Towards better monitoring: taking drinking water equity, safety and sustainability into account

While current figures indicate that access to improved drinking water has increased from 77 per cent to 87 per cent between 1990 and 2008, the real percentage of people with sustainable access to safe drinking water is likely to be significantly lower. This is one of the conclusions of a new report [1] that the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP) released on 20 December 2011.

If the maximum acceptable time needed to collect water is taken as 30 minutes per round trip, then drinking water coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa drops by eight percentage points, the report says. Similarly, if you include water quality as an indicator, then the 2008 JMP estimates of access to safe drinking water would go down by 16% for Nicaragua, 11% for Ethiopia, 10% for Nigeria and 7% for Tajikistan.

The new report analyses existing JMP statistics in more detail and includes increased disaggregation of water service levels and analyses of trends across countries and regions. It focuses on the three key challenges of equity, safety and sustainability. Disparities in terms of geography, wealth and gender are explored, as well as the role of household water treatment and safe storage in water safety, and the unique threats posed by climate change to the sustainability in rural and urban contexts.

National and global monitoring will require a major evolution, concludes the report, to meet demands for targets and indicators that take equity, safety and sustainability into account.

[1] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP), 2011. Drinking water equity, safety and sustainability. (JMP thematic report on drinking water ; 2011). New York, NY, UNICEF ; Geneva, World Health Organization. 62 p. : 40 fig., 2 tab. 23 ref. <Available at: http://www.unicef.org/media/files/JMP_Report_DrinkingWater_2011.pdf>

Related news:

• Monitoring: new tools meet demand for more transparency in the water sector, E-Source, 05 Dec 2011
• Angelica de Jesus, First consultation on developing post-2015 monitoring indicators, Berlin: Refocusing the monitoring approach, E-Source, 02 Aug 2011

Related web site: WHO / UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation – http://www.wssinfo.org/

Source: UNICEF, 20 Dec 2011

Sci-fi thriller on the world’s water crisis

In 2079, worldwide drought and nuclear plant meltdowns have diminished the earth’s water supply by 88 per cent. The only hope for survival is to send war criminal Grant Clarke to Jupiter’s distant moon, Europa. Clarke must obtain a sulphur-based bacteria and get it back to earth in time to decontaminate the nuclear waste and save the world’s water supply.

That’s the plot of Europa, a 17 minute thesis film directed by David Gidali and produced by Avi Quijada for the American Film Institute (AFI). Post production of the AFI student film was completed in December 2011 and we can’t wait for its release.

We are also still eagerly awaiting the release of another sci-fi water film, Shekhar Kapur’s Paani. Elizabeth director Kapur announced the plans for his big budget film (the cost has apparently increased from US$ 30 million to US$ 50 million) at Cannes in 2010, but so far there is no confirmation that filming has actually started.

Related news: Global water crisis gets Bollywood Sci-Fi treatment, WASH News International, 18 May 2010

Related web sites: Europa – The Movie: Facebook | www.europamovie.com/

Source: PR.com, 21 Dec 2011

Jan Eliasson on the global water and sanitation crisis – TEDxUniversityofGothenburg

Using the example of Darfur where militants took over villages after poisoning wells, Jan Eliasson illustrates the link between peace and access to clean water.  He then explains the importance of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7, which aims to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

Jan Eliasson is chairman of WaterAid Sweden, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Sweden and since 2010 he serves in the UN Secretary-General’s MDG Advocates Group.

 

Monitoring: new tools meet demand for more transparency in the water sector

Water NGOs are leading the way in promoting new monitoring tools. A Child’s Right has launched an online monitoring system called Proving It and FLOW, a mobile phone tool developed by Water For People, is being widely used in West Africa.

A Child’s Right installs clean water systems in orphanages, schools and children’s hospitals in urban areas in the developing world. In October 2011, the NGO launched Proving It, a web site that tracks the status of all its projects, from inception to installation and then routinely thereafter. A Child’s Right is not afraid to stick the label “failed” on projects when systems are no longer working, explaining what went wrong and what has been learned.

One year after its introduction Water For People’s monitoring tool FLOW (Field Level Operations Watch) has become so popular that the NGO is looking for another organisation to take care of technical support. One of the candidates is the Amsterdam-based NGO AKVO.

The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) has used FLOW to map 7,400 water points in Liberia [1]. In July 2011, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation granted US$ 500,000 to Water For People and the African Regional Centre for Drinking Water and Sanitation (CREPA) to use FLOW to assess the functionality of 1,500 wells co-funded by the Foundation in West Africa [2].

[1] New Mobile Technology Helps Liberia Map Rural Water Points, Informs Strategy, WSP, 22 Jun 2011

[2] Amelia Gingold and Marissa Feinberg, Water For People receives grant from Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Water For People, 08 Jul 2011

Related web sites:

• A Child’s Right – Proving It
• Water for People – FLOW
• akvo.org

Related news: Monitoring: three new mapping tools launched, E-Source, 03 Nov 2010

Source: Alex Goldmark, GOOD, 01 Nov 2011

Drawing the threads together: sustainable services and behaviour changes

Agencies, donors and NGOs alike need to regard sustainability as a critical mission and to re-think fundamentally their role in the sector, conclude the organisers of the WASH Conference 2011. The conference, which was held in Brisbane, Australia, from 16-20 May 2011, attracted 237 people from 40 countries.

The recently published WASH 2011 synthesis report provides an overview of the key messages on: functional and environmental sustainability; institutional sustainability; behavioural change and social sustainability; and financial sustainability.

The first key message, brought in by the IRC-led Triples-S (Sustainable Services at Scale) initiative, was that the focus on ‘coverage’ should be reduced in favour of a move to a service delivery approach. Related to this was the need to move gradually from community management to professionalised service delivery (the community management PLUS model) and to move from counting infrastructure to monitoring services.

Partnering with the private sector can play an important role in scaling-up sanitation as well as behaviour change. Enabling local entrepreneurship to flourish through the sanitation marketing approach has proved successful in Cambodia. In Indonesia a public-private partnership for hand-washing with soap made the partnership win-win for each group.

[1] International WaterCentre (2011). WASH Conference 2011, Brisbane, Australia : towards sustainability in water, sanitation and hygiene : conference report. 20 p. Download full report

Related web sites:

• WASH Conference 2011
• IRC – Water Services that Last

Related news:

• Leading sector organisations launch Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sustainability Charter, E-Source, 04 Oct 2011
• Costing sustainable services training is successful, Brisbane, E-Source, 04 Aug 2011

Source: International WaterCentre, 26 Sep 2011

Higher water tariffs are associated with lower water loss

“Our Smart Water Networks Forum is aiming to help water utilities do the right thing: investing in operation and maintenance and sustainability of their data-driven smart water networks and not only focusing on pipe and pumps”, Smart Water Networks Forum Chairman Guy Horowitz told IRC’s Dick de Jong at the 2011 Aquatech Amsterdam SWAN session on 1 November 2011. Inefficient water distribution and poor water efficiency are the culprits.

Mr. Horowitz is Vice President Marketing of TaKaDu, a water infrastructure monitoring software pioneer based in Israel shared recent research findings that show the connection between water prices and water loss rates. Based on information from 42 urban water networks all over the world, their research found that higher water tariffs are associated with lower water loss and a more sustainable outcome. In most cities where the price of water is very high or very low, low and high NRW (non revenue water) rates are observed respectively.

This holds true across different countries and regions and even cities. Manila East and Manila West for instance have two different private sector operators. Manila West scores 12 percent non revenue water, Manila East scores 53 percent water losses.

Thus, when setting policy and water tariffs, policy makers should consider all possible implications of low pricing to avoid infrastructure deterioration. Regulatory tools such as on-going benchmarking of water utilities and incentives for improved performance can be used, as well as a tiered pricing model for domestic consumption, TaKaDu concludes.

Related web sites:

• TaKaDu – Research
• Smart Water Networks Forum (SWAN)
• International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities (IBNET)
• IWA Water Loss Specialist Group

Related news: Dick de Jong, The SWAN Forum: Defining the future of Smart Water Networks, WASH News International, 02 Nov 2011

The SWAN Forum: Defining the future of Smart Water Networks

The Smart Water Networks Forum started in May 2011 as a worldwide industry forum promoting the use of data technologies in water networks, making them smarter, more efficient and more sustainable.  Smart water networks are leveraging data and information technology for an improved, streamlined and more efficient operation of water utilities. With the increased instrumentation and telemetry of water networks, especially of distribution systems, a new layer of smart data applications has become possible.  They include alert systems, smart flow pressure management, water infrastructure monitoring and water balance and leak detection software and many others.

Smart Water Network (SWAN) solutions improve the efficiency, longevity, and reliability of the underlying physical water network by better measuring, collecting, analyzing, and acting upon a wide range of events. SWAN brings water industry leaders together to promote awareness, effectiveness, and use of smart data systems for water networks.

The SWAN forum encourages targeted, technical discussion to:

• Raise awareness for smart water networks.
• Create and report upon the methodologies, standard performance indicators, and industry best practices.
• Develop new approaches and solutions to improve network operations.
• Share members’ experience, case studies and research.
• Promote interoperability, synergy and common measurements.

Membership fees range from Euro 950 for individuals (students free) to Euro 4,900 for platinum members.

www.swan-forum.com

contact: Email: swanforum@live.co.uk

Right to water: new UN resolution supports sustainable service delivery approach

A new resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Council at its 18th session calls on states to ensure enough financing for sustainable delivery of water and sanitation services. Passed by consensus on 28 September 2011, resolution A/HRC/RES/18/1 has taken last year’s landmark decision [1] to recognise the right to water and sanitation as legally binding in international law, a step further.

Catarina de Albuquerque. Photo: OHCHR

The new resolution is based on ongoing efforts by UN Special Rapporteur Catarina de Albuquerque to get states to go beyond Millennium Development Goals and strive for universal service provision.

States should maximise investments so that:

water and sanitation systems are sustainable and that services are affordable for everyone, while ensuring that allocated resources are not limited to infrastructure, but also include resources for regulatory activities, operation and maintenance, the institutional and managerial structure and structural measures, including increasing capacity

Slum dwellers should be a priority for water and sanitation investment, WaterAid manifesto

Investment in water and sanitation in the rapidly urbanising cities of the developing world is key if we are to avoid uncontrollable poverty and ever worsening slums, says WaterAid in a manifesto released on 3 October 2011.

The manifesto’s author Timeyin Uwejamomere of WaterAid said:

“Water and sanitation have proved time and time again to be a critical factor in health and economic development. We only need to look at the development of the ‘Asian Tigers’ to see that long-term, reliable funding into urban water and sanitation infrastructure has a powerful impact on economic productivity, as well as driving down poverty.”

“Clean hands save lives” — Global Handwashing Day 2011 is celebrated by millions of people worldwide

Millions of people across the globe celebrated the 4th annual Global Handwashing Day on 15 October 2011, emphasizing the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective, simple, and affordable way to prevent disease.

UNICEF Pakistan launches ‘Sabu’

Over 1 million children took part in Pakistan, where UNICEF supported the launch of a new animated children’s character, ‘Sabu’, to help teach children the importance of handwashing with soap.

Celebrations in Afghanistan, Eritrea, Peru, India

In Afghanistan, 1.7 million children from 1,700 schools washed hands; in Eritrea, 326,809 children in 1,272 schools did the same. In Peru, the government declared a national handwashing week as of 10 October, and events involved 3.5 million students in 20,000 schools. In India, eight million children in Rajasthan and all 154,000 schools in Uttar Pradesh participated in handwashing events (listen to Head of UNICEF’s hand washing campaign Lizette Burgers on UN Radio).