Anthony I Okoh
SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare
Title: Important challenges in water quality and the need for new approaches
Biography
Biography: Anthony I Okoh
Abstract
Water constitutes the most abundant compound on the surface of our planet, but only 1% of this resource is available as freshwater and is recognized as a scare resource in many parts of the world. Also, protection of this important resource has become a major global challenge especially amongst developing countries including South Africa. Challenges in this regards include for example, emerging and re-emerging microbial and chemical pollutants in water; their survival strategies in conventional treatment processes; evidences suggesting increasing incidences of resistance to regular disinfection regimes; hazardous chemicals used in water treatment and need for eco-friendly alternatives; and the need for review of existing water quality guidelines to capture emerging trends such as wastewater effluents as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance determinants becomes imperative and will be discussed in this paper.