About the WaTER Center

WaTER = Water Technologies for Emerging Regions
Mission: To help solve drinking water and sanitation challenges for impoverished regions in developing countries through innovative teaching and research initiatives.
Vision: A world where all mankind has access to safe and reliable drinking water.

WaTER Center Leadership Team

• Dr. David A. Sabatini, Director
• Dr. Robert C. Knox
• Dr. Randall L. Kolar
• Dr. Robert W. Nairn

Motivation for the WaTER Center

A lack of access to safe and reliable drinking water for all of mankind has been a persistent and significant problem throughout history. Today, the World Health Organization estimates that 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion have inadequate sanitation. These are staggering numbers given the economic prosperity and technical advances of our times. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that the U.N. has chosen, as one of its millenium goals, to cut in half by the year 2015 the number of people without clean drinking water, and has designated 2005-2015 as the International Decade of Action. To assist with these goals, the US passed the Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act. But one does not have to go to Africa or Asia to find affected areas; even in the U.S. many remote areas have unsafe water supplies, including Native American communities in Oklahoma.

History of the WaTER Center

The WaTER Center evolved in 2006 from the Environmental and Groundwater Institute (EGWI), that, for 23 years, served a leadership role in the area of groundwater resource management. The WaTER Center was formed to meet a growing need for university-based programs with the personnel and resources to assume a leadership role in the international water development scene that includes not only technical innovations, but educational opportunities for US students and citizens of the affected regions. Dr. David A. Sabatini, David Ross Boyd Professor in Civil Engineering and Environmental Science (CEES), became the first director of the center. Dr. Sabatini's expertise is in the area of physio-chemical processes for water and wastewater treatment. To originally form the WaTER Center Sabatini was assisted by two associate directors, Dr. Keith A. Strevett, whose expertise centers on biological water and wastewater treatment, and Dr. Randall L. Kolar, whose expertise centers on surface and groundwater supply. Together they began to partner with faculty from CEES and across campus to become a national center of excellence while accomplishing the center’s mission. More recently, Dr. Robert Knox (groundwater hydrology) and Dr. Robert Nairn (treatment ecosystems) have joined the leadership team and Dr. Strevett has stepped off. Over several years many initiatives of the WaTER Center, such as having graduate/undergraduate course offerings, initiating the International WaTER Prize and building connections with many faculty around the world have been accomplished. The center's current leadership continues working towards implementation of additional initiatives and advancing water quality research for developing areas.

Approach for Success

The WaTER Center will simultaneously pursue seven strategies.

1. Generate consistent funding through grants, consortium contributions and state/university appropriations
2. Engage students in graduate and undergraduate research projects and competitions
3. Develop traditional educational materials for short and semester-long courses
4. Update existing cirriculum into courses that prepare students interested in the Water Center’s mission
5. Identify and establish national and international partners for research and project collaboration
6. Market the program to faculty, students, funders and other interested parties around the world
7. Host a WaTER Prize/Symposium and International WaTER Conference