According to the United Nations (UN), the purpose of this observance is to raise public awareness about the global water crisis and the importance of conserving water in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.
In this context, Francisco Rosas believes that "recently, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of conserving water so that we can preserve it for future generations in at least the same condition as we use it today."
Mariana Umpiérrez, on the other hand, says it is important to remember that each of us has a direct impact on our own environment and must recognize the importance of every small action we take for the environment. "We don't need to undertake large-scale projects to make a positive impact; rather, small daily actions by the general public can have a significant impact," she argues.
What is CTAgua and what is its mission?
Francisco Rosas (F.R.): CTAgua is a center that brings together business and academic stakeholders—both public and private—who have a particular interest in providing solutions to current and future water-related challenges. From the private-business sector, the participants are primarily medium- and large-sized companies in Uruguay, which are major users of this resource. From the academic sector, all of Uruguay’s universities, technological institutes, and research institutes participate, with their main contribution centered on rigorous study, development, and implementation of solutions to specific problems affecting water quantity or quality. Some of these water-related problems or challenges are typically raised by the companies themselves or by research centers, but we work together to find solutions. It is a tremendously positive space for the exchange of knowledge and experiences.
Mariana Umpiérrez (M.U.): Essentially, it is a center created to support projects related to the sustainable use of national water resources and to help foster connections between academia and industry.
How and why did you get involved with the organization? Are you there on behalf of ORT?
F.R.: Exactly, on behalf of ORT. As an economic researcher, I study issues related to the agricultural sector, natural resources, and climate change. Some of my research focuses on the economic aspects of water use and management in various productive sectors and cities.
M.U.: I have also been a member of ORT since 2017, and I strive to contribute through my role as a professor and researcher in the Department of Biotechnology at the university’s School of Engineering.
What is your role within the organization?
F.R.: I serve as a member of the Universidad ORT Uruguay representing Universidad ORT Uruguay, and as a member of the Evaluation Advisory Committee, which is the body responsible for evaluating initiatives submitted by members for funding from the center. I am also tasked with identifying other areas where the university—and specifically the School of Business and Social Sciences —can contribute to the center, including aspects not necessarily related to economics and business.
M.U.: I am ORT’s representative on the center’s Executive Committee. We meet monthly to approve the development of initiatives, projects, workshops, and other activities related to the center and its member companies and institutions.
What does the university bring to CTAgua, and vice versa?
F.R.: Through my involvement with CTAgua, the university aims to provide insights from the perspective of economics and business administration—a perspective that is highly valued because the center’s membership includes a strong contingent of basic and applied scientists. In this way, we contribute key insights to the same problems, but from a different angle. In particular, many of the solutions being studied must later be scaled up to the level of a company or region, and economic aspects must be considered from the outset.
At what point in your career did you decide to take an active role in water conservation? Why?
F.R.: After completing my Ph.D. in Economics, I quickly began working on the economic aspects of water use in the agricultural sector, including both crop irrigation and water for livestock production. Currently, some of my research projects, which I carry out through the Department of Economics in the university’s School of Management and Social Sciences, are entirely focused on water management (both at the individual level and at the watershed level).
M.U.: I believe that water conservation is part of protecting the environment as a whole, and that a clean environment has a direct impact on everyone’s health. I earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a master’s degree in chemistry (specializing in agricultural microbiology), and I recently completed my Ph.D. at McGill University (Canada) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, focusing on nanoremediation and bioremediation of arsenic in contaminated water and effluents.
I believe that today there is a growing awareness of the importance of keeping our ecosystems—and in particular our waterways—clean, and of developing initiatives to preserve them, such as ensuring the proper operation of industrial wastewater treatment systems. In our educational role, we also strive to encourage our ORT students to participate in related thesis projects. Specifically, in recent years we have carried out a project related to the treatment of meatpacking plant effluents and another related to the development of new methodologies for monitoring cyanobacterial contamination.
In addition, our team includes Eliana Nervi, who holds a master’s degree and has been actively involved at the center, managing a project on water stewardship; she is currently supervising a thesis project funded and supported by CTAgua that focuses on the remediation of glyphosate in water.
What message do you think is important to convey on this World Water Day?
F.R.: Since it is a public good, it is hard for us to grasp that the actions we take individually have a significant impact on its quality and quantity, and that we shouldn’t expect others to come up with the solutions. The message is that we must not lose sight of the fact that our individual actions—even if they are uncoordinated—do matter. And that, furthermore, we have a responsibility to take those actions in order to protect it.
M.U.: There’s no doubt that we also need organizations like Dinama to enforce regulations at the industrial level, but we can all do our part to ensure that this resource—which is vital to life—remains clean and abundant in the future.