Addressing the techno-socio-economic challenges involved in the protection, conservation, recycling and equitable utilization of water as an economic good, this text explores the linkages and dynamics of interactions involving water, and includes the following key topic areas: dynamics of interactions involving water; water quality; augmentation and conservation of water resources; wastewater reuse systems; use of water in agriculture; industrial and municipal uses of water; water pollution; economics and management of water supplies; etiology of water-related diseases; climate change impacts on water resources and paradigms of water resource management.
Professor U. Aswathanarayana was born in Vallur, A.P., India, in 1928. Though he secured 100 % marks in Mathematics, and set up a record for the aggregate marks in the state secondary school examination, he almost gave up studies because of poverty. His mother had to sell her jewellery in order to send him to college. In the university, when he embarked on doctoral research in the virgin field of nuclear geology, he had to build his own radiation measuring equipment using the war disposal 7F7 triodes. When he was working in Caltech in 1957, he happened to be the neighbour of the distinguished astrophysics couple, Geoffrey and Margaret Burbidge. They named a star after their daughter, Sarah. Taking the cue from this idea, Aswathanarayana named his books after his daughters, and later after the daughters' children.
In the course of a career of teaching, research and institutional capacity building spanning more than half a century, Aswathanarayana has been associated with Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India (his alma mater); California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., USA; Oxford University, Oxford, England; University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; University of Saugar, Sagar, M.P., India; University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. While in Mozambique for 11 years, he served at various times as Commonwealth Visiting Professor, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane / Adviser on Environment and Technology/ Consultant to UNDP, World Bank, SIDA, and Louis Berger Inc.
Apart from pioneering contributions in nuclear geology in India, his major achievement has been to broaden geoscience through synergy with space, atmospheric, oceanic, pedological, information, etc. sciences, and making it employment-oriented through linkage with ecologically sustainable, economically viable and people-participatory ways of utilization of natural resources (water, soils, minerals). He wrote/edited ten widely- acclaimed, internationally published books to make such instruction possible. His exposure to the extremely serious human problems endemic in Africa convinced him of the need to switch to the application of geoscience to human welfare. Using geochemical and isotopic tools, he and his associates could identify the pathways of geoenvironment-induced endemicity of diseases, such as fluorosis, stomach cancer and goiter. He is the Founder and Honorary Director of the Mahadevan International Centre for Water Resources Management whose purpose is to serve as a clearinghouse for water sciences and technologies in the developing countries. It is modeled after the Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italy, in its ethos, and mode of functioning.
He held the Fellowships of UNIDO (1989), UN Outer Space Affairs Division (1989), and UNESCO Expert affiliated to the Institute for Trace Element Research, Lyon, France (1991). He has been the Chairman of the Working Group on "Geochemical Training in Developing Countries" of the Int. Assn of Geochemistry & Cosmochemistry (1996-2008). He is the recipient of the Excellence in Geophysical Education Award (2005) and International Award (2007) of the American Geophysical Union; Certificate of Recognition (2007) of the International Association of Geochemistry; Eminent Person Award in the area of Water Sciences of the Sivananda Trust, India (2007).
