The SSWM Toolbox for Decision Makers

• What is the SSWM Toolbox > click here
• Essential Information for Decision Makers > click here

Why a Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management (SSWM) Toolbox?

Water resources are under increasing pressure today. This is not only due to increased consumption, but also to unsustainable and uncoordinated use. A lack of water severely hinders development. Yet globally, there is a lack of knowledge and capacity on sustainable technologies and on holistic approaches.

What is the SSWM Toolbox?

The SSWM Toolbox (www.sswm.info) is to date the most comprehensive, free and open-source capacity building tool on water management and sanitation. It tackles the above-mentioned challenges in the water sector in three different ways:

• it systematically structures, compiles and makes available existing knowledge.
• it promotes innovative integrated and sustainable approaches that link water management, sanitation, wastewater management and agriculture.
• It provides guidance to use the toolbox for own trainings (dissemination effects)

>> For more information, see our flyer or our FAQs or use the user manual.

What does the SSWM Toolbox contain?

The SSWM Toolbox is divided into six main sections. It contains

• a guided exercise to prioritise and understand the local problems of a specific situation (e.g. of the focus area of the toolbox user)
• a large compilation of factsheets on hardware and software tools and approaches (implementation tools)
• the tools you need to plan and process solutions
• plus a section explaining the concept and one providing background information
• a train-the-trainers section
• all topped with further readings, a library, a glossary and ready-made PowerPoints.

>> For more information, see our tutorial.

This section compiles key information of the toolbox. Should you like to know more, click on the links provided, they will guide you to the respective full factsheets.

You can also find an online collection of good practices for managing water resources (specifically with knowledge on institutional and conceptual frameworks for IWRM) in the toolbox of the Global Water Partnership (GWP), a partner of SSWM here: http://www.gwptoolbox.org

Background: A call for Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management

• 884 million people lack access to safe water supplies (WHO/UNICEF 2010). 3.5 million people die each year from water-related diseases. This is more than any war claims (UNDP 2006).
• 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, including 1.2 billion people who have no facilities at all (WHO/UNICEF 2010), causing severe pollution, robbing people of their dignity and causing disease.
• Globally, two million tons of sewage, industrial and agricultural waste is discharged into the world’s waterways per day. Such discharges destroy aquatic ecosystems, not only in rivers and lakes, but also in the oceans. As about 40% of the world’s population live in costal areas, this trend will have severe impacts on people’s livelihoods (see water pollution).
• A lack of access to clean water hinders development and progress: In India only, 73 million working days are lost every year due to water borne diseases at a cost of 600 Million Dollar in terms of medical treatment and lost production (WaterAid 2006). Sub-Saharan Africa loses about 5% of GDP, or some $28.4 billion annually (UNDP 2006). Furthermore, children who are frequently sick are hindered in their development, and cannot attend school regularly, which again lowers their chance of good education and a successful entry into the labour market (see also economic issues)

>> For more information on other environmental, socio-cultural, agricultural and other issues, see the background section.

The Concept behind SSWM

• Almost one billion people still suffer from hunger or malnutrition (FAO 2010).  At the same time, the nutrients contained in domestic wastewater could supply almost all the fertiliser normally required for crop production (CORCORAN et al. 2010) (see the nutrient cycle or linking up sustainable sanitation, water management and agriculture).
• Single sector approaches, such as river basin management, and wastewater treatment and health and hygiene interventions are limited in their actions and synergies within different groups of interest are underemphasised. This lack of coordination leads to an overuse and waste of water resources. For a sustainable improvement water resources and livelihood, the whole water cycle needs to be taken into account in an integrated, holistic way – linking up reuse-oriented sanitation approaches with Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
• At a current rate of use, phosphorus, which a core component of commercial fertiliser, will last for another 50 to 100 years (GPRI) (see also the peak phosphorus).
• According to a recent report from the Green Economy Initiative, every dollar invested in safe water and sanitation has a pay back of US$3 to US$34 depending on the region and the technology deployed (CORCORAN et al. 2010) (see economic issues). Recognising the value of wastewater for irrigation, as a source of renewable energy and as a valuable fertiliser could improve the livelihoods of billions.

>> For more information on how water management, sanitation and agriculture are linked, see concept.

Planning for Water Management and Sanitation

• Sustainable planning for water management and sanitation involves more than an engineer and a project manager. Recognising and considering the needs of communities is essential for a project’s success and sustainability – doing so requires the participation of all concerned stakeholder groups, including women
• A study by the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) of community water and sanitation projects in 88 communities found that projects designed and run with the full participation women (see our factsheet on gender or our participatory planning tools section) are more sustainable and effective than those that do not. This supports an earlier World Bank study that found that women’s participation was strongly associated with water and sanitation project effectiveness (UN WATER 2006) (see also invalid link.

>> For more information and a comprehensive overview of existing planning frameworks, or your own “mix&match” approach, see planning and process tools.

Approaching the Water & Sanitation Crisis with Concrete Tools

Informed choice: The sustainable provision of water and the management of wastewater knows no “one-size-fits-all” solutions. There are also no tools that will automatically generate the ideal solution upon entering a number of parameters. Much more, planners need an overview of the functioning of many approaches – be they technological (hardware) or behavioural (software). This is what the implementation tools section provides you with. Here, we will describe some core concepts:

Hardware Tools

• When water resource are scarce the have to be allocated to different uses such as human consumption and sanitation, the production of food, industry, transport, energy, etc.
• Once allocated, many many technologies exist which help to optimise water consumption for all the different users (population, agriculture, industry, etc.).
• Moisture control and improved irrigation techniques, for instance, can contribute to significantly reduce the requirements in agriculture.
• Groundwater recharge of surface run-off can help to alleviate the pressure on aquifers and groundwater resources, especially in urban areas.
• Water saving toilet systems, source separation and greywater reuse can help to reduce water consumption on the household-level.
• Indeed, with current practices, we literally flush down millions of dollars down the drain –be it in the form of valuable nutrients (fertiliser), irrigation water, or energy (biogas). Loop-oriented solutions, where the various wastewaters are reused can improve the quality of life and have a high return on investment (for figures, see “concept” above).
• Though conventional water provision and wastewater treatment and sanitation system have saved uncountable lives in the past, they are not replicable in all parts of the world, be it because they consume too much water, are too expensive, culturally inadequate or simply because governments cannot keep up with infrastructure provision in densely populated areas. The future will often lie in smaller-scale, invalid link.
• [Point-of-use drinking water systems], for instance, can safe many lives, by giving the population the possibility to take the responsibility themselves and improve the quality of the water they drink at home

Software Tools

• Awareness raising: In many countries, students suffer from non-existent or insufficient water supply, sanitation and hand washing facilities, this affects school children negatively and lessens their learning success (MOOIJMAN et al. 2010). Though these interrelations are known, people are often not aware of simple actions they can take themselves. Schools present an excellent opportunity for awareness raising and for reaching a wider community (see our tool on school campaigns or other awareness raising tools).
• The environment for action: Good ideas and actions are often delimited by inappropriate policies or lacking political support. Hence, it is not the technology and the ideas themselves, but successful change also needs an enabling environment: Appropriate policies can encourage participatory, demand-driven and sustainable development. invalid link, for instance, have often lead to better access and improved services, because they to allocate responsibility to the person(s) best placed to manage and deal with the task (INWRDAM 2010).
• Command and control: Regulations (such as a law prohibiting water use for irrigation during daytime, when evaporation is highest; or developing standards for treated wastewater quality can also have huge impacts.
• But also or economic incentives, e.g. tradeable permits for wastewater discharge, or different tariffs for water) can have an enormous impact on sustainable water management (GWP 2008).

>> For more information and a large collection of hardware and software approaches see implementation tools.