Launch of the Computing for Clean Water Project

[PoppaGeek]

21 Sep 2010

Launch of the Computing for Clean Water Project (https://secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/about_us/viewNewsArticle.do?articleId=140)

Category: Computing for Clean Water
Tags: Project Event

Summary
World Community Grid is pleased to announce the launch of the Computing for Clean Water (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/research/c4cw/overview.do) project.

This project is provided by Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, in coordination with a consortium of institutions from all over the world, and hopes to understand the molecular scale properties of a new class of efficient and inexpensive water filter materials, which may help to satisfy demand for inexpensive, clean drinking water in developing countries.

Imagine your great-grandchild waking up 40 years in the future on a hot summer day and struggling to find a glass of cool, clean water. While it might be hard to imagine today, supplies of clean safe drinking water are diminishing all over the world, making this a very real possibility.

As the world population continues to increase, the need for safe, clean water climbs as well. Certainly, access to safe drinking water has improved steadily and substantially over the last decades, but a lack of this precious resource is a major challenge facing much of the developing world today.

In addition, contaminated water is a major source of illness and death. Millions of people die every year, due to diseases like diarrhea, that are transmitted through unsafe water.

While water that is unsafe can be made potable by filtration or distillation, these methods have historically been quite complicated and expensive. Desalination of sea water for example, a potentially abundant resource of drinking water, is similarly limited by filtering costs.

Because of this impending crisis, many talented scientists from around the world are investigating new approaches to efficient low-cost water filtering. One recently identified area that shows tremendous promise is the use of carbon nanotubes.

For additional information on this project, please press the Research button in the upper navigation bar or click here (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/research/c4cw/overview.do).

Press Release

To view the press release for this project please click here (http://ibm.e-press.com.cn/index.php?u=aio&a=v&id=3713621\t_blank).

Participation in the Computing for Clean Water project

Computing for Clean Water is the seventeenth research project to be launched on World Community Grid and one of eight projects currently active, or intermittent. The other seven active/intermittent research projects are:
The Clean Energy Project – Phase 2 (launched June, 2010)
Discover Dengue Drugs – Together – Phase 2 (launched February, 2010)
Help Cure Muscular Dystrophy – Phase 2 (launched May, 2009)
Help Fight Childhood Cancer (launched March, 2009)
Help Conquer Cancer (launched November, 2007)
Human Proteome Folding - Phase 2 (launched July, 2006)
FightAIDS@Home Phase 2 (launched November, 2005)

For more detailed information and FAQs about each of these projects, please click on the Research button in the upper navigation bar. We thank all of our members for their valuable contributions to the projects to date and hope you will continue to help us process those, as well as this latest project.

Because there are eight research projects running on World Community Grid, your grid agent could receive work units from any of the projects depending on your Project profile. If you prefer, you may elect to focus your computer's time only on particular projects. To do so, press the My Grid button in the upper navigation bar and select My Projects or click her (https://secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/ms/viewMyProjects.do)e. Work is sent only to machines which meet minimum system requirements set for a particular project. To read more specifics on the system requirements for the Computing for Clean Water project and the other projects, click here (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/help/viewTopic.do?shortName=minimumreq).

Project Badge

If a member contributes a minimum of 14 days of CPU Run Time to this project, they will receive a Computing for Clean Water project badge on their member statistics page and next to their member name when they post in the forums. There is a different badge for each research project and beta testing. To read more about badges, click here (http://worldcommunitygrid.org/help/viewSearch.do?searchString=Badges).

Forums

In addition to providing information about this project, we have created a forum for discussions about the Computing for Clean Water project. To participate in this forum, please press the Forums button in the upper navigation bar or click here (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/listthreads?forum=500). Only forum authors with the title "Computing for Clean Water Project Scientist" are authorized to comment as representatives of their respective research organizations.

Questions?

If you have any questions, World Community Grid provides you with four methods of obtaining assistance: (1) Review the FAQs found in the Help section (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/help/viewHelp.do) of the website; (2) Review the forums (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/listthreads?forum=500) to see if anyone has asked/answered the question that you have; (3) Ask the question in World Community Grid's Computing for Clean Water project forum found here and a Community Advisor or a more experienced member will provide an answer; or (4) Send an email to the support desk from the Contact Us (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/viewContactUs.do)link found at the bottom of every page of the website (except in the forums).

We thank you for contributing to the Computing for Clean Water (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/research/c4cw/overview.do) project.

[PoppaGeek]

Computing for Clean Water (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/research/c4cw/overview.do)

Project Status and Findings:
Information about this project is provided on the web pages below and by the project scientists on the Computing for Clean Water website (http://cnmm.tsinghua.edu.cn/). If you have comments or questions about this project, please visit the Computing for Clean Water forum (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/listthreads?forum=500).

Mission
The mission of Computing for Clean Water is to provide deeper insight on the molecular scale into the origins of the efficient flow of water through a novel class of filter materials. This insight will in turn guide future development of low-cost and more efficient water filters.

Significance
Lack of access to clean water is one of the major humanitarian challenges for many regions in the developing world. It is estimated that 1.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion have little or no sanitation. Millions of people die annually - estimates are 3,900 children a day - from the results of diseases transmitted through unsafe water, in particular diarrhea.

Technologies for filtering dirty water exist, but are generally quite expensive. Desalination of sea water, a potentially abundant source of drinking water, is similarly limited by filtering costs. Therefore, new approaches to efficient water filtering are a subject of intense research. Carbon nanotubes, stacked in arrays so that water must pass through the length of the tubes, represent a new approach to filtering water.

Approach
Normally, the extremely small pore size of nanotubes, typically only a few water molecules in diameter, would require very large pressures and hence expensive equipment in order to filter useful amounts of water. However, in 2005 experiments showed that such arrays of nanotubes allow water to flow at much higher rates than expected. This surprising result has spurred many scientists to invest considerable effort in studying the underlying processes that facilitate water flow in nanotubes.

This project uses large-scale molecular dynamics calculations - where the motions of individual water molecules through the nanotubes are simulated - in order to get a deeper understanding of the mechanism of water flow in the nanotubes. For example, there has been speculation about whether the water molecules in direct contact with the nanotube might behave more like ice. This in turn might reduce the friction felt by the rest of the water, hence increasing the rate of flow. Realistic computer simulations are one way to test such hypotheses.

Ultimately, the scientists hope to use the insights they glean from the simulations in order to optimize the underlying process that is enabling water to flow much more rapidly through nanotubes and other nanoporous materials. This optimization process will allow water to flow even more easily, while retaining sources of contamination. The simulations may also reveal under what conditions such filters can best assist in a desalination process.

[PoppaGeek]

Computing for Clean Water (http://cnmm.tsinghua.edu.cn/contents/1/89.html)

2010-09-20

[20 September 2010] Today, CNMM launched major volunteer computing project with World Community Grid, a philanthropic initiative of IBM, in order to understand the molecular-scale processes that could produce more efficient water filters for clean water and desalination. This research may help satisfy increasing demand worldwide for drinking water.

Scientists at CNMM have been investigating new approaches to efficient low-cost water filtering. One promising approach involves the use of carbon nanotubes, which can effectively keep many types of unwanted organic molecules from passing through them. Under certain conditions, nanotubes may even stop salt dissolved in water.

But normally in filter design, there is a tradeoff between small pore size and efficiency.
Getting liquids to pass through the extremely small pores of nanotubes ought to require the application of very high pressure. However, almost five years ago, a team of researchers at the University of Kentucky discovered that water can flow through nanotubes around 10,000 times more easily than expected. It is as if normal friction between the water molecules and the nanotubes walls disappears.

The large scale computer simulations being carried out with the help of IBM’s World Community Grid, which involve distribution of computing tasks to the PCs and laptops of volunteers around the world, will allow CNMM researchers to reveal more clearly the key physical attributes that make water flow practically friction-free through nanotubes, and should lead to insights on how to make even better water filters.

The consortium of institutions involved in the Computing for Clean Water project is led by CNMM and involves researchers from
· The National Centre for Nano Science and Technology of the Chinese Academy
of Sciences
· The University of Sydney and Monash University, both in Australia
· The Citizen Cyberscience Centre, based in Geneva, Switzerland.
The project is the result of an initiative launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences
to promote volunteer participation in science. It is called CAS@home, and is hosted by
the Institute of High Energy Physics in Beijing.
To learn more about this project, and participate in it, visit World Community Grid at http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/

[onex]

i'm running it for 2 weeks already!

anyway, the clean energy project phase 2 (beta?) went too a week back and started downloading WU's to the client,
yet it had many issues (at least here) excessive HDD usage every ~20 minutes taking down the CPU usage to ~10%,
also, the projects units are supposed to work for ~12 hours and it just got stuck with them at about 20 percent for days and had to be aborted,

though you can try it, others do seem to manage, maybe it was just a kind of "first couple of days" issue.

[PoppaGeek]

I've completed 1783 WUs without issue so whatever was going on there must be fixed.

We have been on the second batch of WUs for over a week. They stated in the forums the official announcement would be in Sept.

WCG Forums (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread_thread,29672)

bbover3
World Community Grid Admin
Please be aware that the press conference and press release for the Computing for Clean Water project launch are scheduled for September, 2010 in Beijing, China.

As such, we will not be doing the following at this time but will take care of them in conjunction with the press release:

• Text boxes on the home page,
• News & Update section,
• Member News forum,
• Facebook,
• Twitter

We'll let you know when the exact date of the press releases and press conference are scheduled.

Thank you.

[onex]

I've completed 1783 WUs without issue so whatever was going on there must be fixed.

you talk about TCEP2 ?

[PoppaGeek]

Computing For Clean Water

[onex]

you got confused ;), that bug was with TCEP, see earlier post :).

[PoppaGeek]

you got confused ;), that bug was with TCEP, see earlier post :yepp:.

Easy to do these days. :p:

There are a couple of threads in the CCW forums (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/listthreads?forum=500) about long work units and lots of errors in the beginning. Not sure it was bad WUs though.

[onex]

at least it's working and that what counts :),
that's a great project, reminds of NRftW, bring some solutions to sister africa!

[PoppaGeek]

"Millions of people die annually - estimates are 3,900 children a day - from the results of diseases transmitted through unsafe water, in particular diarrhea."

Reason enough for me. People should not die for the lack of clean water.

[onex]

the actual numbers are way higher, 16,000 children are said to be dying every day from poverty,
there are ~1.7 Billion people in the world which are living under the poverty line - less the 1.25 dollars a day,
while others are doing millions in other area's, living in Villa's and palaces worth millions of dollars, and spend what can feed tens of thousands of poor childs on clothes or a single car.

this world is terribly out of proportion, makes you feel disgust towards all those celebrities and movie stars which show up with they're multi-thousand dollar dresses and jewelry to some silly award ceremonies,
people who spend all they're life's concerned about them self's and spending all they're effort in looking good and showing they're greatness to the camera while others far away starve to death.

this is a terribly cruel and vicious world.

[PoppaGeek]

Water map shows billions at risk of 'water insecurity' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11435522)

BBC 29 September 2010
About 80% of the world's population lives in areas where the fresh water supply is not secure, according to a new global analysis.

Natural
http://img.techpowerup.org/101004/water_natural_624.jpg

Managed
http://img.techpowerup.org/101004/water_managed_624.jpg

EDIT: Added another pic

[lkiller123]

I am not very surprised to see all the first world countries getting the yellows and reds.. Pollution is too much of an issue :down:

[haschioz]

well i live in germany and really cant say that we have drinking water...so i dont know what that picture is referring to.
poppageek you took the wrong picture, yours shows the natural state without watermanagement.
of course it doesnt change much in the third world.

[onex]

it seems to suggest that there is lack of water through most of the area's in the world..


BBC 29 September 2010
About 80% of the world's population lives in areas where the fresh water supply is not secure, according to a new global analysis.
seen it some time after this thread has popped up, at the same place..,
imagine 500M people living on the Ganges water supply and if you've ever been in Varanasi, you should be aware at how polluted these water are..
a normal person from the west drinking these could probably die or get very ill, and you see people over there drinking the water like it were coming out of a well, and shower few dozen meter from where corps burn...

and of course there's the Nile, those rivers in Asia, the Yangtze, the Mekong, the Amazon in South America and probably many others,
this seems like an extremely important project :).

[Biker]

I have been getting a lot of errors with this project where running all the other WU's are fine on the same machines so I have stopped crunching this one for now...

[PoppaGeek]

it seems to suggest that there is lack of water through most of the area's in the world..


seen it some time after this thread has popped up, at the same place..,
imagine 500M people living on the Ganges water supply and if you've ever been in Varanasi, you should be aware at how polluted these water are..
a normal person from the west drinking these could probably die or get very ill, and you see people over there drinking the water like it were coming out of a well, and shower few dozen meter from where corps burn...

and of course there's the Nile, those rivers in Asia, the Yangtze, the Mekong, the Amazon in South America and probably many others,
this seems like an extremely important project :).


I agree. I have 12 cores dedicated to this project, running Linux they do about 90-100 WUs a day total. My Vista machines are HCC, HFCC and HPF2.

Dunno about your errors Biker, I have not had any. :shrug:

[onex]

p.s -

My Vista machines are HCC, HFCC and HPF2
why don't you run linux on these as well?

[Biker]

Dunno about your errors Biker, I have not had any. :shrug:

Yes it is a bit wierd.

I have crunched nearly a year's worth and have been getting 10-15 cfcw WU errors a day (distributed evenly across all machines) where the same machines have been crunching other project WU's just fine :confused:

[onex]

have been getting 10-15 cfcw WU errors a day
never got any errors either,
do you recall the error code, message or anything?

[PoppaGeek]

p.s -

why don't you run linux on these as well?

Three of my machines are also used for playing games that are not available on Linux. One is also used as a wired to wireless bridge and I am lazy as it is easier to do under Windows than Linux. Another is a HTPC and I wanted to use Media Center and share media with the other Vista machines. It does not matter to me if Linux will do all this, I have a long history of Linux and do not feel like using it for this stuff. Vista does fine. I put Linux on the dual Opteron quad when I discovered that it did C4CW in about 60% of the time on same machine running Vista64. The last machine got Linux because I ran out of Vista64 licenses but that is ok as it runs C4CW too.

[onex]

I discovered that it did C4CW in about 60% of the time
that is great! isn't it :)?

i tried using Linux on VirtualBox crunching yet it went only about 30% processor usage at times for some strange reason,
i might give it a shot as boot OS on a secondary or third machine for it's output though :yepp:.

[PoppaGeek]

Yes it is a bit wierd.

I have crunched nearly a year's worth and have been getting 10-15 cfcw WU errors a day (distributed evenly across all machines) where the same machines have been crunching other project WU's just fine :confused:

If you are running anti-virus software maybe try adding WCG directories to exclude list? Can't think of what other all machines might have in common unless they all have same hardware.

[D_A]

I think that's a good call. Antivirus products have a history of interferring with BOINC, apparently (not a problem I have under Linux but I insist on running AV under Windows).

[Biker]

I wish you guys were correct..... I am only running AV on my main rig, and that is inactive 95% of the time....

8 machines are Intel and 1 is AMD based.

The main thing all the machines generating errors have in common is that they are all running XP x64 SP2 with all the bells and whistles turned off (minimum services and only Boinc runnning).

The other thing they all share is the Boinc version : 6.10.58 x64

This leads me to suspect it might be a boinc version and / or a XP x64 issue...



...answers on a postcard to the usual address :D

[PoppaGeek]

Interesting. The only machine I have that errors HPF2 is also only one running 6.10.58 which someone said has known bugs. May drop it back down to 6.10.56.

[Biker]

....so is it time for Movieman to create a Do not use Boinc 6.10.58 sticky? :D