Volume 1 Issue 7, July 2023

Can flood hazards be predicted precisely and accurately at the scale of individual buildings? A consideration of the uncertainties in most inundation modelling suggests not.

The alarmingly slow progress on water-related goals and targets jeopardizes the entire sustainable development agenda. In March 2023, the United Nations (UN) convened the first UN Water Conference in nearly 50 years to create momentum and accelerate progress. The outcome of the conference will feed into the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which will be held in New York on July 10–19, 2023. Nature Water asked five experts about the challenges to meet the goals and where we need to go from here.

In this Review, Li and Wang utilize a unique chemical potential-based approach and critically analyse the available literature on sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting, including sorbents, processes and applications beyond water production.

This Review presents an overview and analysis of biomimetic engineering principles and strategies for developing unique surface properties to design all-weather, portable water harvesting systems. It discusses key processes involved in water harvesting and proposes a framework for designing next-generation sustainable systems to alleviate freshwater scarcity.

Surface water quality is impacted by climate change and human activities. This study identifies Sub-Saharan Africa as a major future hotspot of surface water pollution by applying a high-resolution global surface water quality model up to 2100.

Precipitation extremes could impact our society and ecosystems. This study investigates the historical intensification of extreme precipitation and the mechanisms by disentangling the contributions of different forcings.

Sorbent-assisted atmospheric water harvesting is one of the technologies currently explored to produce clean water especially in dry land locations. A metal–organic framework harvester has been shown to harvest water effectively in the Death Valley.

Although the transformation of bacteria due to the presence of contaminants in wastewater is often attributed to geometrical aspects, studying the impact of physical and chemical stressors shows that geometry is not the only factor to be taken into account.

The combination of ultraviolet-C emitting diodes with side-emitting optical fibres can be used to effectively inhibit biofilm formation, as demonstrated within the water system of the International Space Station.