Water/Wastewater Engineers

Do you get annoyed when you sometimes wake up to find the water shut off in your house? Do you feel frustrated because you can't wash your face or hands or use the bathroom? What if I told you that nearly half the population of this planet deals with exactly that, constantly — not just for a few minutes or hours. According to a 2019 report from UNICEF and the World Health Organization, there are 4.2 billion people around the world living in homes with no sanitation services, and more than 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water — that is, water that's been properly treated and purified. Just imagine that there are hundreds of millions of people who have to walk dozens of miles every day to rivers or wells near them just to quench their thirst or wash their faces with that flowing water full of dirt and waste. More than half the towns and cities in this world need water facilities, sanitation services, treatment plants, and systems to carry water to homes, on top of the fact that all the new towns and cities constantly being built to accommodate population growth need water facilities and supply systems too. That's why this world is always in desperate need of water engineers, who are the subject of our discussion today — the clean water you use every day, whether for personal hygiene, drinking, or cooking, reaches you thanks to these engineers. Water engineers are responsible for designing and developing systems that carry water to homes, businesses, farms, and elsewhere, on top of sanitation services, and they're the ones who handle water purification and treatment processes. They're also responsible for coming up with methods and solutions to deal with floods, droughts, and the various forms of climate change affecting water — the lifeline for the eight billion people living on this crowded planet.

Meet the Writer: Waleed Abo Omiraa