One Health Forum: Safe and reliable drinking water for all
Date: Wednesday, 7 October 2026
Please note, only registered delegates of the Congress are eligible to express interest in the Forum.
Water, society’s health and wellbeing are highly interconnected, and face emerging threats to water quality. This forum will consist of three sessions around how water interacts with health, land and food, and the environment. Recommendations to deliver success at scale will be discussed, documented and fed back as part of the drive for action to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Description
Through three interactive sessions, delegates will collaborate to develop recommendations for achieving safe and reliable drinking water for all at scale. These recommendations will be discussed, documented, and fed back as part of the drive for action to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Throughout the day, all sessions will embrace the overarching themes of Water and One Health, Water, Land & Food, and Water and the Environment, recognising that these issues are intrinsically linked and benefit from a cross-sector, One Health perspective.
Discussions will explore the connections between water quality, sanitation, human, animal and environmental health, highlighting the importance of globally harmonised standards to drive better compliance, resilience, and equitable health outcomes. Delegates will also examine the relationships between water quality, livestock, wildlife, and food production, considering how reducing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) risks can strengthen ecosystem resilience and protect the safety of the food supply.
In addition, participants will consider key environmental questions, including whether source-control interventions can deliver greater long-term benefits than downstream, end-of-pipe solutions such as quaternary treatment. The sessions will also explore the role of collective environmental stewardship, bringing together communities, landowners, regulators, and water companies to strengthen shared responsibility, enhance public awareness, and improve environmental outcomes.
Objectives
- Explore gaps in research, regulation and guidance to promote actionable solution.
- Examine emerging threats in water quality and reliability.
- Promote One Health as a framework for integrated water and health strategies.
- Drive action via collaborative and impactful actions across two or three priority areas
Forum Session Schedule
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Session Opening Plenary |
| Keynote & Young Voices |
| Chair Dr Robin Price, Director of Quality, Environment and Assurance – Anglian Water Faye Williams, Wastewater Optimisation Manager – Dwr Cymru Welsh Water |
| Speakers: Prof Sharon Pfleger, NHS Highlands, NHS Lead & Co-founder of the One Health Breakthrough Partnership; Prof John Fawell, Advisor to the World Health Organisation – Drinking water and the Water Environment; Visiting Professor, Cranfield University James Murray, Glasgow City Council Erik Spiro, The Nature Conservancy |
| 11:00 – 12:30 | Session 1: Presentations and Panel Session |
| Chair Dr Robin Price, Director of Quality, Environment and Assurance – Anglian Water Faye Williams, Wastewater Optimisation Manager – Dwr Cymru Welsh Water |
| Speakers: Dr Marcus Rink OBE, Chief Inspector – DWI; Dr Luke Hillary Research Fellow at Bangor University; Prof Gertjan Medema, Principal Microbiologist at KWR Water Research Institute; Prof Davey Jones, Environmental Science & Public Health at Bangor University |
| 13:30 – 15:00 | Session 2: Presentations and Panel Session |
| Chair Dr Marcus Rink OBE, Chief Inspector – DWI Andrew Tabas, PhD student with the Hydro Nation Scholars Programme – Heriot-Watt University |
| Speakers: Dr Robert Bradburne, Chief Scientist – Environment Agency; Prof Bilge Alpaslan Kocamemi, Marmara University, Environmental Engineering Department; Graeme Pike, Infection Prevention and Control Lead, Deputy Director IPC, Oxford University Hospitals; Dr Bas van der Zaan, Microbiologist, KWR Water |
| 15:30 – 16:45 | Session 3: Presentations and Panel Session |
| Chair Prof Bilge Alpaslan Kocamemi, Marmara University, Turkish Water Institute (SUEN), Turkey |
| Speakers: Dr Francis Hassard, Senior Lecturer in Public Health Microbiology at Cranfield Water Science Institute; Sharon Ellwood, Director of Environmental Regulation – Dwr Cymru Welsh Water; Dr Yaw Abrampah Doctor of Philosophy, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering – Bristol University; Dr Holly Tipper, Senior Molecular Microbiologist in the Molecular Ecology team at UKCEH |
| 16:45 – 17:00 | Closing Remarks |
| Chair: Prof Sharon Pfleger – NHS Highlands |
