Water and Biotechnologies

In this traditional panel we search for the overlaps between potable water and biotechnological advancements. Specific topics include water treatment, laboratory and on-site analytical methods, evolution of sensors, the water impact of health. The panel brings together sector practitioners involved in treating and distributing water, researchers, health and nutritional experts and analysts. The panel is recurring in every edition of the Water & Biotechnologies Atelier and aims to dig more deeply in evolving areas of research such as gut microbiome (and the impact it gets from water quality), mineral deficiencies and how water can cause/prevent them, etc.

Wastewater treatment is a topic of growing importance in the water sector and one that is closely linked to biotechnologies mainly due to biological and nature-based treatment methods, environmental monitoring and related topics. In the last couple of years, however, the topic of epidemiological surveillance through wastewater analysis gained prominence and this panel inevitably covers this angle. Specific sub-topic of interest is antimicrobial resistance. The Biotech Atelier Water Edition has already elaborated some of the subjects, but our interest is sustainable Not least, in the context of climate change, adaptation and resource recovery the panel will also emphasize on water re-use.

Water (and sanitation) is a data-intensive sector. While traditionally the sector collected and analyzed tons of data related to hydraulic parameters such as flow and pressure, in recent years the amount of data grew exponentially by including various water-quality parameters and, since recently, epidemiological and other surveillance-based data. These trends are a pre-condition for deep dive into data, patterns and causal relationships. This new for us panel explores the topic in more details.