas Mamane (Tel Aviv University), who contributed to the presentation of case studies in Section 1.
For more information on the IUVA SDG Task Force or receive a copy of the report, visit www.iuva.org or email karlye.wong@mail.utoronto.ca.
