a life-cycle approach to improve the sustainability of rural water systems in resource-limited countries生命周期的方法来改善农村供水系统的可持续性在资源有限的国家.pdfVIP

Challenges 2012, 3, 233-260; doi:10.3390/challe3020233 OPEN ACCESS challenges ISSN 2078-1547 /journal/challenges Review A Life-cycle Approach to Improve the Sustainability of Rural Water Systems in Resource-Limited Countries Sharon A. Jones 1,*, Abseen Anya 2, Nicholas Stacey 3 and Lindsay Weir 4 1 University of Portland, 5000 N. Willamette Blvd. Portland, OR 97203, USA 2 North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; E-Mail: aranya@ 3 Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA; E-Mail: nicholas_stacey@ 4 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; E-Mail: weirl@ * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: joness@ ; Tel.: + 1-503-943-8168; Fax: +1-503-943-7314. Received: 10 August 2012; in revised form: 29 October 2012 / Accepted: 31 October 2012 / Published: 8 November 2012 Abstract: A WHO and UNICEF joint report states that in 2008, 884 million people lacked access to potable drinking water. A life-cycle approach to develop potable water systems may improve the sustainability for such systems, however, a review of the literature shows that such an approach has primarily been used for urban systems located in resourced countries. Although urbanization is increasing globally, over 40 percent of the world’s population is currently rural with many considered poor. In this paper, we present a first step towards using life-cycle assessment to develop sustainable rural water systems in resource-limited countries while pointing out the needs. For ex