Teams from 11 universities and community colleges presented projects at the Southern California World Water Forum that addressed local and global water challenges. The projects included relief efforts to build wells for a hospital and school in Africa, capturing urban stormwater in the San Fernando Valley, and water sustainability projects in Guatemala and Kenya. The Forum aims to increase understanding of water issues and inspire students to pursue careers in water-related fields. Over three grant cycles, more than 300 students have completed 41 projects focused on developing solutions to water stresses locally and globally.

1. Contact: Bob Muir, (213) 217-6930; (213) 324-5213, mobile
April 19, 2013
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WORLD WATER FORUM ENDS AS COLLEGE TEAMS
DISPLAY SOLUTIONS TO LOCAL, GLOBAL WATER CHALLENGES
Teams from 11 universities, community colleges participated in 18-month grant program
A relief effort that built wells for a hospital and school for the blind in a remote southeast
African village and a roundtable discussion on capturing urban storm water in the San Fernando
Valley were among the projects showcased as an 18-month college grant program concluded today.
Fifteen teams representing 11 universities and community colleges convened at
Metropolitan Water District’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters to present prototypes and
projects developed by students to address local and worldwide water issues as part of the Southern
California World Water Forum.
Co-sponsored by Metropolitan, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Sanitation Districts
of Los Angeles County, with in-kind contributions from Friends of the United Nations and Water
For People, the competition awarded teams $10,000 to research, develop and communicate water-
use efficiency technology that can be used cost-effectively in water-stressed regions, locally or
globally.
“Just as water issues cut across every geographic, social, economic and cultural lines, so too
will water solutions,” said Metropolitan General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger. “Continuing to
develop those solutions will depend on the type of interdisciplinary approaches represented today
by the World Water Forum, where creative ideas lead to innovation and improvements in water
supply reliability that can be quantified.”
Participating colleges in this World Water Forum funding cycle were California State
University, Long Beach; Fullerton College; Loma Linda University; Loyola Marymount University;
Mt. San Antonio College; Pasadena City College; San Diego State University; the University of
California, Los Angeles; the University of California, Riverside; the University of California, Santa
Barbara; and Woodbury University/Aridlands Institute (see accompanying list of projects).
more . . . . .

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The initial 2004 launch of the Southern California World Water Forum coincided with the
United Nation’s General Assembly proclamation of the International Decade for Action, “Water for
Life.” As part of that effort, the U.N.’s nearly 200 international members committed to cut by half,
by the year 2015, the number of communities throughout the world living without clean drinking
water or basic sanitation.
Today, although the gap has narrowed, the U.N. estimates nearly two in 10 people in the
world still do not have safe drinking water and four out of 10 people lack basic sanitation. Every
year, millions of people, mostly children, die from diseases associated with deficiencies in fresh
water, sanitation and hygiene, according to the U.N.
“Since the first World Water Forum kicked off nine years ago, our goal has been to increase
student understanding of water supply, quality, sanitation and conservation issues,” said William
Steele, Bureau of Reclamation area manager. “Judging by the quality of the projects in this latest
round of grants, we have met our educational agenda, and inspired and been inspired in the
process.”
More than 300 students from 21 community colleges and universities throughout Southern
California have completed 41 projects over the three World Water Forum grant cycles.
The latest round of globally focused projects include a water conveyance and filtration
system for a health center and school for the blind in Malawi in southeast Africa; a clean water
project for a region in El Salvador; a water sustainability project for a community in Guatemala;
and a groundwater chlorination and distribution system designed for rural Kenya.
Grant projects with a local focus include a water quality and treatment project that
minimizes the formation of a particular disinfection byproduct during ozone treatment; identifying
potential areas within the San Fernando Valley basin for groundwater replenishment with urban
storm and rainwater; and developing an integrated system that combines efficient landscape design,
rainfall and gray water collection and treatment with a below-ground drainage system to maximize
water conservation in the Long Beach area.
Grace Robinson Chan, chief engineer and general manager of the Sanitation Districts of
Los Angeles County, pointed out the many issues the wastewater management industry faces as the
primary reason for its World Water Forum support.
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3. -3-
“We are facing significant challenges such as aging infrastructure, increased regulations and
a need to utilize the resource of recycled water,” Robinson Chan said. “We hope this program has
encouraged students to choose a career in the water sector and to make a lifelong dedication to this
field.”
Benita Lynn Horn, who oversees the World Water Forum as a certified teacher in
Metropolitan’s Education Programs section, said the interdisciplinary program brings together
undergraduate and graduate student teams whose areas of research include international relations,
urban planning, geography, biology, civil engineering, economics, and political and environmental
sciences.
“The benefits provided by this program stretch beyond the prototypes and policies
developed for application in water-challenged areas in both global and local regions,” Horn said.
“Participation in the program helps foster student interest in engineering, environmental sciences or
related careers in both the water and wastewater industries.”
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The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving nearly 19 million
people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies,
and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.

4. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WORLD WATER FORUM COLLEGE GRANT PROGRAM RECIPIENTS
& SPONSORING AGENCIES: 2011-2013
California State University,
Long Beach
CITY OF LONG BEACH
An Integrated Water Recycling, Treatment and Efficient Landscape Design
System for Water Conservation at the American Gold Star Manor, Long Beach
Fullerton College
CITY OF FULLERTON
Wastefully or Sustainably, How Does Your Garden Grow?
Loma Linda University
USBR
Eastern Coachella Crowd Sourcing: Empowering youth to advocate for
improved wastewater management
Loyola Marymount University
LADWP
Clean Water for Isla Espiritu Santo, Usulatán, El Salvador
Loyola Marymount University
LADWP
Water Conveyance and Filtration System for the Malingunde School for the
Blind and Health Center
Mt. San Antonio College
THREE VALLEYS MWD
Mt. SAC Student Water Forum
Pasadena City College
CITY OF PASADENA
Water, Fish and Food: Aquaponic Technology & Community Outreach in
Times of Water Scarcity
San Diego State University
HELIX WATER DISTRICT
Formation of Halonitromethanes during Ozonation of Drinking Water
San Diego State University
CITY OF SAN DIEGO
Compressible Filters from Flexible Granular Media
University of California,
Los Angeles
LADWP
Water Sustainability Project: Chocantariy, Guatemala
University of California, Riverside
WESTERN MWD
Pulse Method: Pasteurization Using a Lens and Solar Energy Method
University of California, Riverside
WESTERN MWD
Are Water Conservation Programs Effective?
University of California,
Santa Barbara
USBR
Groundwater Chlorination and Distribution System Design for Rural Kenyan
Communities
University of California,
Santa Barbara
USBR
Bucket Biosand Filter Enhanced with Slow-Release Silver-Impregnated
Ceramic Debris: An Innovative Point-of-Use Water Filtration and Disinfection
System for Malawi and Beyond
Woodbury University /
Aridlands Institute
CITY OF BURBANK
"Where is it? Let's (re)Use It": Developing a Fine-Scaled Geospatial Modeling
Tool for the Strategic Reassessing and Uncovering of Urban Stormwater
Resources