Annual Review 2011 - IWA

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IWA Development Solutions
Award - Research
In recognition of Sandec’s applied research and
high quality science that provides leadership and
partnership for the academic community working
in low and middle income countries. Presented to
Christian Zurbrugg, Director, Sandec
Sandec started life as a WHO reference centre back in
the late 1960s and was then converted to a research
department of Eawag: the Swiss Federal Institute of
Aquatic Science and Technology, in the early 1970s. One of
Sandec’s strengths therefore is its long-term commitment,
which has been made possible by continuous Eawag
directorate support.
Sandec benefits from the multidisciplinary expertise of Eawag
colleagues and their interest in issues in the developing
world, and its research and capacity development focus is on
water treatment, sanitation planning, excreta and wastewater
management as well as solid waste management for low and
middle income countries.
For instance, in drinking water Sandec’s focus for many
years has been on water quality issues – specifically on
household water treatment. Examples such as Solar Water
Disinfection (SODIS) have been recognised as one of the
standard approaches for household water treatment for an
estimated two million or more users worldwide. More recent
research focuses on fluoride removal filters, arsenic removal
and gravity-driven membrane filters, with ongoing projects
in Kenya, Ethiopia and Bangladesh.
On sanitation planning, in collaboration with experts around
the globe, Sandec has developed community-led sanitation
planning approaches such as the HCES (household-centred
environmental sanitation planning) approach, which is used
as a basis by many planning and development agencies.
Christian Zurbrugg, on behalf of Sandec, receives the
IWA DS Award for Research from Glen Daigger at IWA
Development Congress, KL, November 2011
The organisation’s experience with field trials in sanitation
planning led it to embark on developing decision support
tools for choosing sanitation options, one result being
the Compendium of sanitation systems and technologies.
Sandec is currently working on improving the toolbox for
sanitation planning and decision support.
All of Sandec’s research is strongly concentrated on
application and finding practical solutions, so the company
has a keen focus on developing research products that
serve practice and policymakers. As typical research
papers in academic journals often do not reach that target
audience, the organisation puts a great deal of effort into
developing manuals, guidelines and practical tools and
methods for those who are responsible for decision-making
and implementation.
Sandec believes that one organisation alone cannot
solve the water sanitation challenges of low and middle
income countries – it requires partnerships between local
governments, private sector, practitioners, researchers and
development agencies. ‘IWA provides an ideal platform to
build and establish such partnerships,’ Mr Zurbrugg says.
Project Innovation Award –
Development
In 2011, following a reflection on the geographical
scope of the Project Innovation Awards, IWA
established a new Awards programme that caters
specifically for low and middle income countries.
Named the IWA Project Innovation Awards –
Development, this new award aims to ‘recognise
and celebrate excellence and innovation in water
and sanitation projects in developing countries’.
Through this, IWA hopes to foster innovation in
service delivery in developing countries, embed
innovative practices amongst practitioners, and
provide recognition for new solutions to existing
challenges in support of international efforts to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
A total of 35 projects were submitted for this inaugural
PIA-Development cycle, demonstrating practical and
integrated development. Projects paid particular attention
to:
• Social, technical, financial, economic, environmental
and institutional issues;
• A focus on towns, cities and peri-urban/urban environments;
• Demonstrating sustainability on the basis of users’
willingness to pay recurrent costs, local operation and
maintenance and locally-available replacement parts, with
capital costs proportionate to local incomes.
The winning projects were recognised at an award reception
on 23 November 2011 during the 2nd IWA Development
Congress & Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The winners for the 2011
PIA Development are:
Drinking Water category
Applied Research
Winner:
Presented to the National Environmental Engineering
Research Institute (NEERI), India, for the ZAR multipollutant
water treatment unit.
Honour Award:
Presented to the National Environmental Engineering
Research Institute (NEERI), India, for solar energy based
electrolytic defluoridation.
Hardware
Winner:
Presented to the Emfuleni Local Municipality for the
Sebokeng and Evaton advanced pressure management
project, South Africa.
Honour Award:
Presented to GHD Engineering Consultants for the Maji Safi
Afya Bora Ifakara (MSABI) sustainable privatisation business
models for the safe delivery of water, Tanzania.
Software
Winner:
Presented to Maynilad Water Services for the Samahang
Tubig Maynilad programme; the Maynilad community-based
water management programme in the West Zone of Metro
Manila, The Philippines.
Honour Award:
Presented to the Manila Water Company for the ‘Tubig Para
Sa Barangay’ programme, providing clean and affordable
water to poor communities using a sustainable model and
community participatory approach, The Philippines.
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