Australian university gets $27 million funding for clean water project

An Australian project from Monash University's Sustainable Development Institute, aiming to ensure water access for urban poor, has been awarded US$27 million (AU$35 million) in funding. Institute director Prof Rebekah Brown has received the award from the Wellcome Trust’s Our Planet Our Health awards in the United Kingdom and the Asian Development Bank.

Brown has been awarded with a US$14 million (AU$18 million) research grant from Wellcome Trust’s Our Planet Our Health and an additional US$13 million (AU$17 million) from the Asian Development Bank. The latter cost will cover the infrastructure and construction of the water project.

Monash University works with Stanford and Emory universities for the multidisciplinary project that seeks to improve water delivery in urban areas. Over five years, the project is also seen to help rebuild 24 settlements in Indonesia and Fiji.

More than 600 groups from all over the world have applied funding from Our Planet Our Health. Only four have been granted, two related to urbanisation, including Brown’s study.

Brown has expressed excitement, saying she and her team were “thrilled and so privileged” to receive the award. She shared that they hope of giving a blueprint of how water sanitation can be ensured and how it can be done in a better and sustainable way. She said they want to be able to influence in an optimum way.

The Guardian has learned that Brown’s team will trial Australian innovations to capture rainwater, treat contamination and clean up waste to ensure adequate sanitation for the global poor. The process will also generate another source of water, which can be utilised for irrigation purposes.

The project’s success will be determined by how healthy the villagers become, especially by the gastrointestinal health of children under five years old. The environmental impact of the project will also be gauged.