More than half the world’s population live in urban areas. Many growing towns and cities, especially in the Global South, are marked by inadequate sanitation, sewage and drainage facilities. With 3.5 billion people still lacking access to safe sanitation, most national and global sanitation drives have tended to focus on toilet construction, sewer connections and hardware. These have often ignored the second and third generation challenges of sanitation concerning water contamination, poor faecal sludge management, gender, equity and sustainability.

Yet, these challenges can also be an opportunity. Human waste is rich in water, nutrients and organic compounds, but, usually, this mostly goes down the drain. The increase of extreme weather events, water shortages, and weak infrastructure mean that ‘flush and forget’ systems are not always possible or desirable in off-grid settings. This is why the project ‘Towards Brown Gold’ sought to understand the potential for reuse of faecal waste and how marginalised communities experience sanitation in five rapidly urbanising areas across four countries: Nanded and Alleppey, India; Mekelle, Ethiopia; Wa, Ghana; and Gulariya, Nepal. The research was both inter- and trans-disciplinary, seeking to integrate the social sciences, engineering, microbiology and creative arts to understand the socio-political, technical, cultural and microbial processes and contexts of sanitation and waste processes.

A springboard for progress

Northern European countries have been piloting new approaches at increasing scale. According to the Toilet Board Coalition, the sanitation crisis can enable innovation and provide resources for a trillion-dollar global industry. In India alone, the predicted market for waste recovery and reuse is as large as $9–28 billion. 

Contextual challenges

Despite this potential, the ‘Towards Brown Gold’ project found that the challenges of resource recovery from human waste might have been underestimated. The potential for reuse was found to be limited by the combined challenges of the existing sanitation infrastructure, pervasive cultural perceptions, a lack of cross-sector collaboration, and a narrative that exaggerates the benefits of the circular sanitation economy and endorses a market driven approach to sanitation.

Moreover, for reuse efforts to be successful and perceived as relevant by communities, they need to happen in a context of high sanitation coverage or come with a wider push to ensure everybody has access to sanitation. In reality, access to safely managed sanitation services was found to be lagging across the countries studied. Progress is particularly slow among groups marginalised because of their caste, class, gender and migration history. 

Sanitation progress is often hampered by insufficient resources that are skewed towards centralised sewered systems, unclear roles and responsibilities, and poor intersectoral collaboration across water, health, urban and rural development. 

Steps to success

The policy brief from the ‘Towards Brown Gold’ research project highlights six ways decision-makers can realise the potential for resource recovery from human waste and accelerate progress towards universal, safely managed sanitation in rapidly urbanising areas:

Make safely managed sanitation a political priority

National and urban level governments need to create, reform and implement policies, strategies and regulations to ensure there is sufficient funding and resources so that everybody has access to a toilet at home, and that faecal waste is managed in a way that protects public health and the environment. Acknowledgment of the global prevalence of non-sewered systems is central to the revision of policies and plans. Particular attention should be put on reaching and involving communities and residents who are poor and marginalised by society, such as those living in informal settlements.

Facilitate inclusive sanitation planning

Urban planners and policymakers need to address the multifaceted challenges of sanitation in an inclusive way, recognising the historical and social contexts of sanitation issues, and how communities who are marginalised experience sanitation. These communities’ voices and demands must be central to the planning process, and to holding authorities and service providers to account.

Protect the rights of sanitation workers

Governments need to properly recognise the crucial roles of sanitation workers – those emptying septic tanks and pits, unblocking sewers or operating treatment plants – in keeping sanitation services running and their towns and communities clean and liveable. Recognising their work includes protecting their rights to fair wages, social security, safety at work and self-organisation (such as with unions). Sanitation efforts must always include the health, safety and dignity of sanitation workers, both formal and informal.

Cautiously promote the circular sanitation economy

Reusing treated faecal waste, such as for irrigation or as compost, has positive impacts for the economy, the environment and climate change mitigation and adaptation. This circular sanitation economy can help accelerate progress, but overselling its benefits can be counterproductive, undermining the message that public investment is critical to ensure sanitation services for all. The promotion of the circular sanitation economy should instead be: realistic about the benefits and the many challenges involved; aware of community priorities; and integrated into a wider sanitation push to close any gaps in access to toilets and to address the whole sanitation service chain.

Ground reuse efforts in the context

Those designing and leading sanitation circular economy initiatives should ensure that their efforts are grounded in local, economic, social and cultural contexts. This includes considering economic aspects such as where farmers buy compost, or whether other product types could be more profitable. This should also include social aspects such as cultural perceptions of waste, or how to effectively raise awareness of the benefits of reuse. Engaging an interdisciplinary team is an effective way of doing this, combining natural and social sciences, as well as art-based approaches to community engagement.

Reform policy to enable reuse

Decision-makers need to invest in understanding and improving the enabling environment for sanitation in general, and reuse in particular. Policies and regulations should create positive incentives to reuse and eliminate existing barriers.

Overall, there is a need for policy and political reimagination to radically consider alternative models and increase financial allocations and commitments to safely managed sanitation solutions that are sustainable and inclusive for all.

More information

washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/towards-brown-gold-challenges-opportunities-reuse-universal-sanitation-urban-areas

The authors:

Lyla Mehta is a Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies and a Visiting Professor at Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Sciences; Andrés Hueso González is senior policy analyst – sanitation at WaterAid; Alan Nicol is principal researcher at the International Water Management Institute; and Ben O’Donovan-Iland is communications and impact officer at the Institute of Development Studies

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Since 1998, the ASCE has prepared a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s major infrastructure systems using letter grades for each category and a concise but replicable methodology to analyse all aspects of system performance.

In terms of water infrastructure, the report assesses dams (D+), drinking water (C-), inland waterways (C-), levees (D+), stormwater (D) and wastewater (D+).
This year’s report finds nearly 50% of the grades increasing for the 18 categories assessed, crediting this to recent federal investments to improve US infrastructure.
The report recommends a comprehensive agenda over the next four years to sustain investment, prioritise resilience, and advance forward-thinking policies and innovations.

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That was the theme of the discussion on “Argentina Day” at last year’s International Water Association (IWA) Water and Development Congress and Exhibition held in Buenos Aires, where water professionals from around the world and Argentinian officials met to exchange knowledge, experiences, and strategies.

On behalf of the World Bank, I led a discussion on regulation, together with Emilio Lentini, Advisor to Argentina’s Water Resources Secretariat; Rui Cunha Marques, University of Lisbon; and Miguel Solanes, ECLAC, Chile.

Based on the findings of our recent work on Aligning Institutions and Incentives for Sustainable Water and Sanitation Services, I started my presentation by underscoring the interlinkages between regulation, policies, and institutions and the crucial role these factors play in creating incentives to sustainable universal access to water and sanitation services. I also discussed regulation in the context of the new paradigms resulting from the need for many countries to regulate public service providers, thereby shifting from the traditional approach to regulating private companies.

In Argentina, as in other Latin American countries, state owned water companies are more common than privately operated utilities. Publicly owned utilities have traditionally not been regulated—at least in an orthodox manner—as the common belief was that government, through its control of the utility, could strike the right balance between investments, cost recovery, and affordable tariffs. In the last decade, however, regulation of public water utilities has been growing in response to the return of service provision to the government after failed private sector participation (PSP) attempts. This approach has been found to have important advantages, such as the establishment of competent technical regulatory agencies and the increased transparency through independent oversight. Countries as different as Albania, Australia, Colombia, Peru, and Portugal are using regulation and regulatory institutions as part of the mix of policy instruments that seek to ensure that public utilities offer good value and sustainable services to the public.

In Latin America, regulation arose in the context of the wider sector reforms. This included PSP and decentralisation, which in many cases, mirrored the rationale for regulation in developed countries. However, I cautioned that this approach often entailed a mismatch between the needs of the countries and the regulatory model, which functions in the context of varying capacity levels and a different political and institutional culture, and welcomed the discussion on relevant regulatory experiences in Latin America.

Among those experiences, Mr. Marques discussed subsidies schemes in Chile and Colombia that facilitate access and enhance affordability for the poor, and highlighted how direct subsidies and cross subsidies can be effective in different circumstances. He also examined arrangements in place in different countries to regulate public service providers, and underscored the importance of addressing critical challenges associated with incentives, transparency, enforcement, equal treatment of different providers, and politicisation of the regulators. Mr. Solanes argued that strengthening the regulatory function would require a significant behavioural change in water sector institutions, and suggested to hold public service providers and their managers legally accountable for their actions.

At the emblematic Palermo water treatment plant, against the backdrop of a picture displaying the continuous performance improvements of Obras Sanitarias de la Nacion (the former national water utility of Argentina) during the first half of the 20th century, Mr. Lentini highlighted current efforts of the Government in this direction. This included revisions to the tariff structures to achieve cost recovery and design of subsidy schemes to better target the poor and vulnerable groups whilst providing adequate incentives to expand the services and improve their efficiency and quality in a sustainable manner. For that reason, he welcomed the exchange initiated with this session and invited the Bank and other partners to continue sharing regional and global knowledge with Argentina.

We hope the knowledge shared will further inform ongoing efforts by Argentina and other countries in Latin America to continue enhancing the policy, institutional, and regulatory incentives to achieve sustainable access to water and sanitation for all. Stay tuned for more news on our support to the government’s efforts to strengthen water supply and sanitation (WSS) service delivery and regulatory frameworks in Argentina through a comprehensive package of projects and other activities.

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Inhabited for 6,000 years, Aqaba sits at the point where Jordan reaches the Red Sea. Its beach resorts are popular for sunbathing and windsurfing, while the Yamanieh coral reef attracts scuba divers from around the world. Booming growth put these magnets at risk.

So to protect the quality of its marine environment and preserve the region’s attractiveness for tourism, the port city has committed to making huge investments into collection and treatment of 61,000 cubic metres per day from sewer and wastewater by 2030.

Aqaba’s resource recovery strategy generates US$4 million in income for the city, maintaining green areas and urban landscapes. Above all, it reduces carbon emission through enhanced operation and energy efficiency, as well as through production of carbon neutral power from solar farms and biogas. Ultimately, the city will recover 100 percent of its energy.

Aqaba was profiled at IWA’s Development Congress in Buenos Aires, among eight cities to illustrate the wastewater challenge and reuse opportunity. It demonstrated how transition to a circular economy is not limited to the “usual suspects” of pioneering cities such as Singapore or Stockholm.

Other cities that recover a significant portion of energy from wastewater include Bangkok (62 percent), Beijing (45 percent), Chennai (77 percent), and Kampala (227,000 Kwh/y).

The ‘zero discharge’ targets are ambitious, and policies must be targeted toward industry and backed by meaningful incentives. The global market for wastewater recycling and reuse should reach US$22.3 billion by 2021. New innovations in technology help open opportunities and make the transition affordable.

“Whilst the necessity of wastewater reuse in water scarce places like Aqaba is apparent,” observes the IWA’s soon to be released The Reuse Opportunity report, “cities everywhere are increasingly taking proactive actions to improve their water security. They are given greater autonomy; decision making is decentralised, and systems are being adapted to local drivers and demands.”

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New partnerships and personnel appointments have given utilities a bigger role in the management of the river Danube. By James Workman

It is not the deepest, steepest, longest or strongest but from its source in Germany’s Black Forest town of Donaueschingen, to its mouth in Romania’s free port of Sulina on the Black Sea, the Danube is by far the world’s most politically complex river, traversing ten countries, and with tributaries, draining nine more. Geostrategic forces have shaped borders since ancient Rome. But as urbanisation has brought new threats, today’s Danube is primarily an urban river that runs through or past 98 cities, including four major capitals.

Yet for centuries, the river sparked rivalries rather than trust. Each city along the river acted more or less alone, despite sharing a common resource. They worked in isolation within the same country, let alone across national borders; and this worsened after World War II with divisions into the Eastern European bloc.

All too often, cities diverted upstream currents like an intake pipe for use, then disposed of urban waste (treated or untreated) back downstream as a natural sewer. But this changed starting in 1993, after the Iron Curtain fell, when a new utility alliance set out to replenish the Danube.

“There is no more basic interest than the common interest of ensuring good clean water supply,” says Walter Kling, Secretary General, International Association of Water Supply Companies in the Danube River Catchment Area, or IAWD. “Water is a common link between the people of the river basin and having mechanisms to ensure cooperation on this important resource between cities and municipalities ensures that trust and good relations exists.”

Riparian cities now seek a more assertive role, coordinating efforts through IAWD to address the double challenge: providing clean water and wastewater services, while meeting the EU’s rigorous environmental obligations or “Acquis Communautaire.”

Rather than emerge in a vacuum, this effort builds upon past diplomatic efforts. National delegations formed the cooperative Danube River Protection Convention, and set up the international commission (ICPDR) to implement it. Yet the international alliance lacked the energetic involvement by city utilities both upstream and down. Few platforms helped water professionals share experience, best practices, and coordination within its larger scope.

“The voice of water utilities is important in helping shape decisions that affect the waters of the Danube region, and that voice needs to be strong and well organised,” says Kling. “Water utilities have begun to realise that the security of a safe clean supply of water is dependent upon them actively working together to both technically use the best management and operational techniques but also to ensure that river basin cooperation is happening to protect and restore water systems.”

IAWD has strengthened the voice of the utility operators and owners in the debate about river management, says Kling. Water provision and wastewater treatment are recognised as core elements of responsible river basin management. More recent measures seek to bolster cooperation among water professionals and enhance the region’s utility sector. IAWD and the World Bank leveraged €9.5 million in funds from Austria to launch the Danube Water Program to provide analysis, share knowledge, develop capacity and unlock grants.

More recently, IAWD signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Water Association to build capacity, engage national entities, and open up more learning and networking opportunities for Young Water Professionals in the region. At a meeting in Prague on 22 September, the IWA announced that IAWD has taken on the role of Coordinator of the Danube-Black Sea Region.

And personnel choices reflect these policy priorities. Kling is Deputy Managing Director of Vienna Waterworks; IAWD current president Vladimir Tausanovic used to run the Belgrade Waterworks; and Philip Weller (formerly at ICPDR) runs the IAWD Technical Secretariat, which is implementing the Danube Water Program under the guidelines of “Smart Policies, Strong Utilities and Sustainable Services.”

Like the physical river itself, information, funds and capacity building efforts tend to flow downstream. Indeed, IAWD has collected performance indicators and metrics for success, and while it seeks to harmonise the basin as a whole, there is greater demand in lower elevation cities. The institution was set up to address exactly those challenges for water services, to help overcome the economic differences, with Western members supporting their Eastern colleagues.

“Some worried about cooperation between the World Bank and IAWD, given the disparate scales. But Weller has found it a “highly practical marriage.” The high-level economic skills of the bank complement the on-the-ground technical competence of IAWD, and the differing skills and perspectives seem to fit well together.

EU accession has helped drive basin-wide efforts to improve water services, particularly wastewater treatment, says Kling. The problem is “that simply building wastewater treatment facilities does not necessarily guarantee good quality of water or effective operation.”

It remains a challenge to manage facilities in an economically sound and sustainable way.

IAWD offers a new model for riparian cities in other basins. Riparian stakeholders who value institutions within a basin’s ecological boundaries can support cooperation synergies. Indeed, Kling anticipates IWA’s role in a “third phase” of the Danube Water Program as being a “necessary evolution” that links urban utilities with hydropower, flood protection, and navigation.

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“The IDB has the ability to help governments to work across sectors like energy, agriculture and water,” said Campos. “When we are asked to provide assistance in different projects we look from different angles and we help the countries to avoid working in silos and in a more multisectoral way.“

What are the regional trends for infrastructure development? Is it mega projects, or more decentralised solutions?

We have four main regional lines of work going on right now: access to water and sewage, wastewater treatment, rural water, and integrated water resource management. In terms of water and sanitation the challenge is to transition to smart water infrastructure like automatic metering and full automatisation and control of our systems through smart infrastructure.

Our region has made significant progress in terms of achieving access to safe water but if we apply the SDG criteria we’ll see that there are over 200 million people with non continuous service, not all water is potable. In terms of sanitation the main challenge is providing sanitation in peri urban areas and here, especially in the case of public utilities.

Not everything needs to be a conventional solution if we want to solve the issue of fecal sludge management. In the short term, options like condominial sewerage are among those our region needs to explore and consider. We have an initiative for optimal sanitation in which we try to implement different types of solution in order to address the needs of the population with secure and safe standards.

As for wastewater treatment, the key issue–especially for the areas with very little water–is reusing water, and for this we are promoting the adoption of circular economy models in the water and sanitation sector. In the case of integrated water resource management the key issue is the adoption of better technologies to conduct bette planning of the usage and allocation of our water resources. Technology is very important: we have an simulation modelling tool called HydroBID that has already mapped over 260 thousand water basins and their water availability. Why is this relevant? Because in Latin America 80 percent of the electricity comes from hydropower, 80 percent of our agriculture is rainfed, so we are highly dependent on our water resources and better planning will always yield better results.

How is IDB investing in watersheds and basins and how do you find the balance between biodiversity and economic development?

Our region is privileged in terms of water availability, we have one third of the global water resources and only eight percent of the world’s population. Hence, we have a tremendous potential to make gains from those water resources. We always try to strengthen the different aspects of watershed management, that is one of the biggest challenges that our region has. In addition, we need to emphasise good governance and institutionality, the legal framework and coordination among different stakeholders. A good example is the Latin America Water Funds Alliance, a public private partnership. It is a financing mechanism where we gather all sectors that have a heavy water footprint and that are interested in preserving our ecosystems. Here business meets science to come up with better practices to ensure that our watersheds are functioning well, this include watershed protection and conservation, changing patterns of agricultural production, reforestation. This has been a very successful initiative. We have been able to strengthen 22 funds in the region, benefitiating around 60 million people and leveraging more than US$120 million.

What are three success stories of the IDB in the water and sanitation sector?

We have many, but if we had to name the top three I would name the support we provided to SABESP (Company of Basic Sanitation of Sao Paulo) for the cleaning of the Tiete river, where we have invested more than one billion US dollars in over fifteen years. We have worked for over 35 years with the Public Enterprises of Medellín (EPM) (Colombia) in the cleaning of the Aburra river; we started with a master plan so all of the investments have been done in a very orderly way for water and sewage and then on to wastewater treatment, the latest phase that they are undergoing right now and that will allow them to treat nearly 99 percent of all of their wastewater. Another great project is the sanitation of the Montevideo Bay, in Uruguay where we have been working for almost 20 years with a master plan that determined a number of sequential investments that have resulted in a very successful outcome. Residents of Montevideo can now swim in its waters and enjoy the bay as an integral part of their environment.

Where can IDB enhance water security in ways that it could be difficult for the private sector or other development banks working in Latin America and the Caribbean to do so?

The IDB has the ability to help governments to work across sectors like energy, agriculture and water. When we are asked to provide assistance in different projects we look from different angles and we help the countries to avoid working in silos and in a more multisectorial way. The other area we emphasise is to leapfrog into technology. I have already mentioned HydroBID, a tool that allows us to do strategic planning through the use of rainfall data and calculations and digital maps of hundreds of thousands of water basins in the region. The main goal is to have a more holistic and comprehensive approach for water and sanitation in our region.

How is the IDB using the SDG framework for its water and sanitation portfolio?

There is international consensus that if we don’t comply with SDG 6 probably none of the other SDGs will be met. A great example of tools and initiatives that contribute to the 2030 Agenda is AquaRating, that the IDB has developed together with the International Water Association (IWA). AquaRating makes a significant contribution to improving utility performance and a roadmap to anticipate future challenges. The rating system allows for better planning and decision making processes for the utilities’ management to achieve sustainable and efficient outcomes. AquaRating is an international standard that enables water and sanitation operators to focus on the quality of the service they are providing.

As a standard, AquaRating sets the baseline for utilities to monitor their performance and plan for improvements. AquaRating offers a comprehensive, impartial and credible evaluation of the utilities’ performance and best management practices, based on three dimensions: (i) performance indicators; (ii) best practices; and (iii) reliability of information. The AquaRating system gives a detailed evaluation of 112 elements across eight key areas and validates information through an independent auditing process, enhancing accountability and transparency. The evaluation system has been tested in 13 utilities in 2014 in nine countries in Europe and Latin America and is currently being implemented through individual operators in Ecuador, El Salvador, Argentina and Spain and through government and financial institutions in Peru, Colombia and Mexico, Sierra Leone and Fiji.

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Water is a finite resource. With a growing population, an expanding global middle class and a rise in energy and industrial production, the demand for water is reaching new levels. According to the OECD, global demand for freshwater will increase by 55 percent between 2000 and 2050. By 2050 it is expected that roughly 6.4 billion people will live in cities, making urban water management an essential building block for resilience and sustainable growth.

A growing number of users with competing demands further propels the issue of global water scarcity. A variable climate with unpredictable precipitation patterns intensifies this issue. It is now more important than ever to find ways to be more careful with the water we have and to better balance competing water needs between different users.

The good news is that we know we can be far more efficient in our use of water, and many actors, such as cities already are.

At SIWI, we believe that a circular economy in which water is reused and waste is managed as an economic asset are important parts of the solution to this challenge.

The opportunities for exploiting wastewater are enormous. When properly harnessed, wastewater is an affordable and sustainable source of water, energy, nutrients and other consumables.

World Water Week in Stockholm addressed the challenges presented by two ambitious targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Goal 6, target 3:
“by 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally”

Goal 12, target 5:
“by 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse”.

These are just two of the 169 SDG targets, that along with the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the annual Global Risk Report by the World Economic Forum, highlight our challenge to achieve sustainable development in a changing world.

Water is a great connector and is at the core of sustainable development. It is the ‘blue thread’ that runs through the SDGs–without reliable access to water almost none of the Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved.

In recent years, business leaders and city mayors have become more engaged in water and sustainable development, becoming important partners in achieving a water wise world.

Cities are increasingly recognised as critical to achieving the SDGs. They are the frontline for institutional, economic and social change; they are the future for humanity and the stage upon which the SDGs will unfold.

While wastewater isn’t only an urban challenge, cities can serve as a hub for wastewater innovation as they present some of the greatest wastewater challenges. Challenges from sewage management, stormwater runoff and urban flooding are further exaggerated by intensified urbanisation and climate change.

Water supply, sanitation and stormwater are integral components of the urban water system, yet they are often not planned or operated in an integrated way. Viewing them as a single system can greatly enhance the utility of water, both in the context of everyday use and under stress.

This calls for new approaches to ‘smart cities’, with greater emphasis on integrated urban water and wastewater management, with stronger links to spatial planning and inter-institutional collaboration.

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The Saemul Park plant has been constructed underground to ensure greater acceptability with local communities, and allows the surface area above it to be used as a park. The award-winning part of the plant all happens underground. Innovative technologies have allowed the treatment plant to become energy self-sufficient through the production of biogas, while simultaneously recovering water and other valuable resources. The plant has significantly reduced its carbon footprint by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and introduced a ‘Positive Impact Development’ tool to monitor the overall achievement.

“Anyang Saemul Park sewage treatment plant realises three types of resource recovery: water, energy and the climate,” said Kwak Donggeun of POSCO Engineering and Construction, upon receiving the award. “The plant is special because it also includes small water cycle balance for climate recovery through a decentralised rainwater management system. It’s an example of how a sewage treatment plant can be transformed from one where energy is consumed and water lost, to the one that produces energy and collects water as a resource.”

Recovering water and other vital resources like biogas, metals, phosphates and bioplastics from wastewater are critical to deliver a sustainable water sector. The 2017 Award, in partnership with the international knowledge network, WaterShare, is for a proven technology on resource recovery, applied at full or demonstrative scale, which serves as an excellent example for the water sector.

“This award is based on two sets of evaluations, one by academics, the other by practitioners,” said Professor Willy Verstraete, chairman of the judging panel. “A winning solution must be scientifically sound but also able to be scaled up in the real world. That is quite a challenge and, for the successful winner, a great achievement.”

The winning entry receives the award because it represents the best example of a large-scale, economically feasible, and impactful project that uses resources from the water cycle and transfers scientific knowledge.

“By mutually sharing and learning from the experiences of different areas as well as from colleagues from other regions, performance improvement and creative application of innovative solutions will be possible,” said Kees Roest of WaterShare.

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Public participation, as customer engagement, user involvement, accountability or transparency, is a concept increasingly discussed among water professionals. It aims to strengthening the relationship between water authorities and the users and the broader public. The Sustainable Development Goal 6 considers public participation to be an important means of implementation for all water-related targets.

Yet, too often, the benefits of public participation only become evident when failing to undergo the process results in controversies. Tariff-setting is a representational example. Unilateral revision of the price for water services without the social acceptance may bring controversies among users, no matter how accurately it is calculated.

However, it is not always easy for service providers to get people to participate in consultations before regulatory decision-making; more so, where urban water services are provided 24/7. Pipes are underground and hidden behind the walls; treatment plants are in off-limit areas. Water and wastewater works become less visible to the public eye—water is only to be seen as it flows from a tap to a sink, or stored in toilets. This results in a dilemma for water professionals: the more we want to ensure the quality and efficiency of water supply and sewage services, the less water is felt among people.

How can we encourage people to participate in water-related decision-making? This is a question of public communication that needs to be addressed before any attempt of public participation. On a situation such as a tariff increase, citizens will benefit from knowing the rationale behind that decision—is it to ameliorate the level of cost recovery, to increase resilience of infrastructure, or to subsidise the poor to increase equity? In communicating with the public, however, water professionals often rely on apocalyptic terms—scarcity, pollution, infrastructure degradation, budgetary constraints, etc.

“Where has the fun around water gone?” Resorting to games can bring the fun back, while educating the public about our wicked water problems. In this method, water-related information is not the primary focus, but it does get people’s attention towards water and sanitation services. Such an indirect form of engagement can take truly various forms. As was done for the World Water Day, photo contests or connecting water with art are also effective means of making people have fun learning and exploring how water connects us in our everyday life.

A slightly relaxed and enjoyable perspective of our work could be the first step towards innovation. Look at this symphony in the Estonian water treatment facility.

Interest in water and sanitation services does not need to come from water as such. Although to a smaller scale if compared to “Pokémon hunters”, there is an increasing number of “manhole cover hunters” in Japan. Peculiar design to each city, sometimes even colourful, Japanese manholes are now objects for collecting images. Though informal, the Japanese Society of Manhole Covers has a compiled set of manhole cover pictures shoot by people all around Japan and also abroad. The annual Manhole Summit is now hosted by the platform for the promotion of public communication for sewage works (GKP), who saw this niche boom as a potential. Early this year, the Summit attracted over 3,000 participants.

There are also collectors of manhole cover cards distributed by municipalities for free. Now that some cities started to produce English version (Tsukuba city), you may also join the manhole cover hunting in the occasion of the Tokyo World Water Congress & Exhibition in 2018.

Such indirect form of public communication strategy does no incidentally link to the social acceptance of raising tariffs or other controversial regulatory decisions. Nevertheless, making people aware about something unnoticed before, is an important first step. In the long run, it may make water close to people again and wishfully attract more people to participation processes in decision-making. Addition of a drop of pop to our professional work will not only make our daily task fun, but may also strengthen the relationship with the public.

Call for inputs—share your experience of public participation in tariff-setting

IWA initiated a project on public participation in the regulation of urban water services. For this year, focusing on tariff-setting process, it aims to raise awareness of the benefits of public participation and clarify misconceptions, provide guidance to incorporate or improve participation processes; all while enabling stakeholders to share experiences and lessons learned in their own participation methods to advance its benefits.

We would like to collect examples of public participation in tariff-setting context to learn about various inspiring practices for enriching the study. Please kindly fill in the survey (5-15 min) on the IWA Connect project page, or download this template and send it via e-mail to Miharu.Hirano@iwahq.org.

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