European University of Lefke (EUL) Faculty of Engineering Faculty Member Asst. Prof. Dr. Saltuk Pirgalıoğlu made a statement about the meaning of the day and the theme of this year due to the World Water Day.

Stating that “The first proposal regarding the celebration of the World Water Day was made at the United Nations Environment Development Conference (UNCED) in 1992,” Pirgalıoğlu stated that with the decision of the United Nations General Assembly on 22 March 1993, the World Water Day started to be celebrated on 22 March since 1993. .

“Within the scope of the World Water Day, attention is also drawn to the regions that do not have access to safe water”

“World water day is organized by the United Nations Water with a different theme every year in order to raise awareness about the importance of fresh water resources and sustainable water management. Within the scope of the World Water Day, it is also aimed to draw attention to the regions that do not have access to safe water and to enable more people to have access to safe water with the campaigns. In this context, a report is published every year. “At the moment, approximately 2.2 billion people appear to have no access to safe water,” he said.

“Awareness should be raised about the importance of water resources and sustainable water management”

“The theme of 2021 has been determined as“ the value of water ”,” said Pirgalıoğlu, stating that this theme encourages us to think about how important water is for our family, our health, our daily work, our cultural habits and our environment, and re-emphasizes how valuable it is to reach clean and safe water.

Stating that the title of the value of water is recommended to be examined from five different angles by UN-Water, Pirgalıoğlu stated that these five main topics are; The value of water resources, the value of water infrastructure, the value of the services provided to us by water, the value of water for production and socio-economic activities, and the value of water in socio-cultural terms.

“If we want to keep our water resources clean, we must keep our environment clean”

“Understanding the value of water resources can be understood as the protection of our natural water resources.” The water that exists in our world is recycled back to nature with the water cycle after it is used. The water cycle is one of the most important services that nature offers us. If we want to keep our water resources clean, it’s important that we keep our environment clean. The value of infrastructure can be summarized as understanding the importance of the processes that enable water to reach us. These processes can be briefly listed as the storage, treatment and distribution of water.  Water treatment can be examined under two main headings; drinking water treatment and wastewater treatment. Both treatment processes are of vital importance in terms of human health and nature. It would be correct to say that both treatment processes complement each other in access to clean water, since the discharge of waste water to nature without the necessary treatment will cause pollution of water resources and adversely affect human health ”.

“It is important that we protect our water resources by taking simple small precautions in our house.”

“The services provided by water can be summarized as understanding how important water is used in our daily lives. It is desired to underline the importance of water in the fields of drinking water supply, health and hygiene. It is once again understood how important water is in the Covid-19 outbreak. For the production and socioeconomic importance of water, it is desired to draw attention to the fact that water is used in every field of industry and agriculture and is an indispensable actor. He also stated that agricultural activities, which are the largest water consumers in the world, should not be forgotten.

“Perhaps the least considered sociocultural importance of water in terms of water can be addressed,” Pirgalıoğlu said. As a natural beauty, water is of cultural and emotional importance for many of us. Even if water is seen as a value economically, it is an inseparable part of many cultures and its importance cannot always be measured with numerical values. I would like to remind you that even the simple small measures we will take in our house are important in protecting our water resources. I invite everyone to think about the place of water in their life, ”he said.