WIPO GREEN and World Water Day
March 22, 2017
World Water Day is celebrated on March 22 to focus attention of the need for taking action to tackle the water crisis. Access to safe water is a key issue in the fight to eradicate extreme poverty, covered by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals under SDG 6 – Access to clean water and sanitation.
The theme of World Water Day 2017 is wastewater. Most of the wastewater we produce as a society re-enters the environment without treatment or recycling, causing pollution as well as the loss of nutrients and other useful materials. WIPO GREEN recognizes the critical importance of addressing water issues to ensure the water cycle works better for every living thing. Innovation is required to achieve the SDG 6 target of halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and increasing water recycling and safe reuse.
The WIPO GREEN Database currently has more than 500 water-related green technologies that assure adequate and sustainable water supply, promote water efficiency, and enable environmentally friendly water treatment. Among the 100 connections that were facilitated by WIPO GREEN in 2016, a significant portion were to address water issues, with specific focus on 90 water needs identified from developing countries.
Upcoming: Innovate 4 Water – WIPO GREEN’s on-the-ground water event
WIPO GREEN in collaboration with Partners WaterVent and Waterpreneurs, will host a three day event titled “Innovate 4 Water: A matchmaking forum for sustainable development” during June 7-9, 2017 at WIPO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The aim of the event is to support water entrepreneurs and inventors in accelerating water innovation and diffusion. More details are available on the WIPO GREEN website.
Current: Wastewater technologies on WIPO GREEN
This year’s World Water Day theme is wastewater. The WIPO GREEN database contains 270 wastewater treatment technologies. A few examples are listed below:
- A New Method for Hydrogen Production from Wastewater
- Novel Photocatalytic Fullerenes for Water & Wastewater Treatment & Disinfection
- Colloidal Polymer Adsorbent for Removing Natural Organic Matter from Drinking Water Supplies
- Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems for the Municipal and Industrial Areas
- Filtering Water with Acoustics Nanotube Technology
- Functional Activated Carbons for Water Contaminant Removal
- High Rate Recirculating Hybrid Trickle-Bed Wetland for Graywater Treatment and Reuse
- Eco-friendly and Innovative Technology for Wastewater Treatment
- Biological Treatment of Wastewater
- Multi-layer Conical Diffuser for Advanced Wastewater Treatment System
- Mobile Water Purification System
- Magnetically Separable Synthetic Nanoparticles for Water Treatment
Past: WIPO GREEN matchmaking projects focused on water
In 2015, WIPO GREEN organized a pilot matchmaking event in Manila, Philippines to facilitate the transfer and diffusion of green technologies in wastewater treatment in South East Asia 
. In 2016, WIPO GREEN hosted a second matchmaking project related to water and agriculture in East Africa, with wastewater as one of the main focus areas.