The work of the Brazilian Water Research Center - BWRC - began this Thursday afternoon (10) with the holding of a virtual workshop to present the center and the areas of activity of the researchers who will part of the new unit. Financed by sanasa of Campinas and the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (FAPESP), the research center is based at Unicamp and will develop research, technological innovations and promote teaching and scientific culture on topics related to water from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Throughout the event, information from Brazil and the world was presented that justifies the importance of carrying out research that brings innovation to the sector and helps achieve the goals of universalizing basic sanitation and access to water in the country. Sanctioned in July 2020, the Law No. 14.026, which establishes the Sanitation Regulatory Framework, sets the coverage target for the country by December 2033 to be 99% of the population with drinking water supply and 90% with sewage collection and treatment. However, 2018 data from the National Sanitation Information System (SNIS) show that 16,4% of Brazilians still do not have access to treated water and 46,8% do not have sewage collection. Of the total sewage collected in the country, only 46,3% is treated.
In Campinas, the data show a reality very close to what the goals established for the country predict. Water supply today reaches 99,81% of the city and, therefore, one of the main focuses of the work carried out in the municipality is to reduce losses in distribution and revenue, currently evaluated at 20,7% and 13,2% . According to Marco Antonio Santos, technical director at Sanasa, from 1994 to 2019 R$256 million were invested in combating losses, which resulted in savings of R$1,2 billion.
"Sometimes people think that investing in loss control is spending money. On the contrary, it's investing money. It's good for the company, economically speaking, and for the environment, because we capture less water from our water sources" , justified Marco Antonio, who emphasizes the importance of research and technologies that increase the capacity to combat losses and reduce inequality in supply and sanitation between regions of the country.
Research, scientific dissemination and innovation
The BWRC's main lines of research will be the development of water security strategies, innovative water and sewage treatment technologies, the optimization of water distribution systems, the dissemination of scientific knowledge and the formulation and implementation of public policies aimed at water. The work will be organized into axes focused on research, education and scientific dissemination and technology transfer.
Cassiana Montagner, professor at the Chemistry Institute (IQ) and research coordinator at BWRC, explains that Sanasa's participation in the development of studies will be a differentiator that contributes to research innovation, as it will be possible to identify themes and demands that are at the frontiers of knowledge. "We are not going to do research just within our laboratories. We are going to look outside, in the sense of looking for problems and bringing solutions, and we are going to look to the side and understand that interdisciplinarity will bring great richness to the research we will develop , especially in this integration between Sanasa and academia", highlights the professor.
In parallel to research, the center will be responsible for scientific dissemination actions, coordinated by Eduardo Galembeck, professor at the Institute of Biology (IB), and support for technological transfer, a sector led by Rodnei Bertazzoli, professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FEM). Galembeck comments that education and scientific communication on topics related to water is strategic for the population to also promote water security and sustainability. "Part of the problems related to water are related to the change in consumer attitudes, which makes the challenge quite large and gives very significant importance to these actions in the area of education and dissemination", analyzes the professor.
Rodnei Bertazzoli clarifies that BWRC's innovation environment will encourage the emergence of new companies and startups and, therefore, work with technology transfer should not be restricted to patent registration processes, but also needs to offer support to these new companies and encourage entrepreneurial culture around the center. "We cannot think that what is developed on the laboratory bench is ready to be commercialized. There is an entire development process to meet the needs of companies that may be interested in this process of technological innovation for their business area", he highlights Bertzzoli.
"Without water it is impossible for human beings to survive"
Launched in July, the BWRC is the result of a partnership between Unicamp, Sanasa and Fapesp and will receive an investment of R$120 million over ten years. The physical headquarters of the center will be on the Unicamp campus, a place where researchers and scholarship holders will be brought together to carry out studies. Marcelo Knobel, rector of Unicamp, shared the intention that, in the future, the unit will have a headquarters integrated with the International Hub for Sustainable Development (HIDS), a step that would expand the possibilities of integrating the center with companies and innovation centers. "As the Center matures, if we manage to create a synergy between the projects that will be born there and we can evolve in this Water Center, it will be a victory and an achievement for all of us, both at Unicamp and Sanasa", assesses Knobel.
For the president of Sanasa, Arly de Lara Romeo, the goals stipulated by the Sanitation Regulatory Framework mean that the research and technologies that will be created by the BWRC are on the public administration's radar, which favors investments. "Right now, sanitation is the area that everyone is focused on so that Brazil can take a leap forward. A lot of resources are needed and I believe that the Center will awaken many lines of research and there will be no shortage of resources that it will have to take on. I'm sure that it will become a reference in Brazil and the world", he comments.
The BWRC will be coordinated by Lauro Kubota, professor at IQ. For the professor, integration between institutions is fundamental for the development of the sector and the benefit of more people. "The opportunity for interaction between Sanasa and Unicamp was extremely important. Sanasa, which takes care of the issue of sanitation, water and sewage management, opens up space for Unicamp researchers to use this, allowing access to the development of extremely important research. We can live without energy, but without water it is impossible for human beings to survive", emphasizes Kubota.
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