ENS 201.03 Group 5
Clean Water and Sanitation
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What is SDG 6?
What is SDG 6?
At its core, SDG 6 is the principle that every person has the right to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. In order to do this, the United Nations has outlined the following specific goals that can specifically assist the sustainable development of Muskegon:
Reduce water pollution (Target 6.3)
Reducing fertilizer runoff
Installing filters for common contaminants
Increase water use efficiency (Target 6.4)
Use more water-efficient irrigation methods
Install efficient plumbing to reduce water waste
Use integrated water resource management (Target 6.5)
Effective wastewater treatment systems
Treatment and reduction of stormwater runoff
SDG 6 also involves protecting/restoring water-based ecosystems (ex. wetlands, aquifers, etc).
Image 1 Credit: United Nations SDG Website
Image 2 Credit: Muskegon Lake Ecosystem Action Plan
How have other cities addressed this goal?
How have other cities addressed this goal?
Thunder Bay, a city in Canada, has addressed SDG 6 through many different aspects including rain gardens. Rain gardens provide improvements in residential drainage, urban waterways, and provide habitats for numerous species. Surface water quality and groundwater quality are just some of the improvements that the city has seen through better addressing SDG 6. The city increases water quality awareness by offering approved water filters for those in compromised areas. Thunder Bay continues to make long-term investments for the safety its residents and ecosystems.
How can Muskegon address this goal?
How can Muskegon address this goal?
Overall, Muskegon is doing particularly well with SDG 6. However, there are still small components of PFOS and nitrates.
industrial waste and discharge from electroplating facilities produces PFOS (2.3 ppt as of 2022)
Runoff from fertilizer use adds nitrate in waterways (0.62 ppm as of 2022)
There are many ways to deal with these problems, which will be described below:
Unfortunately PFOS in the water is a hard problem to solve. One of the ways to do so would be to try and manage industrial waste better. Other than that, PFOS is usually only solvable through treatment at drinking water filtration facilities, of which there are various ways to do so including: activated carbon treatment, ion exchange treatment, and high pressure membranes.
While PFOS can be a harder chemical to address, runoff from fertilizer can be solved by planting buffers such as trees or shrubs around the edges of agricultural fields. This will allow runoff to be absorbed by these buffers preventing access into waterways.
How do other SDG goals relate to this goal?
How do other SDG goals relate to this goal?
-SDG 3: Clean water is absolutely essential for good health and well-being. Immuno-compromised people may be at risk to contaminants in Muskegon water. Water is essential for human survival, and unclean water can transmit deadly diseases. Proper sanitation is also one of the main ways in which human health and well-being can be improved.
-SDG 7: Water is an essential part of the processes by which energy is created, whether it's through hydroelectric dams or through water-based turbines; energy is also required for some water purification.
-SDG 10: Ensuring equal distribution of clean water and access to proper sanitation is essential for the reduction of inequalities across the world.
-SDG 12: Sustainable usage of water is one of the major targets of SDG 6, such as limiting the amount of water used to water lawns, developing sustainable irrigation systems that minimize water loss, etc. Muskegon is working to create more efficient plumbing to prevent excessive water loss as well as limiting its water usage for irrigation by using more sustainable irrigation practices.
-SDG 14 + 15: One of the targets of SDG 6 is the protection of water-based ecosystems such as wetlands. Wetlands are distributed across Muskegon, and many actions are being taken to protect and restore them, such as reduction of runoff/erosion and the creation of new wildlife habitat.
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