The human capacity for innovation that ensures evolution and survival is especially vital for the effective management of water resources. So, if the industry needs to operate efficient water systems, why is it so slow to adopt new technology?

It’s easy to blame the slow adoption of water innovations on outside factors. It’s hard to navigate institutional processes that are heavily regulated by governments. It’s difficult to secure specialised space and capital for research. Bidding processes are strict. Health and environmental testing procedures are long and thorough.

Yet a bigger force is that public decision-makers – utility directors, board members, city councils, regulatory officials – too often approach digital water innovations with caution, suspicion, even hostility. The Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) social science model attempts to explain where this perception comes from and how to better communicate and advocate for a new mindset.

The DOI model — developed in 1962 by E.M. Rogers and popularised in 2000 by Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point — describes how new ideas spread through a population or social system across a bell curve, which reveals their disposition to innovation adoption (see graphic).

The small percentage that are quick to adopt a water or other technology are Innovators, curious and eager to learn and experiment with new ideas, even at the risk of failure or disappointment. Next, come the visionary Early Adopters, who actively seek ways to improve their lives, learn from innovators about ideas and technologies that are worth adopting, and share their opinions in reviews or recommendations. Like a vocal city council member calling for change in business-as-usual practices, many tend to have a decent following.

Pivotal momentum for digital water must build here. The key to “crossing the chasm” is to enlist support for a desired outcome, showing it to be the best outcome for the vital majority. Water professionals must explore how best to persuade decision makers to support and promote innovative technologies, like digital water.

The large Early Majority are pragmatists who assess ideas and technology based on feedback from innovators and early adopters before they choose to commit. Individuals who follow make up an equally significant but more conservative Late Majority, who wait until ideas or technologies become pervasive enough so that not adopting them creates its own risks and costs.

Notably this profile segment closely fits the mindset of water utilities and regulatory officials.

At the tail end of adoption are small segments unlikely to embrace a new idea until it’s too late, if ever. Apathetic Laggards are agnostic about any benefits from innovation; cynical Sceptics are so actively suspicious that they may resist technological adoption even by others. Ignore these groups, unless individuals lead a strong opposition campaign, in which case you should focus on inoculation techniques.

To be effective each social segment requires its own message, and even medium; one cannot communicate to all water audiences in the same way. Rather, we need to develop guidance tools to build strong campaigns that are relatable and garner support for adoption of a new technology. To bridge the chasm, it helps to identify and gain support from influential Innovators and Early Adopters, but most outreach strategies focus on convincing the Early and Late Majorities.

Decision-makers here tend to assess digital water from a binary perspective: does it pose a threat or opportunity to their own stability, political aspirations or status quo? This is a completely natural evolutionary reaction. A well-thought-out education strategy can move even those who typically hesitate when deciding on adopting novel technologies.

Bear in mind that persuading water professionals to adopt new ideas is not an “industrial” versus “developing world” issue. To the contrary, under-capitalised emerging water institutions may be better placed to leap-frog the old incumbent approach, with nimble, decentralised digital water innovations that do more with less.

Still, it is clear that we cannot progress at the rate we need to unless — as advocates of water innovation – we start communicating in ways that motivate our leaders to change their attitude and behaviour when they see a product as new or innovative. There are several techniques with which we can cross the chasm and advance widespread adoption.

One is to make and share information about the technology readily available through a simple website. Another is to foster a participatory approach to adoption, conducting small and informational meetings with decision-makers on the value of the technology. We can also provide feedback on the soundness of the science, or simplicity of its usage through phases of tests, pilots, demos, and case studies. Always emphasize how the innovation upholds the values and needs of the decision- makers, as customers or clients.

Finally, demonstrate how innovation improves on the old product, service, program, or system it replaces, and how others have already benefitted from it.

Considering just one water innovation – Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) or “smart meters” – utilities have somehow overcome widespread fears and misconceptions to “cross the chasm”. How? They simply communicated the following three steps, appealing directly to the large majorities:

1. Highlight the reliability of AMI in providing more accurate and updated
2. Demonstrate AMI as a tool to empower customers through information.
3. Raise awareness on how AMI helps the utility grow more efficient, resilient and

The same principles apply across digital water innovations, from customer apps, digital displays, and decentralised sensors, to solar pumps, smart pipes and end-user platforms.

The most unsustainable force of the water sector is that all too often, a large segment of the industry will continue to be agnostic toward, sceptical about, or hostile to change. The more water professionals resist viable technologies, the more we risk ensuring the long-term success, security and progress of our local economies.

Innovation in water is inevitable and irreversible. Rather than be left behind, the question is how fast will your mind, your career and your organisation find ways to adopt and thrive from it?

Sapna Mulki, a principal at Water Savvy Solutions [sapna@watersavvysolutions.com], has a wide range of expertise in water finance, policy, environmental education, and outreach campaigns on rate adjustment, AMI and water conservation. 

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For the past year I’ve had the privilege of managing a water research project in one of the most northern communities in Canada, Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik), Nunavut. This community is located above the Arctic Circle and is one of the few inhabited places in the world where you can experience the midnight sun – that is, where the sun remains above the horizon 24 hours a day during the summer months. In the winter, conversely, the sun doesn’t rise for approximately three months. Average winter temperatures in Pond Inlet hover around -30^oC, the ocean freezes, and the land is covered with snow. In the summer, however, much of the ice and snow melts to reveal a very different landscape of tundra, lakes, and ice floes.

The majority of the inhabitants of Pond Inlet identify as Inuit. The term “Inuit” refers to the Indigenous people living in the Arctic region of Canada. Inuit people are culturally and legally distinct from other Indigenous peoples in Canada. In general, the shared history of Canada’s Indigenous and settler populations has been tumultuous, and this is also true in the Arctic. Water services have been a particular area of concern. Canada’s current government has committed to improving drinking water services and ending boil water advisories in Indigenous communities, including those in the Arctic. The remote and challenging landscape and the lingering effects of colonialism in the North complicate this endeavour but efforts are currently being made at many levels of government to ensure that all people in the North have access to clean and safe drinking water.

Most communities in Canada’s Arctic rely on trucked water and septic because the climate prevents the installation of underground infrastructure such as distribution and collection piping systems. In many communities, drinking water treatment is limited to chlorination. The chlorinated water is delivered to individual homes and businesses by a water delivery truck and stored in domestic water storage tanks until it is used by residents. In some cases, the amount of water available in the tanks is not sufficient to meet the needs of residents (Daley et al., 2014).

Work by local researchers has identified biological growth in water storage tanks as a major concern among elders and other community members. Previous academic studies have also identified issues such as elevated turbidity, iron, manganese, and most concerningly, lead in the community’s drinking water (Daley et al., 2017). Our current project is a collaboration between a local research team in Pond Inlet, ARCTIConnexion and the Centre for Water Resource Studies at Dalhousie.  Our team collectively seeks to understand the extent of these water quality issues and help the community develop a water safety plan to address them.

Our collective team is still processing the results of this year’s sampling program, which focused on tracking biological activity in tanks, household water quality, and temporal variations in water quality in the source water. Preliminary results were presented to the community and the hamlet council in July of this year and research is ongoing.

I strongly recommend that IWA YWP delegates seek out works by Indigenous writers and artists who have described their histories and experiences or who have documented Indigenous / settler relations in writing, visual art, or music ahead of their visit to Toronto for the 2019 IWA YWP Conference. The Art Gallery of Ontario, which is within walking distance of the conference venue, has an extensive collection of Indigenous art, including works by modern Inuit artists, that may be of interest to IWA YWP delegates.

Working in the community of Pond Inlet has been an interesting and humbling experience for me. I would like to acknowledge Tim Soucie, ArctiConnexion, and the community of Pond Inlet for their support and efforts over the course of this project.

Stephanie Gora is organizing committee member of the International Young Water Professionals Conference 2019 . IWA is now calling for abstracts and workshops submissions until 15 October. Read more…

Cited works:

Daley, K., Castleden, H., Jamieson, R., Furgal, C., Ell, L., 2014. Municipal water quantities and health in Nunavut households: An exploratory case study in coral Harbour, Nunavut, Canada. Int. J. Circumpolar Health 73. https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v73.23843

Daley, K., Truelstrup Hansen, L., Jamieson, R.C., Hayward, J.L., Piorkowski, G.S., Krkosek, W., Gagnon, G.A., Castleden, H., MacNeil, K., Poltarowicz, J., Corriveau, E., Jackson, A., Lywood, J., Huang, Y., 2017. Chemical and microbial characteristics of municipal drinking water supply systems in the Canadian Arctic. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9423-5

Reading lists:

University of Manitoba Centre for Human Rights Research: http://law.robsonhall.com/chrr/other-resources/critical-conversations/right-to-water-seminars/right-to-water-reading-list/

49^th Shelf: https://49thshelf.com/Lists/Members/2015-05/Books-by-Indigenous-Women

Muskrat Magazine: http://muskratmagazine.com/fifteen-books-by-indigenous-authors-you-should-read

Government of Canada: #indigenousreads [https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1496255894592/1496255988109]

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Water resource challenges in the Philippines

For many people in the Philippines, water through heavy rains has always been an abundant resource. More recently however that has changed. In my years living and working throughout the country, I’ve experienced how population growth and rural-urban migration are further stressing water availability. Warming temperatures and the El Nino phenomena are also causing rivers to dry up earlier than usual.

In the south, particularly the Mindanao region, scarcity is a new phenomenon. The only tool seemingly available to water service providers (water districts) and concerned local governments was rationing. They hoped to find new water sources, create dams and find alternative rivers to supplement supply. But such infrastructure development will require huge investments.

Addressing the Challenges

From 2013 to 2017, I was fortunate to lead the Water Security for Resilient Economic Growth and Stability (Be Secure) Project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by AECOM. In Be Secure, we worked with water districts, local and national governments, and the public to address water scarcity in six provinces throughout the Philippines.

In the process, our team consulted with local stakeholders and discovered that aside from the increasing attention to water loss management in water districts, demand-side water management strategy for efficient water use was lacking. For example, water consumption amongst the large consumers remained high because the system to sustain water efficiency was not in place.

I had learned through another development project in Jordan, a water-scarce country, that water demand management (WDM) was an effective water conservation solution. Be Secure thus viewed these challenges as opportunities to test WDM principles. We also validated potential application of WDM with local partners to (1) allow water districts to expand their services to new subscribers with the water they would save from losing less water in the system; (2) postpone the need for costly infrastructure; and (3) vastly increase efficient water use of newly constructed homes, hotels, businesses, industry, governmental and commercial buildings.

Introducing WDM

We initiated WDM introduction through a peer-to-peer exchange by facilitating visits between technical experts from regions with similar scarcity issues such as Australia, Jordan, and the U.S. These personnel, drawn from water utilities, plumbing associations, and city governments and who had embraced water demand as a tool for addressing water scarcity, shared knowledge about their WDM experiences to an audience of Filipino decision-makers, industrial and commercial leaders, and water district managers.

Excited at the possibility of reducing their costs and expanding their services, the response was electric. Industry leaders requested training for their industrial and commercial engineers, foreseeing how their water costs could be substantially reduced. Local governments such as in IloIlo and Zamboanga cities saw the impact of postponing costly infrastructure, while at the same time expanding the number of persons with water access in response to the UN sustainability goals. We further broadened discussions by linking with the plumbing industry for a longer-term effort to update the country’s plumbing code.

Promoting WDM

We carried out strategic public and policymaker outreach. We partnered with the media to extend outreach on water conservation and organised learning forums with media professionals on WDM, water security and climate change. We created a short film “Your Water, Your Choice” to help young Filipinos better understand how climate impacts affect water security and to encourage water conservation and efficient water use at their homes. And we distributed outreach materials and film clips to local governments and water districts and worked with over 60 cinemas for nationwide release.

Implementing WDM

We recognised the need to prove how WDM can work. At the request of the Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD), we developed a programme to train ZCWD staff on water auditing methodologies. This process would show inefficiency in water supply to buildings and solutions to reduce that inefficiency. Within weeks, ZCWD established a dedicated WDM unit. At the same time, we worked with the Zamboanga City government to help update the city plans and develop building efficiency ordinances and codes for all new construction that entailed water harvesting systems, low-flush toilets, and other solutions.

Moving ahead with WDM

New partners became interested. We supported the Western Mindanao State University to develop a training curriculum and establish the country’s first WDM training hub together with the ZWCD. Business round-tables asked for more capacity building and tools for applying efficiency. Partner government departments learned to perform water audits and began to require water harvesting systems in key buildings.

Through these measures, the USAID/Be Secure project has confirmed that WDM is a proven tool for improving water security in the Philippines!

AECOM is recipient of Silver in the category ‘Exceptional Project Execution and Delivery’ of the 2018 IWA Project Innovation Awards for its project Building Resilience in the Philippines with Systems, Technologies and Partnerships: The USAID Be Secure Project.

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Nature-based solutions are already in place and scaling them up is possible

Nature-based Solutions (NBS) applications [1] are many around the world. However, their cases are often isolated or pilot studies, and the concept of NBS is being shaped, acknowledged and shared only now. NBS upscaling demands for improved knowledge base, the creation of attractive business cases, cross-sectoral and multi-scalar cooperation[2].

Rethinking the way we manage and interact with the ecosystems

Overall, the need to use more sustainable solutions that also take into account the ecosystems is a consensus. But what are the barriers to reach this? Or, how can we embed NBS in local practice and scale it up?

So far, civil engineering has dominated the building sector, erecting rigid and ‘inflexible’ infrastructures. Future developments for new and more adaptable solutions find their way right at this moment. As Ms. Madgwick, CEO of Wetland International, stated during the BwN Conference last month[3], “the need to upscale NBS originates from grey infrastructures’ side effects, their malfunctioning and environmental damages”. The call for maintenance of ageing constructions creates opportunities to integrate NBS in the urban and rural landscapes. Such integration comes with added benefits, since NBS represent viable and adaptive means for a sustainable development, to face new challenges posed by demographic growth and climate change, and contribute to reach SDGs as 6.1.

After having agreed on the needs to implement NBS, the challenge is to go from pilots to projects upscaling and investments. That is: reaching the embedment of NBS into society and economy. The priority issues to make this step happen can be gathered in three main categories: technical base, finance and governance (Table 1). Improving scientific evidence lies at the heart, but new layers are to be added, starting from creating business cases for NBS and revising current governance models. Governance settings “are made up of silos, with little collaboration and few integrated solutions” says Mr Hugtenburg from ARK Natuurontwikkeling[3], “we need to see nature not as an item of men, but as underlying principle that we need to enable. And enabling requires involvement at all scales”.

Table 1. Priority issues needed to scale up NBS implementation[4]

IWA is pioneering the dialogue among regulators

Means for NBS enablement exist in current policies, legislations and regulatory frameworks. However, the uptake of policies and measures often faces barriers of complex interpretations [6]. In this context, regulators can help bridging the gap between policies and practice. They can set criteria, standards, targets and tools to enable NBS upscaling, by rethinking about goals and the way services are regulated. Regulators can find ways to leverage investments and provide new tariff methodologies, e.g. to include NBS related-costs into users’ fees. They can act at different levels influencing projects from the early phases, and encouraging the incorporation of green and grey infrastructures, e.g. through building codes.

“Complying with standards, as regards NBS’ functional specifications, is the primary concern for engineering companies” has stated Mr Osinga from ECOncrete [3]. If such standards are set by regulators, and they influence companies and clients’ decisions and investments, doesn’t this mean that regulators are key players? Indeed, NBS upscaling and replicability highly depend on regulations. However, there is an urgent need for regulators to identify priority issues and gaps to upscale NBS implementation for water management and resiliency in the diverse governance contexts.

This is one of the primary efforts of the IWA Water Policy and Regulation area of work. A few months ago, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the area started a joint research “Building nature-based, resilient water systems: Catalysing the Role of Water Regulators”, with the objective to support the information needed for ensuring policies and regulations that promote NBS in water management, as basis for resilient and sustainable universal access to water and sanitation for all. Through a Task Force, IWA is creating a global network to exchange experiences and lessons learnt, and to identify which environmental, economic and social regulations are coming into place that have effects on business opportunities for NBS, stakeholders participation, and for reaching the SDGs 6.1. and 6.6. The water regulator work is being complemented by research into the demand for nature based solutions by water utilities. This includes looking at what are the elements of success and how regulators working with utilities can create incentives for integration of nature into built water systems.

Find out more about this work through the following events and resources:

IWA and TNC host a sofa at the Stockholm World Water Week

Water Utilities’ Leadership in nature-based solutions

Monday 27 August  14:00 – 14.30 / Corner of the exhibition area of Folkets Hus

Achieving water security is fundamental to sustainable economic and human development; and managing natural infrastructure for water security can support the delivery of many – if not all – of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Upstream watershed protection is recognized as a cost-effective and efficient approach to increasing the security and resilience of urban water supplies. But investment in natural infrastructure has yet to be widely adopted as a mainstream solution by local administrations and the utility sector, both of which have a critical role to play in the provision of secure and sustainable water to urban populations.

A recent partnership between the International Water Association (IWA) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) aims to leverage the two organisations’ strengths to influence greater investments in watershed protection.

During the sofa, Helmut Kroiss, former President of the International Water Association, Andrea Erickson, Acting Global Managing Director for Water, The Nature Conservancy, and Philip Gichuki, CEO, Kiambu Water Company, will examine the relevance of nature-based solutions for water security.

More information about the event on IWA Connect and on the Stockholm World Water Week website. The sofa will be broadcasted live via www.vimeo.com/siwi and available to view afterwards.

Webinar On-Demand

Last August 9^th, IWA and The Nature Conservancy organized the Webinar “Building nature-based, resilient water systems: Catalysing the role of Water Regulators”. Watch the webinar recording online upon registration. Continue the discussion with the speakers on the related group on IWA Connect and get involved! Please remember you need to subscribe and be logged in to IWA Connect to view the group discussion.

IWA and TNC at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, 16-21 September 2018, Tokyo, Japan

The partnership between TNC and IWA aims at contributing new insights on how regulators can shape behaviour to favour the incorporation of NBS into water systems. If you’re attending the IWA World Water Congress, come join us at the 5th International Regulators Forum.

References

[1] “Actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human and biodiversity benefits”  (IUCN, 2016:5). These include solutions to water-related issues as: restoring and managing wetlands and rivers to reduce flood risk; developing green infrastructures in urban areas to reduce stormwater runoff; etc.

[2] Conferences and initiatives worldwide are launching a call to scale up NBS – see the UN World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP, 2018), the European Commission policy agenda on NBS (EC, 2015), the IUCN work by the Commission on Ecosystem Management (IUCN, 2016), IWA activities on NBS (IWA, 2018), or the Netherlands National Committee for NBS for water (IHP-HWRP, 2018).

[3] Quotes from speakers at the Conference Upscaling Building with Nature (BwN) organized by EcoShape, in Utrecht (NL) on June 27, 2018. BwN includes the use of Nature-based Solutions (NBS).

[4] The list has been developed readapting keynotes from the BwN Conference³ and previous desk research.

[5] System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, by the UN Statistics Division (SEEA); Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES)

[6] I wrote more about this here.

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A week after about 179 people were killed in deadly floods in the western part of Japan in July, the country experienced the hottest days in 5 years.

Across Europe, the summer heat continues, with parts at risk of drought conditions. Dry soils and vegetation have led to devastating wildfires, even in areas close to the Arctic. And while below-normal rainfall has been predicted from June through August, the thunderstorms that will occur are likely to be severe, resulting in flash flooding and damaging winds – as was the case in the south of France, which was recently hit by severe flooding.

There is a general agreement of an ongoing change in the climate, bringing with it much uncertainty of the impacts. We can expect continued heatwaves and flooding in parts of Europe, increasing hurricanes in the Caribbean and intense rainfall in parts of Asia.

The unrelenting news about heatwaves, rainfall, and so forth, directs my thoughts to my vegetables, fruits and plants at home. Knowing what climatic condition to expect in the coming days is valuable information that help me better plan and prepare myself to safeguard my vegetables, fruits and plants.

While my garden is just a small piece of a larger picture, facing such uncertainty, the way we respond to the changing climate can have socio-economic benefits, and save the lives of many. So, how can we be well prepared for climatic variability? Is there a way to reduce the impacts of extreme events such as flooding and drought? Accessing the necessary information is a part of the planning process, while interpreting the information for decision making and planning is the other part.

A way to bring these parts together is through the Flood and Drought Portal, which is a key output of the Flood and Drought Management Tools project. The web-based portal has a number of applications that aim to support planning and decision-making for issues related to climate variability and change. The technical applications can be used individually or together, providing users with a scientific approach for identifying and evaluating the risk and impacts for flood and drought events, as well the mitigation or adaptation measures.

Image source: www.chris-wells.com

Access to accurate data and information has been identified as limited and as a challenge for many stakeholders. The data and information application in the portal was developed to accommodate this basic need, providing stakeholders with access to various types of information for basins, including climate information (e.g. rainfall, temperature), vegetation cover, soil moisture, flood and drought indices, and socio-economic data. The amount of data provided by the tool is extensive and provides good insights by offering historical and forecasted data. For example, it is possible to visualise rainfall data for the last 15 years while also projecting both short- and long-term rainfall probabilities. With this information, it is possible to design and plan drought or flood prevention plans or crop irrigation plans. Through this application users have the opportunity to select and use the parameters that best fit their interests. Another feature of the application is the possibility to analyse the data and not only visualise it in maps, but also in charts and tables.

Flood and Drought Portal
Data and Information application – Rainfall distribution in the Chao Phraya Basin

For transboundary basins[1], access to the same information is essential for good cooperation, understanding, and achieving mutual interests. The data and information application provides stakeholders with the needed information to formulate and update management plans, and assess and evaluate basin conditions.

Image source: www.chris-wells.com

The Data and Information tool has information on each data type available on the web portal, and there is an accessible user manual providing guidance on the functionality of the application. The application provides users with a free source of data of near real-time, forecasting and climate predictions for any transboundary basin. Much like when I look at the weather forecast for the coming days to inform my weekend gardening activities, through the proper use of the information presented by the data and information application, better planning and management of flood and drought impacts is achievable and on a more substantial scale.

The Data and Information application is available for all registered users through the Flood and Drought Portal: http://www.flooddroughtmonitor.com.

About the Flood and Drought Management Tools project

The Flood and Drought Management Tools (FDMT) project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), International Waters (IW) and implemented by UN Environment, with the International Water Association (IWA) and DHI as the executing agencies. The project developed a package of web-based technical applications (tools), accessible through the Flood and Drought Portal (www.flooddroughtmonitor.com). The tools can be applied individually or together to include information about floods, droughts and future scenarios into planning from the transboundary basin to water utility level. The project is being implemented from 2014-2018 in Volta, Lake Victoria and Chao Phraya as the pilot basins.

[1] A transboundary basin is a basin that crosses at least one political border, either a border within a nation or an international boundary.

Raul is a graduate from the Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), where he did his MSc in International Land and Water Management. Raul also has a background in international development studies, anthropology and sociology. Raul joined IWA as an intern for the Basins of the Future programme, pushing forward IWA’s efforts around the food-water-energy nexus through the ‘Nexus Dialogue on Water Infrastructure Solutions’. In his current position as Programmes Officer, Raul continues to contribute to the water sector under the portfolio of the Basins of the Future Programme, working on a number of projects dealing with climate change resilience and basin management.

The post A smart approach towards climate change appeared first on The Source.

Groundwater monitoring is an essential element in any environmental information system. Acquiring a representative groundwater sample, however, can present certain challenges, both in the method and outcome.

When establishing groundwater quality and where it is present, a whole host of logistical, environmental and business concerns can arise.

While there are a handful of methods to sample groundwater today, the objective ultimately remains the same: to collect accurate water level measurements and samples to determine flow and gradient, groundwater conditions and real trends, whilst avoiding altering the sample through disruptive sampling methods.

The key benefits of low flow sampling centre include;

• Low well and aquifer disturbance in the sampling area
• Better accuracy in readings
• Immediate availability of results and readings
• Overall reduction in water disposal and loss.
• Reduced disturbance of soils and silts that have accumulated outside the well

Ultimately the lack of soil disturbance results in far greater accuracy, meaning samples yield consistent and reliable data across samples and there are far fewer false results. It also results in indicator parameters and target analysers stabling sooner at lower pumping rates. Whilst lower stress equals lower sample turbidity, providing a better picture of the true contaminant level and can eliminate the need to filter samples.

The best method for low flow sampling is utilising bladder pumps, which have been proven superior in independent studies for providing the widest range of groundwater quality parameters. Bladder pumps include no suction or high-speed impellers to outgas volatile compounds. The ‘no churning’ action avoids increasing sample turbidity, and no contact of the air drive with the sample.

As a QED company we firmly believe in the benefits of low flow sampling, and that it is the future of the industry as we have already seen the method gaining popular traction in America.

Businesses must remember that as its our natural source of water, it is essential we avoid wasting it with unnecessary purging and contamination that could easily be avoided. We look forward to supporting this progression for the industry to support a sustainable future for us all.

Geotech is a global manufacturer and supplier of portable and fixed gas analysers for the biogas, landfill, CO2 monitoring, groundwater and land remediation sectors. Beyond its market leading gas analysers for landfills and the biogas sector, Geotech also designs, manufactures and supplies a full range of environmental monitoring equipment.

The post Why slow and steady wins the race when it comes to groundwater sampling appeared first on The Source.

Phosphorus (P) is essential to human life and vital for food production. It is the critical building block of DNA, cell membrane and bones and plays a crucial role in cellular energy metabolism. Today, P is mostly obtained from mined phosphate (P_i) rock, but natural reserves of P_i rock are concentrated in a limited number of countries such as Morocco, China, and the US. On the other hand, an inefficient use of P and the leakage of phosphate-containing fertilisers, detergents and sewage into water bodies are causing irreversible eutrophication problems. Moreover, mined P_i rock is largely contaminated with toxic heavy metals such as cadmium and radioactive uranium. From health and environmental perspectives, there are increasing concerns about the long-term application of chemical fertilizer to farmland.

Increasing attention has been paid to the development of P refinery technology that can recover P from waste streams and reuse recovered P products for agricultural and industrial purposes. In the wastewater treatment sector, P is removed from wastewater using chemical or bio-based technologies. Removed P ends up in sewage sludge which is then subjected to anaerobic digestion, dewatering and incineration. This offers hot spots for P recovery from (i) the rejected water from sludge dewatering, (ii) digested sludge, (iii) and incinerated sludge ash.

More than 70 full-scale P recovery plants are currently operating in Europe, North America, and East Asia. Basically, the P recovery technologies are (i) chemical P_i leaching from incinerated sludge ash, (ii) P_i salts precipitation, and (iii) struvite crystallization after anaerobic sludge digestion. Incinerated sludge ash having the high content of P is also used as a raw material for the manufacture of phosphoric acid in a wet acid process.

P recovery practices are now expanding not only to the wastewater treatment sector but also to the manufacturing sector. In the manufacturing sector, P_i must be removed from wastewater to meet stringent effluent regulation in areas vulnerable to eutrophication. The recycling of recovered P products as a fertilizing material can save the costs of sludge disposal and leads to the significant reduction of plant operating expenses. P recovery is also practiced from solid waste streams such as animal manure and steelmaking slag. In East Asian countries, including China, Korea and Japan, steelmaking slag is one of the most important secondary P resources. Recovering P from steelmaking slag allows the rest to be reused as raw materials in blast furnaces. This has the enormous potential to improve the resource efficiency of steelmaking process.

Except some European countries such as Switzerland and Germany, no regulation requires P recover and recycling for the wastewater treatment sector. This allows the wastewater treatment sector to consider P recovery as an extra service. On the other hand, fertilizer companies cannot accept recovered P products unless they bring some economic benefits to their business. P recycling practitioners need to establish stable channels for the distribution and sale of recovered P products. To make P recycling business more attractive, it is critical to develop a new value chain that can extract the maximum value from secondary P resources.

East Asian countries are becoming increasingly the center of high-tech industries in the global economy. They need high-purity P compounds for manufacturing high-value added products including semiconductor, lithium battery, liquid crystal panel, medicine, and fire-retardant plastics. Elemental P, called white or yellow P, is the essential starting material for the manufacture of high-purity P compounds. The secured supply of elemental P is becoming increasingly difficult in the global market. Actually, the supply risk is much higher than that of P_i rock. EU added elemental P to the list of its critical raw materials, taking into account the potential risk of the secured supply of high-purity P compounds in Europe.

Elemental P is now produced by only four countries in the world, including China, USA, Kazafstan, and Vietnam. The production of elemental P is an energy-intensive process which is strongly dependent on locally-sourced electricity, P_i rock, and cheap labor forces. It requires approximately 14 MWh of electricity for each ton of elemental P produced. Moreover, since P_i rock is contaminated with toxic heavy metals and radioactive elements, pollution control is another difficult problem regarding the production of elemental P from P_i rock using a conventional arc process.

To solve these issues, it is necessary to redefine the P value chain through technology and business innovation based on recycling. The technology innovation needs to promote the development of (i) highly-efficient P recovery from secondary resources, (ii) an improved wet acid process to generate phosphoric acid from recovered P products, (iii) an innovative carbothermal reduction of low-grade P_i to elemental P with minimum electricity consumption and low environmental burden, and (iv) new processes for the manufacture of high-value added P compounds to meet the demand from high-tech industries. Among them, the key technology is the innovative carbothermal reduction of low-grade P_i to elemental P.The technology and business innovation based on P recycling, called P Innovation, can make a great contribution not only to the sustainability of agriculture but also to the secured supply of high-purity P compounds to the high-tech industry. There is no significant tradeoff in the use of P between agriculture and industry, because industry needs only a small fraction of recovered P for their business. Rather, redefining the supply chain of high-purity P compounds can offer economic incentives to P recovery from secondary P resources, thereby making a great contribution to the sustainable use of P not only in agriculture but also in industry.

Hisao Ohtake is a Guest Professor of Phosphorus Atlas Research Institute at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. He is also a Professor Emeritus of Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. He serves as the Chairman of Phosphorus Recycling Promotion Council of Japan, which is now being reorganized to the Phosphorus Industry Development Organization of Japan. His recent publication is Phosphorus Recovery and Recycling, Springer Nature, 2018.

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Recent estimates place global annual non-revenue water (NRW), i.e. water produced but not billed because of commercial or physical losses, at 126 billion cubic meters. This translates to nearly $40 billion in annual losses on waste and foregone revenues—a sum, that even if a fraction could be recovered, would underpin a compelling market opportunity for private service companies and a boost to public water utilities’ sustainability.

A new joint initiative is aiming to drive declines in NRW faster, cheaper, and more sustainably by assisting water utilities to engage private companies in performance-based contracts (PBCs). The World Bank’s Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) and the Bank’s Water Global Practice, in partnership with the International Water Association, analyzed 43 projects and determined that NRW initiatives supported by PBCs are 68 percent more effective compared to those undertaken by utilities alone, (see for example, Using Performance Based Contracts to Reduce NRW) and are systematically faster at reducing the rate of loss.

Who are the private companies that work in this space? Are their motives and expectations aligned with those developing the project from the public sector? A market survey of 42 companies globally reveals that private companies are as concerned about finding a fair deal as are utilities. The companies participating in the survey engaged in a range of activities: engineering design, consulting, utility operation, civil works/construction and supply of technology, commercial systems, and materials. Companies have a local, regional, or international reach and their annual turnover has a large variance—from $100,000 to $10 million, which naturally affects their outlook and expectations.

Here are six things private companies are looking for in performance-based contract opportunities for non-revenue water reduction in emerging markets:

1. Robust project internal rates of return (IRRs)
Whether contractors are expected to bring financing or not, median expectations for project IRRs is around 18 percent, with some companies looking for up to 35 percent. While NRW projects make huge economic sense, careful consideration of project cashflows is needed. For example, many utilities charge well below cost recovery tariffs and have a backlog in maintenance, not uncommon where leakage is high, which could mean large capital outlays, both of which drag on cashflows. A strong IRR usually means a tangible financial reason for the government/utility to stay committed to the project. Companies’ expectation on returns is tempered by risk perception. As one company puts it, “If contract risk is reduced, a lower IRR would be acceptable.” 2. Fair risk allocation
Our survey identified four of the most common risks related to PBCs for NRW:

• Time and cost overrun
• Efficacy of interventions
• Financing of materials and supplies
• Payments linked to an increase in billings

We wanted to find out whether companies considered these as high or low risks and how many would assume the risk versus seeking mitigation from the utility/public counterpart. Ninety-four percent of respondents considered pre-financing of materials and supply as being ‘high,’ compared, for example, to only 44 percent that considered efficacy of interventions to be a high risk. This is consistent with the very few number of companies (12 out of 40) interested in projects that would require them to bring financing. Seventy-two percent and 66 percent of companies considered time and cost overruns and payments linked to billings, respectively, as ‘high.’

This is notable: while most companies considered at least three of the risks as being ‘high’, there were almost an equal number of companies considering that they would assume the risk as those that expected the utility to mitigate them, indicating that some companies are looking for more balanced deals, while others had an appetite for taking on risks, for which, presumably they expect to be compensated.

3. To understand PBCs and the local context
Although the majority of companies (65 percent) have been involved in NRW projects, many were not familiar with how PBCs work and a substantial portion (44 percent) seek training on performance-based contracts. A bit more than one-third of the companies also indicated the need to better understand the local water and regulatory context. Working in partnership with local companies is not a perfect solution to overcome the lack of local knowledge, as it brings up other considerations for companies. While a large majority are open to working with local companies, more than 70 percent would only do so where roles and risks are clearly identified and allocated between the partner companies.

4. Sufficient scale and time
Respondents had a wide range of expectations on project size. Expectations on minimum project size correlate well to the size of the companies themselves as well as their view of the opportunity cost of deploying a relatively limited number of expert staff to what they consider as ‘small’ projects. The range that companies were looking for as a minimum were projects that covered at least 7,000 to 125,000 connections. This wide range also translated to expected minimum contract sizes: the lowest minimum threshold was around $500,000 while on the upper end, an average of $5.5 million was considered attractive. Companies expected projects to be, on average, implemented within 20­–48 months.

5. To work in collaboration with utilities
Perhaps contrary to the expectation of utilities, a high portion of potential PBC companies (71 percent) believe that utilities need to be involved in the project and only a few think contractors need to work fully independently. Utility involvement can come in the form of providing access to data, participation in leak detection and repair, identification of illegal connections, to supporting on legal issues, etc. What seems to be an important feature of utility involvement is timeliness. Time is of the essence in NRW control, thus, assuring responsiveness of the utility is important for contractors.

6. To be supported by multilaterals
Companies would like to see development institutions, such as the World Bank, involved in project funding. They see this involvement as a sign of credibility in the project preparation. They also sought support from development institutions to ensure payment by the utility. Timely payment must be ensured to keep the project on schedule. Considering the performance basis of payments, companies are wary of delays in payments linked to slow project progress that is caused by government actions or inaction.

For more on the role of multilaterals in PPPs, see the State of PPPs (1991 to 2015).
The insights from this market survey are informing a new wave of NRW performance-based contracts being developed by the World Bank Group and partners. Lessons, tools and resources are also being made available through a new portal on “PBCs for NRW” on the PPP Knowledge Lab.

This blog was originally published in the World Bank Group’s Blog

Jemima Sy is a senior infrastructure specialist at the World Bank Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), a multi-donor facility dedicated to strengthening institutions to realize sustainable infrastructure with private participation and enabling finance for sub-national entities in key infrastructure sectors such as energy, transport, digital technology and water.

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Many cities today are at risk of running out of water, with water availability now cited as one of the greatest risks to business continuity and growth. It is very clear that the way water is managed today in many parts of the world poses serious risks to human well-being and sustainable development. Imagine going through your day with limited access (only for a couple of hours per day or a couple of days per week) to store water in your home for drinking, cooking, washing or bathing. The condition where water is provided for a limited period of time is called Intermittent Water Supplies (IWS), and affects at least 1.3 billion people around the world.

The scale of systems operating under IWS conditions is expected to intensify as water demand continues to increase due to rapid urbanization and on the other hand water supplies tend to decrease due to climate variability thus posing a great challenge to achieve urban water security and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under conditions of water resource shortage many countries have turned to IWS policies as a means of controlling water demand and expanding their existing domestic water supply. Unfortunately, adoption of intermittent water supply systems aggravates urban water insecurity, as it fails to consider the impact on the condition of the water supply systems and the detrimental effects on public health. IWS fails to provide citizens with safe and sustainable water services and to protect them from water-related calamities.

IWS can be seen as a downward spiral (schematically shown below) where increased urbanisation leads to higher water demand. Water utilities tend to respond with network expansion, which often takes place after poor planning, and extend the network beyond capacity, thus lowering the quality of service for consumers. This leads to an inadequate water supply for towns and agglomerations, which may entice people (mostly the privileged) to take matters in their own hands and proceed with private investments that will improve their service.

IWS service costs more than continuous service.

Intermittent hours of water supply force customers to rely on black-markets or informal vendors, often serving higher-income citizens, thereby exacerbating inequalities among users. IWS service costs more than continuous service, and users bear the brunt of having to pay more to access water services via alternative routes. It also weakens the social contract between governments and their communities when water utilities fail to deliver basic water services, perpetuating a downward spiral of water insecurity and fragility in many developing countries. For example, riots broke out in Algeria in 2002 and in Bolivia in 2000 over water shortages.

Impacts of climate change on IWS can act as risk multipliers in fragile contexts, contributing to conflict, violence, or migration.

Water quality problems due to the potential suction of non-potable water by negative pressures, biofilm detachment, and microbial re-growth especially when static conditions occur. Roof tanks often encourage bacterial re-growth.

IWS holds back gender equity. As the task of providing water for households falls disproportionately to women and girls, especially in rural areas. IWS locks women in a cycle of poverty and it is hard to imagine that women’s and girls’ experiences will improve without intentional efforts to deal with intermittent water supply.

Achieving a paradigm shift from IWS to continuous supply is only possible by changing the way we manage water today. As Buckminster Fuller said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – The numerous problems associated with management and operation of distribution networks under IWS as well as the critical challenges entailed in moving to 24/7 water supply forms the core objectives of the IWA IWS Specialist Group (IWSSG). The work that is undertaken by the IWS Specialist Group will help to better understand what the root causes of intermittent supply are and how to apply, in a simple and practical manner, solutions which will assist water utilities operating their networks under intermittent water supply and to document in a structured manner cases that were successful to move from IWS to continuous supply in a sustainable manner.

The IWA IWS Specialist Group stresses the importance of addressing the challenges of intermittent water supply in the policies and plans of sustainable water management, which interconnects with all sustainable development goals.

IWA IWSSG aims to provide leadership in the development of effective and sustainable international best practice to improve the Level of Service in Intermittent Water Supply.

How to get involved? Join our IWA Connect group, LinkedIn group and Facebook Page and check out our news bulletin

Hassan is a PhD researcher at Cologne University in Germany with a particular interest in urban water security issues including non-revenue water management and integrated water resources management. Hassan is certified project management professional (PMP)® and has been an active in the international level as a young water professional in issues of water security, climate change and youth advocacy. He has a strong academic background in engineering and management, including international professional trainings in water related issues. He has been an active member of many international organizations including International Water Association.

Hassan is also member of the IWA IWSSG Management Committee and IWA IWSSG YWP Liaison

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We live in a world in which everything has an economic value. Our time is measured in opportunity cost, our value to society is measured by our contribution to GDP, even our lives ultimately have a dollar value; just ask any actuary.

Unsurprisingly, these views trickle down to colour how we look at our natural resources and ecosystems. Methods of environmental valuation are wide-ranging and imperfect. Researchers may look at mitigation and/or restoration costs, the revealed (i.e. travel cost methods) and stated (i.e. surveys) preferences of consumers, and supply and demand functions. All of these methods can give a somewhat close approximation of a natural entity’s economic value to society, but fail to capture the true intrinsic value.

Anthropocentrism through the ages

This way of thinking is not new. Aristotle believed that every species had an end purpose and a place in a natural hierarchy, of which humans were situated at the top. Under this anthropocentric paradigm, nature was viewed as existing purely for the use of humans.^[1] In the late 1700s, naturalists like Charles Darwin and Alexander Von Humboldt began to create a new framework within which to view the environment; as an interconnected web of different landscapes and species, all crucial to its function.^[2]

This view of nature lay the groundwork for modern environmentalism, and still prevails in environmental movements, but unfortunately, environmentalists are often powerless when economic incentives are not on their side.

If you ask a stranger if they value the environment, 9 times out of 10 I bet they would tell you they do. So why then do we still live in a culture of fast fashion, gas-guzzling cars, excessive water waste and plastic, wrapped in plastic, wrapped in more plastic? Green movements may seem like they are at the forefront of sociopolitical discussion, but when you look at the day-to-day habits of most individuals, we still have a largely anthropocentric view of the world.

It’s possible that when many people say they “value” the environment, they do care, just not enough to make changes that will cost them extra time, money or effort. Under this assumption, one might reason that the only real way to change our habits is to create financial incentives for making environmentally sound choices.

Water and our values
When it comes to water resources, this might mean charging higher per unit consumption rates, heavily taxing bottled water, subsidising products that are free from persistent organic pollutants and taxing those that contain them, or offering rebates on water-efficient or water reuse technology.

Any of these steps would almost certainly create a change in behaviour, but only to a certain extent. We would likely only conserve as much as is financially rewarding; no more, no less. Unless a conservation mindset is deeply ingrained in our collective values, we will not make greater changes to our behaviour than it pays to make.

Unless you are a water professional, fervent environmentalist or individual dealing with extreme water scarcity on daily basis, water may not be something you think about until your utility rates increase or you are offered a rebate on a low flow toilet. As water professionals and activists, part of our purpose lies in persuading the world to increasingly think of water as a valuable resource, until conservation becomes a habit rather than a reaction to some politically motivated stimulus.

Values vs. behaviour
There is a school of thought touting the idea that dramatic shifts in societal values are unlikely, and therefore, it makes the most sense to try and change behaviours within an existing value system. There are opposing ideologies that see this as treating the symptom rather than the cause, and believe that society-wide value shifts of the magnitude necessary to avert ecological crises are possible, however difficult they may be to enact.^[3]

To a certain extent, I agree with the former; persuading people to prioritize problems that may not be glaringly obvious in their day-to-day lives over the convenience of making wasteful consumer choices can seem like an uphill battle.

However, I don’t want to lose hope that with persistence, zeal and education, we can create a steady shift in societal values over time. If we disseminate information through our networks, we have a shot at changing the way the people think and feel; and as a society, seeing resources as being more than just there for the taking.

The challenge we face is in impelling this shift to take place as fast as humanly possible. We no longer have the luxury of time. As the masses gradually wake up to the harsh consequences of corporate greed and overconsumption, the angriest among us need to make our voices heard, encourage action, vote with purpose and put our money where our mouths are; it’s the only way forward.

^[1] Burchett, Kyle. Anthropocentrism and Nature: An Attempt at Reconciliation. 2014. https://philosophy.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/faculty_publications/Anthropocentrism_and_Nature_An_Attempt_at_Reconciliation_Burchett_Kyle.pdf

^[2] Wulf, Andrea. The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt’s New World. , 2015. Print.

^[3] Keim, Brandon. Changing Behaviours Vs. Changing Values: An Argument Over How to Save Nature. Anthropocene. 2017. http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/change-values-or-behaviors/

Devon Hardy is a lover of all things water and sustainability. She has an extensive background in water management at the municipal level and has been lucky enough to work with organisations like the International Water Association, Future Earth and Mantis Environmental. She currently resides in Montreal, Canada where she devotes her time to doing fulfilling work, reading and writing about the issues she cares about, and being heavily integrated in the local arts community.

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