The wastewater podcasts, part 5: Southern Africa and South Asia

An interview with Sam Drabble (Head of Evaluation, Research and Learning at Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor).

This is part 5 in a series of articles about wastewater that I will publish before 24 December. All are based on podcast interviews I did in the past months, in cooperation with UN-Habitat, with seven experts worldwide.

Until now, each expert I interviewed was in the region where they worked; West Africa, the Caribbean, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. For the fifth podcast, the worldwide virtual journey brought me to London to Sam Drabble, the Head of Evaluation, Research, and Learning at Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP). He has authored, co-authored, or edited over 30 publications on diverse aspects of urban Water, Sanitation, and Health. And even though he was in the UK, we hardly spoke about European wastewater challenges (we have quite a few), but we focussed on the countries where WSUP is most active in Southern Africa and South Asia.

Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor was set up to address the specific challenge of inadequate access to water and sanitation in low-income urban areas. These are often informal settlements and slums where 20 percent of the global urban population resides. WSUP develops long-term partnerships with mandated authorities like the utilities and local governments to support them in extending services. WSUP also works with regulators and ministries at the regulatory and policy levels. The organization currently works on projects in Bangladesh, Madagascar, Kenya, Zambia, Mozambique, and in two countries already in this podcast's focus: Ghana and Uganda.

Where WSUP works: the blue spots (source: wsup.com)

When I recently spoke with Sam, he was working on a global report on sanitation and wastewater management in cities and human settlements. It is an example of the research function that WSUP also has. Studies and reports like these can be powerful tools in influencing positive change in the focus countries and at the global level. The report is commissioned by UN-Habitat and co-financed by the French Development Agency. Hopefully, the publication of the report will generate political momentum since we need more awareness at the political level of the urgency of action around wastewater management. It should also give technical guidance for all the elements involved in adequate sanitation and wastewater management, such as financing and regulation.

Wastewater should be given a higher priority

Our conversation then focused on why wastewater management is often neglected on the political agenda and, therefore, the budgets in many countries. It is one of the themes that keep coming back in the podcasts, even while so many people realize how crucial proper wastewater management is for health, the environment, water availability, or the economy. And the obvious follow-up question is what is needed to raise more attention for wastewater.

Sam mentioned the bigger context of sanitation that should get more attention too. It's extraordinary that over 2 billion people still lack access to a decent toilet. And globally, we have not made the same progress in sanitation as we have on water. Sam favors city-wide inclusive sanitation, which requires both sewers and non-sewers approaches. Wastewater management clearly is one facet of that.

A "flush and forget" concept

It is essentially an invisible process in Western countries, where it is a "flush and forget" concept. But Sam underlined that in developing contexts, it's far from invisible. For example, in slums, you may see open sewers, open drains, and all the impacts that follow from that. So it is a huge issue in developing contexts that requires significant financing. But that is a challenge since these countries often lack a tax base or the revenue base for large-scale capital investment. Improving wastewater management is also a complex issue because many actors are involved, including on the regulatory side, making generating momentum difficult.

When I asked Sam if investing in wastewater management would give a good return on investment, he mentioned studies about the wide-ranging benefits of investment in sanitation. For example, an often-used statistic states that for every dollar spent on sanitation, society can expect a return of five dollars on that investment for health and economic benefits.

Reusing wastewater

Sam mentioned the exciting change in the discourse from viewing wastewater as a waste stream to viewing it as a resource. Wastewater can be reused if it's treated effectively and then lead to tangible resources like fertilizers or energy when municipal wastewater can be converted to, for instance, biogas. And reclaimed wastewater can be used for many activities. In countries like Israel, 25 percent of their water is reclaimed wastewater; in Singapore, it is even 40 percent.

In the podcast, we spoke about the importance of financing for sanitation and wastewater treatment, which goes hand in hand with the need for efficient governance structures at all appropriate levels. The main difference between many poorer countries compared to the richer ones is the possibility of large-scale investments that are basically publicly funded. That possibility is often not an option in a developing context.

Alternatives for those countries are, for instance, concessional or commercial loans. Sam mentioned that concessional loans, given on more favorable terms than could be obtained in the marketplace, will continue to be a key mechanism to unlock at least initial action around improved wastewater treatment. In the next phase, when focusing on operations and maintenance, there are often possibilities to get that financed through tariffs and national transfers.

There is a return on investment which makes it valuable, but Sam made two remarks. First, the initial investment is rather significant, and finding a source for that funding is challenging. Another consideration is that the investment doesn't really return to those who make it unless it is the national government. That makes investing difficult for private investors, and therefore you need committed governments that aim to reach the targets of SDG6, including reducing the amount of untreated wastewater. It also requires that all levels of government work together.

These are just some of the many issues we discussed in this podcast; I encourage you to listen to the full podcast via the button below (or you can find it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts).

Tomorrow, I will probably publish the final wastewater newsletter, number six in a series of six (but there may be one more extra one after that)

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The wastewater podcasts, part 4: South and Southeast Asia

Another one from this series on wastewater:

The wastewater podcasts, part 3: East Africa