Water and Sanitation

 Naively when I first started this module I thought that I'd run out of things to write, and that the answer was straight forward. During this blogging process I've learnt that the issue of water and sanitation is a more complex issue than I ever thought. At first I believed my focus would be on how the built environment affects water sources, how pollution occurs in manufacturing processes and in construction to name two, as I come from a background of study in Architecture. Instead sanitation became an issue that I felt needed to be explored. When discussing water, especially in the press, the focus is on providing drinking water for communities that are not part of the conventional piped water systems. During my research I've realised how sanitation, drinking water, politics, environment and gender are all interlinked. There is not a simple, one size fits all solution for issues relating to water and sanitation. “Water is life, but sanitation is dignity”   is now a state...

In one of my previous blogs I mentioned the World Banks Resilient Water Infrastructure Design Brief and the strategic fra mework on WASH climate resilience. Both of these documents set to inform; as climate change becomes ever more prevalent new infrastructure must be created, mitigation must take place, and old infrastructure must be adapted in order for global citizens to exist in healthy conditions.  The key concepts in the title of both documents is  resilience;  the ability  to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. This definition is  essential for the future of people as the Anthropocene continues and the impacts of climate change begin to be felt more profoundly.  Water, sanitation and climate change an inextricably linked and I wish to discover more about this in my research for this post.  Resilient Water Infrastructure Design Brief focuses in on three main hazard types; flooding, drought and hig h winds.  Water utilitie...

With 780 million people lacking access to an 'improved water source' -  piped household water connection, public standpipe, borehole, protected dug well, protected spring, rainwater collection (WHO-UNICEF) -worldwide, u rban groundwater acts as a substantial contributor to accessible freshwater. Previously local rivers could be relied upon but as pollution becomes prolific and climate change causes drastic changes, they can no longer be used, groundwater though is a climate - resilient source of freshwater in sub - Saharan Africa  . As urbanisation takes hold of areas of sub-Saharan Africa, which up until now have been rural, urban planning must consider the new structure of the built environment necessary to provide for all citizens and achieve the  United Nations sustainable development goal 6, universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water. In many places surface water requires treatment (chlorination)...