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  • Cities are using poop to look for early Covid-19 outbreaks

    Wastewater-based epidemiology is helping scientists and public health experts track the prevalence of coronavirus in communities. Although this practice can be complicated by the size of cities and lacks a standardized testing protocol, it has already helped identify outbreaks at two universities.

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  • How the University of Arizona used No. 2 to solve its No. 1 problem

    Amongst other efforts, the University of Arizona has begun analyzing sewage to mitigate the spread of coronavirus as students return to campus for the new school year. The practice is known as wastewater-based epidemiology, and university officials have already been able to diagnose and isolate two asymptomatic cases due to this new initiative.

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  • When Life Gives You Saltwater, Make Shrimp Ponds

    When the Vietnamese government built a gate in the 1990s to block saltwater from entering a key canal, they hoped it would lead to flourishing, year-round rice crops. Without community buy-in and engagement, the government didn’t have a clear understanding of the needs of local residents. By the time the gate was built, farmers had turned their fields into saltwater ponds to farm shrimp, demonstrating the need for ground-up solutions and deep community listening.

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  • The Dutch are giving rising rivers more room. Should we follow suit?

    The Dutch government bought out and relocated 200 households in high-risk areas as a way to create more space for rising water levels instead of building bigger levees. The program is called Room for the River, and more than 60,000 people now have much lower flood risk. The program also built new roads, bridges, and pumping stations, one of which doubles as a wildlife-watching tower. This, along with the green spaces, bike paths, and plazas, is credited for building public approval for the project.

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  • The farmers moving their fields indoors

    The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated challenges in food supply at an international scale, and one way to make food more accessible is to grow it locally. From hydroponics and aeroponics, where plants are grown in the water and air respectively, to rooftop gardens, farmers have been building up the technology to bring farming closer to home.

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  • Our Zoo is Greener Than Your Zoo

    The Philadelphia Zoo has created an in-house, vertical garden – housed in a shipping container provided by the nonprofit, CropBox – to grow food for the animals. So far, it has shown to be a more sustainable way of feeding the animals, producing 275 lbs of greens per month and using 70-90% less water than traditional farming. The garden is just one of the zoo’s newest sustainability initiatives, which include increasing energy efficiency, using solar-powered vehicles, and creating more trails and spaces for the animals.

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  • Biogas saves money at wastewater treatment plant

    Turning sewage sludge into usable biogas helps make wastewater treatment more efficient. A water treatment plant in the city of Medina, Ohio, produces net energy from sludge. The plant uses anaerobic bacteria and a thermal hydrolysis process to convert wastewater and sludge into usable byproducts, like biogas.

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  • Waiting for water: On the Navajo Nation, long lines, scarce resources, a cry for solutions

    As the coronavirus spreads throughout the Navajo Nation, many people don’t have access to water to even wash their hands. For generations, the Navajo people have suffered with this lack of water infrastructure, but some solutions have been implemented. For example, the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health has built about 100 hand-washing stations and delivered them to homes in need. Many people are hopeful they will receive more funding to build a more robust water system, but the scale of the problem and the cost of building it are big challenges to overcome.

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  • The Anacostia River Is Mussel-ing Its Way To Clean Waters

    After not failing the State of the River report card for the first time in ten years, supporters of the Anacostia River and The Anacostia Watershed Society devised a plan to continue efforts to restore the river to usability. Releasing seven baskets filled with thousands of mussels, the mussels act as natural filtering agents that simultaneously improve the health of the ecosystem.

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  • Low-cost housing project begins next month

    Kenya is launching a program to build more affordable housing by providing infrastructure like water and roads, as well as funding from the World Bank and lower levies on the cost of doing business in order to attract private investors. The government will also provide land to investors on the condition they provide 20,000 low-income units for every 100,000 they build. But the plan faces major challenges including clear title and rising construction costs.

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