What does Japan Water Research Center bring to Watershare?
Can you please introduce your organisation and field of expertise?
Japan Water Research Center (JWRC) is a non-profit research institute dedicated to the study and solution of essential needs and challenges surrounding drinking water supply in Japan. JWRC was established in 1988 to improve public health through collaborative efforts with professionals from utilities, industry and science. Our research focuses on water service delivery and utility management as well as the technologies and practices for water treatment and distribution.
With whom (other colleagues) from your organisation are you taking part in Watershare?
Four members of JWRC are now engaged in the Watershare activities:
- Mr Shigeru Ando, President
- Mr Masahiko Kiyozuka, Managing Director
- Mr Yoshihiko Ueda, Director of Research and Publication Department
- Mr Kuni Takahashi, Researcher of Research and Publication Department
What can you bring to Watershare and what are you looking for?
Through Watershare, we seek networking opportunities with water-related institutions across the globe so we can learn from their examples and share information about the Japanese water sector.
What are you proud of?
Our collaboration with Watershare resulted in co-authoring a paper (pipe failure data collection practices in the Netherlands, Sweden and Japan) which we presented in the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2018 Tokyo and in organising the Watershare annual meeting 2019 in Yokohama, Japan.
Both settings contributed to improved knowledge of Watershare members about the water supply in Japan as well as JWRC deepening its understanding of their water services.
What do you see as the biggest challenges for Waterhare in 2020-2021?
Address Covid-19, develop smart water technologies that require less manual labour in the field (e.g. remote monitoring, smart water meter).
What are your ambitions as a Watershare member?
Our ambition is to build and reinforce our connections with water professionals around the globe through the member network of the Watershare.
Coronavirus/Virus research: What opportunities do you see for Watershare members?
As far as JWRC is concerned, we are not conducting any study or research regarding Coronavirus at the moment.