The survival of mankind requires a Water Quality and Quantity Index (WQQI) and Water Applied Testing and Environmental Research (WATER) Centers

• Author: Zigmond A. Kozicki,Stephanie J. S. Baiyasi‐Kozicki
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/wwp2.12007
• Published date: 01 May 2019
• Date: 01 May 2019

World Water Policy. 2019;5:55–70. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/wwp2

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55

© 2019 Policy Studies Organization.

Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

DOI: 10.1002/wwp2.12007

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The survival of mankind requires a Water Quality

and Quantity Index (WQQI) and Water Applied

Testing and Environmental Research (WATER)

Centers

Zigmond A.Kozicki1

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Stephanie J. S.Baiyasi‐Kozicki2

1College of Health Professions,University

of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI, USA

2College of Graduate Studies,Central

Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI,

USA

Correspondence

Zigmond A. Kozicki, University of Detroit

Mercy.

Email: zigpsych@sbcglobal.net

Abstract

The survival of the human population requires policy

changes regarding water management. Mankind needs real‐

time feedback about water quality to respond to threats to

the water supply from climate change, population growth,

water intensive farming, industrial pollution and urbaniza-

tion. With the growing scarcity of drinking water world-

wide, proactive strategic thinking and planning is necessary.

Investing in water quality and water quantity management

ensures that the public health and economic benefits for all

things related to water is maximized. By 2025, half of the

world’s population will be living in water‐stressed areas

(World Health Organization, Drinking water, http://www.

who.int/media centr e/facts heets/ fs391/ en/, 2016). “While

the private sector has a key role to play in making inno-

vation happen, government must provide three key public‐

good inputs that allow innovation to blossom: investments

in human capital, infrastructure, and research” (Pool &

Erickson, The high return on investment for publicly funded

research, Center for American Progress, 2012). Managing

water quality and quantity is a worldwide concern that will

require investing in WATER Centers. The feedback humans

need to survive can best be described as a Water Quality and

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KOZICKI and BaIYaSI‐KOZICKI

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INTRODUCTION

1.1

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Water quality threats

Ongoing human life on planet Earth will depend on accurate information about the current and expected

availability of drinking water. Water contamination is a common problem worldwide and people require

timely feedback about water quality to direct them to avoid water sources that are health‐threatening

and to seek water sources that are safe to consume. Contamination may be geological or anthropogenic

(man‐made) (Fawell & Nieuwenhuijsen, 2003). Supplies of water are also being stressed and in some

cases are now running dry at an alarming rate. The world’s population continues to increase and that

has not been matched by an accompanying increase in supplies of fresh water. The consequences are

proving to be profound. Across the globe today, reservoirs and aquifers are drying up. Technology

Quantity Index (WQQI). To create the WQQI, each country

will need to create and operate a Water Applied Testing and

Environmental Research (WATER) Center(s) to support

public health surveillance of drinking water. Water policy

makers need to keep in mind that water quality measure-

ments should be unique to each community and determined

by the actual threat to each community’s water sources.

Utilizing a WQQI from many communities in a given coun-

try would be useful for national public health strategic plan-

ning. WATER Centers can improve the safety of drinking

water and contribute to water conservation in community

water systems worldwide. WATER Centers can facilitate

the implementation of a WQQI. The Water Centers can

form a global network that shares data and methods for best

practices in managing drinking (potable) water. The United

States is often considered as having safe drinking water. An

examination of the community water systems in the United

States reveals that this may be an inaccurate assessment. The

testing and treatment of water in the United States is refer-

enced in this manuscript. Water is life—and life on earth is

linked to water. Our existence is dependent on water, or the

lack of it, in many ways, and one could say that our whole

civilization is built on the use of water (International Water

Association, 2008, A brief history of water and health from

ancient civilizations to modern times).

KEYWORDS

water applied testing and environmental research (WATER) centers, water

management, water quality and quantity index