Drinking Water Seminar Takeaways — Young People Who Annoy Their Parents Create the Future of Clean Water

The long-term goal of Erkki Paasikivi Foundation is a world with clean water for everyone. Access to clean water in the world can be significantly improved through research, innovation, and education.

To foster conversation in the field, Erkki Paasikivi Foundation organized a seminar in cooperation with Aalto University on October 29. The seminar was titled “Drinking Water Quality and Changing Conditions – How to Secure Clean Water in the Future?”.

Throughout the seminar, clean drinking water was discussed from different perspectives, such as the presence, removal, and monitoring of micropollutants. Seasoned practitioners as well as doctoral students shared insights and recent research initiatives.

The seminar culminated in a panel discussion, whose panelists were Jarno Karjalainen, Head of Product Management from GF Industry & Infrastructure Flow Solutions; Tatjana Karpova, Senior Development Scientist from Kemira; Elin Lavonen, Professor of Practice from Aalto University; and Reetta Stjerna, Drinking Water Expert from the Finnish Water Utilities Association.

The panel and the entire evening were hosted with inspiring energy by Kamilla Sultanova.

Here are the key points from the panel.

The panelists identified several risks that professionals working with drinking water will need to address in the coming decades, such as chemical pollution and the emergence of new pollutants.

The ever-increasing production of various chemicals contributes to the risk of chemical pollution. For example, Elin Lavonen brought up that the aging population increases the use of pharmaceuticals. The downside is that the chemicals from pharmaceuticals end up in waters.

Tatjana Karpova added that it’s easier to treat the pharmaceutical chemicals in concentrated form, rather than when they end up in water treatment plants with the wastewater. This is why unused pharmaceuticals should be returned to the pharmacies.

Unseen underground factors may also pose risks for water. In Finland, the aging infrastructure requires 800 million euros in investments annually, reminded Reetta Stjerna. This renovation debt may increase the risk of pollution and water loss due to leaks.

One of the main conclusions of the panel discussion was that enhanced cooperation is needed between different actors related to clean drinking water.

As Elin Lavonen described, professionals have to improve the way they communicate across the field. Without mutual understanding, collaboration is significantly delayed.

Tatjana Karpova mentioned that numerous legislative bodies develop legislation apart from each other. A forum bringing together different legislative bodies and other actors, such as researchers, students, and practitioners working with water, would be needed to tackle water-related challenges more efficiently.

Experience throughout the field can be shared, for example, via mentoring programs, as Reetta Stjerna described. She has firsthand experience on how mentoring can help pass along not only technical expertise but also silent knowledge.

Jarno Karjalainen added that companies need more education on how to support people who take part in mentoring programs and other such initiatives between academia and companies. As he said, a big waste of money is to have a person working completely alone on a certain problem.

All the panelists agreed that spreading knowledge is a key element for securing clean water in the future and developing sustainable ways of using water.

Regarding water usage, the speakers emphasized the importance of considering the price and value of water. In Finland, the price of a cubic meter of water is very low compared to how people usually spend money. We tend to take our clean tap water for granted. Thus, it’s important to encourage people to reflect on their water consumption.

Both the panelists and the audience recognized the great potential in young people. They tend to be more open to new information than older generations — and thus may even annoy their parents by sharing this knowledge. For instance, Tatjana Karpova shared that her daughter has learned water saving in daycare and eagerly reminds her about turning the tap off.

Educating the public via media was also mentioned as an element to be considered. However, Lavonen added that scientists should also be cautious not to be alarmist and scare people. Instead, scientists have to make people understand that what they do actually has an impact.

The seminar was closed after the panel by Henrik Paasikivi, Board member of Erkki Paasikivi Foundation. Paasikivi echoed the panelists’ sentiments, emphasizing that collaboration is the key for a better future regarding clean water:

“In Erkki Paasikivi Foundation, one of our main strategies is to build collaboration, since we can’t tackle these problems without it.”

Paasikivi also brought up the role of foundations as communicators and promoters of education.

“Promoting the education of the young, and people in general, is also something that we can do at the foundation level. I believe this event was the first of many. Next, we can expand the audience to educate more people about clean water,” he concluded.

Erkki Paasikivi Foundation strives for a world where clean water is accessible to everyone. To achieve this, we support the most impactful Finnish research and education projects that contribute to this goal.

If you are interested in collaborating with Erkki Paasikivi Foundation, please contact us at info(at)erkkipaasikivensaatio.fi.