Euro-Mediterranean Information System on know-how in the Water sector

FP7 - Environmental research - First & Second Call: A catalogue of water related projects is available

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

Newsletter - Environmental Technologies Research

The catalogue "Water Research" briefly presents the related projects resulting from the FP7-ENV-2007-1 and FP7-2008-2 calls, including a short abstract, the partners involved and the overall grant proposed by the Commission. So far, it represents about 19 projects totalling €62,6 million out of the EC funding for the Collaboration 'Environment (including Climatic Change)' theme.

The projects proposed for funding that resulted from the FP7-ENV-NMP-2008-2 call, organised jointly by the Environment theme and the Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production technologies themes, are presented in the catalogue "Nanotechnologies for water treatment".

The catalogues "Water research 2007-2008" and "Nanotechnologies for water treatment" are available from:
http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/rtd/eesdwatkeact/library?l=/projects_information

The preliminary information presented in the mentioned documents is based on the proposals' evaluation results and shall be considered as provisional and subject to potential modifications in the course of projects' negotiation.

A new EC brochure "EU Research for the Environment 2007-2013

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

Newsletter - Environmental Technologies Research

This brochure summarises environmental research funded by the European Union and is divided in two parts. The first provides the context of environmental research - the historical roots and the political framework as well as an introduction to environmental research in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), under the "Environment (including climate change)" theme, an ambitious research programme. The second part gives an overview of the 10 research priorities within the "Environment (including climate change)" research theme, and highlights some of the most successful projects in environmental research.

The brochure will be available soon from the http://bookshop.europa.eu/ website, the references are EUR 23472, ISBN 978-92-79-09386-9

Environmental research for SMEs: Technology challenges and market opportunities in waste water treatment

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

Newsletter - Environmental Technologies Research

A workshop entitled 'Environmental Research for SMEs - Technology Challenges and Market Opportunities in Waste Water Treatment' was held on 28 November 2006. The aim of the event was to address future trends and needs in key technologies and research in the area of waste water treatment. It focused on the dissemination of knowledge, technology uptake in traditional SME sectors as well as business opportunities. The workshop presented an overview of objectives, challenges and results from ongoing and recently completed projects funded under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) and its SME specific measures. Projects involving SMEs in the thematic priority areas as well as projects funded under the LIFE programme were also presented. A total of 63 people attended this event from industry, research fields and general stakeholders.

The main results of the workshop's presentations are summarised in a publication available in electronic form on http://bookshop.europa.eu/ with the references ISBN : 978-92-79-06966-6 or KI-82-07-471-EN-Z

Best LIFE Environment Projects 2007-2008

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

Newsletter - Environmental Technologies Research

This publication presents 21 LIFE selected projects addressing environmental issues that are listed according to the following structure:

Land-use development and planning
Water management
Minimising the impact of economic activities
Waste management
Integrated Product Policy

The electronic version of this publication is available on:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/publications/lifepublications/bestprojects/documents/bestenv08.pdf

Financing water and sanitation at local levels

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

Hucks, L. (2008). Think local, act local: effective financing of local
governments to provide water and sanitation services. London, UK, WaterAid.
39 p. (summary paper)

Mehta, M. and Mehta, D. (2008). Financing water and sanitation at local
levels : synthesis paper. London, UK, WaterAid. 83 p. (full research
report)

WaterAid carried out analyses in 12 developing countries in Africa and Asia
to identify key blockages and systemic weaknesses that stand in the way of
development finance reaching local authorities responsible for delivering
water and sanitation services. The research showed that in spite of policy
commitments to decentralisation, local governments are consistently
by-passed by those financing development, resulting in a high risk of
duplication and inequitable coverage. Recommendations are provided for the
different stakeholders - national governments, donors, NGOs and local
government - to improve financing and governance at the local level.

Download the summary paper here [http://www.irc.nl/url/27038]and the full
report here [http://www.irc.nl/url/27039].

UNICEF handbook on water quality

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

Keast, G. and Johnston, R. (2008). UNICEF handbook on water quality. New
York, NY, USA, UNICEF. xii, 179 p. : 52 boxes, 4 fig., 28 tab. Includes
references and index

This handbook provides an introduction to all aspects of water quality,
with a particular focus on the areas most relevant to professional staff
members working in developing countries. The handbook focuses on real-world
problems faced by poor people, and on community- and household-based,
low-cost solutions. It provides extensive pointers to key texts and
resource materials for reference when users require more detailed
information. The handbook includes chapters on: Effects of poor water
quality, covering microbiological contamination and the main chemical
contaminants that pose a threat to human health; Water quality monitoring
and surveillance; Contamination sources and pathways and techniques for
water system protection; Principal technologies for water treatment, both
for microbiological contamination and the main chemical contaminants. The
handbook concludes with a discussion on advocacy for increased national
resource allocation for water quality, communication with communities on
the importance of water quality, and capacity building at national and
community levels. The handbook is designed as a resource for field staff
members from UNICEF and its partners involved in the water, environment and
sanitation (WES) sector.

Download PDF file [1 MB] [http://www.irc.nl/url/27289]

INSPIRE Network Services Architecture ,Version 3, published

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

The INSPIRE Network Services Architecture, Version 3, has been published on the INSPIRE site. This Network Services Architecture document is informative and is therefore not an Implementing Rule.

Rather, it is a contribution from the Network Services Drafting Team to help the process of developing the Implementing Rules for each of the INSPIRE Network Services. The purpose of the document is to provide the architectural context to enable Member States to better understand the Implementing Rules for Network Services.

Preliminary versions of this document have already been revised in the light of comments from the INSPIRE Consolidation team, INSPIRE Drafting teams and the registered SDICs and LMOs.

The D3.5 v2.0 was reviewed by the SDICs and LMOs. The comment resolution process included a workshop with their representatives and an open workshop during the INSPIRE 2008 conference. Based on the discussions, the Drafting Team "Network Services" resolved the comments in this version. The table containing the comments and the resolution is also available on the INSPIRE website.

Israel, Cyprus & Jordan: Graywater recycling systems

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

A start-up of less than a year, based in Haifa and supported by the Technion, announced that they are able to save 40% of household water. With a workforce of 4 people, the Water Arc company has developed a technology to treat and redirect the "gray water" from showers, toilets or washing machines. This water is cleaned and distributed to hunt food and water hoses.

On the other hand, Cyprus has initiated a subsidy program for households to install graywater reuse systems for domestic landscaping and toilet flushing. There is also documentation of graywater reuse at certain hotels. Dual plumbing systems have also been introduced to allow the reuse of graywater in toilet flushing (Kambanellas 1999). Cyprus has a rich experience on that technique. A scheme has been put into practice in Cyprus, for subsidizing the recycling of "grey water" for irrigation and/or for operating the WC`s in households or buildings. With this practical measure there is a conservation of drinking water from 35% - 40% of the per capita water consumption. Recycling of grey water started on an experimental basis in 1997 and continued right through 1998. To date the Recycling of grey water has become part of the Integrated Water Demand Management of Cyprus.

In Jordan as well, there is a need to improve the efficiency of water use by customers. Examples of such ‘demand side management' improvements include the use of low-water-use fittings (faucets, showers, toilets etc), improvement of plumbing codes to ensure better quality plumbing, and the reuse of graywater. The Center for the Study of the Built Environment (CSBE) in Jordan has published a report on that.

sba review 53 focuses on desertification

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

sba review is now born! Its design has been reshaped whereas its content has been enriched with a new section that describes a prominent project that we are undertaking: sba focus. In this issue, our thematic dossier deals with the desertification phenomenon while we focus, in our new section, on the MESO analysis of the Moroccan tourism sector. To open the document, kindly click on the link www.sba-int.ch/spec/sba/download/sba review/SBA review 53.pdf

If you would like to view former issues, you can download them from our website www.sba-int.ch/index2.php?rub=1019

Like any phenomenon which modifi es ecosystems, desertifi cation has multiple ecological and social consequences. Generally resulting of both climate change and human activities, land degradation aff ects mainly agricultural productivity and represents a worldwide threat for food security. That’s why many governments and organisations have been struggling for decades to restrain this growing phenomenon that is directly linked to sustainable development. In this monthly dossier, we fi rst state a global situation scheme, describing the mechanisms and eff ects of the desertifi cation, and then we explain the process of the main international convention on this particular subject. Finally, we will introduce an amazing land restoration success story and give diff erent solutions to act against soil degradation.

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

Arab NGOs Unite to Combat Climate Change

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

The Arab world will be one of the most impacted regions by climate change, particularly with water resources growing scarcer and the agricultural sector becoming the victim of more weather extremes. As the international community faces the challenge of developing a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, 15 NGOs from 9 diff erent Arab countries unifi ed their work on this process by forming the ‘Arab Climate Alliance (ACA)'. The objectives of the Alliance are to build the capacity of Arab civil society's institutions on climate science and
policy (specifi cally on the Post-2012 Climate Agreement's negotiations), and to conduct regional activities and communication. The ACA calls on other civil society organizations to join the Alliance. On January 19 and 20 2009, the Arab League will hold in Kuwait an extraordinary summit on economic and developmental issues, where
climate change must be on its agenda. This is a unique opportunity for the Arab governments to prove their seriousness on the issue of climate change and how to combat its impacts.

Coming attraction: New look IWRM ToolBox website 1st October

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

Below are links to some new information resources from various environmental health organizations. The websites listed below and others can be found on the Environmental Health at USAID website at: http://www.ehproject.org/ehkm/eh_links.html

Asian Development Bank

2007 Benchmarking and Data Book of Water Utilities in India - http://www.adb.org/documents/reports/Benchmarking-DataBook/2007-Indian-Water-Utilities-Data-Book.pdf
Information on water utilities in 20 cities joining the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Environmental Health at USAID

Ethiopia - The Population, Health and Environment Nexus: the Need for Integration and Networking, 2008. (pdf, 268KB)
http://www.ehproject.org/PDF/phe/woldu-phe_ethiopia2008.pdf
Malaria Bulletin, Sept 2008 (pdf, 280KB) - Abstracts & citations of 90+ articles.
http://www.ehproject.org/PDF/malaria/malariabulletin-sep08.pdf
Urban Health Bulletin, Jul/Aug 2008 (pdf, 81KB) - Presentations from World Water Week 2008.

http://www.ehproject.org/PDF/ehkm/urban_health-jul_aug08.pdf

Hygiene Centre-London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Hygiene Centre ‘Tools for Schools' Toolkit -

http://www.hygienecentral.org.uk/res_schools.htm

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre -

The Facilitation Toolkit -

http://www.irc.nl/content/download/137692/412831/file/facilitation.pdf

USAID Hygiene Improvement Project

Hand Washing Reduces Mortality Risk in Newborns. HIP Note to the Field. Sept. 2008

http://www.hip.watsan.net/content/download/2431/13765/file/Hand%20Washing%20Reduces%20Newborn%20Mortality%209%2008.pdf

Woreda Resource Book: Community-Led Total Behavior Change in Hygiene and Sanitation. The Amhara Experience in Line with the Health Extension Program. The book outlines 12 key doable and achievable steps, which have been identified and tested on the ground through a learning by doing experience to help people change unsafe behaviors and bring about change in basic hygiene and sanitation. These steps can be customized to fit different circumstances and tailored to community settings with diverse cultures.

http://www.hip.watsan.net/content/download/2464/14005/file/Ethiopia%20Woreda%20Resource%20Book%207.08.pdf

WaterAid

Sanitation and Water - Why we need a global framework for action ( PDF, 174Kb). "This report highlights the weak global response: aid for water and sanitation is declining as a proportion of overall aid and is extremely poorly targeted plus there is a total lack of coordination and accountability at the highest level." Mari Williams, Senior Policy Adviser for Water and Sanitation, Tearfund. http://www.wateraid.org/documents/plugin_documents/sanitation_and_water__why_we_need_a_global_framework_for_action.pdf

Water and Sanitation Program

Performance Improvement Planning: Developing Effective Billing and Collection Practices, 2008.
http://www.wsp.org/UserFiles/file/527200820356_SA_PIP2_May2008.pdf - Improving billing and collection activities has an immediate impact on the revenue streams of a service provider that can, in turn, encourage commercial and operational efficiencies for aiding the expansion and delivery of improved, reliable, and sustainable services. This note draws on national and international cases to explore what it takes to implement an effective billing and collection system.
Performance Improvement Planning: Designing an Effective Leakage Reduction and Management Program, 2008
http://www.wsp.org/UserFiles/file/527200821433_SA_PIP3_May2008.pdf - Reducing nonrevenue water and maintaining it at target levels is important for any service provider looking to improve quality of service, financial soundness, and creditworthiness. In the longer term, the effectiveness of nonrevenue water programs is a function of managerial efficiency and institutional accountability.

WHO - Environmental Health

Health and Environment Managing the Linkages for Sustainable Development - A Tool Kit for Decision Makers [pdf 2.33Mb]

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2008/9789241563727_eng.pdf

WHO - Water Sanitation and Health

UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS).

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/glaas_2008_pilot_report.pdf

Turkish GAMA Energy set to launch huge water project in Jordan

2008-10-02T00:00:00Z

Jordan announced on Sunday that Turkish firm, GAMA Energy will begin work next week on a near-billion-dollar project to supply the capital with water from an ancient southern aquifer.

GAMA Energy will next Sunday launch the $990 million plan to extract 100 million cubic meters (3.5 billion cubic feet) of water a year from the 300,000-year-old Disi aquifer 325 kilometers (200 miles) south of Amman, Water Minister Raed Abu Soud said.

Infrastructure work on the much-delayed project in the desert kingdom is expected to take around four years, the state-run Petra news agency quoted Abu Soud as saying.

This will include using 250,000 tons of steel and digging 55 wells to pump water from Disi to Amman, where per capita daily consumption of its 2.2-million population is 160 liters (42 gallons), he said.

Jordan's overall population of nearly six million is growing by almost 3.5 percent annually, and it is one of the worlds 10 most water-impoverished countries, relying mainly on rainfall to meet its needs.

"A radical solution to Jordan's chronic water problems is the Red-Dead Canal project, expected to provide Jordan with 500 million cubic meters (17.5 billion cubic feet) of water" annually, Abu Soud said.

He was referring to a multi-billion dollar plan to build a massive canal to channel water from the Red Sea to the slowly evaporating Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, and to construct a desalination plant.

The demand for water is constantly rising in Jordan, which has seen an influx of around 750,000 Iraqi refugees since the U.S.-led invasion of its eastern neighbor in 2003.

Current water consumption is some 900 million cubic meters (31.5 billion cubic feet) per annum.

The water ministry says Jordan, where 92 percent of the land is desert, will need 1.6 billion cubic meters (56 billion cubic feet) of water a year to meet its requirements by 2015.

Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation: Video from Clinton Global Initiative Seminar

2008-10-03T00:00:00Z

Last week's Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting included, for the first time ever, a session focused on "Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation". The high-level panel explored sustainable, community-led solutions to the global water and sanitation crisis. In particular, the panel focused on decentralised solutions, such as “point of use” technologies for household use, or community-based “micro-utilities” that can deliver safe drinking water as a service with modest capital expenditures. Programme participants included:

Tralance Addy, President and CEO, WaterHealth International
Jon Lane, Executive Director, Water Supply and Sanitation
Collaborative Council
Maria Mutagamba, Minister of State for Water, Uganda
Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Arghyam Trust
António Guterres, Former Prime Minister, Portuguese Republic, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

To view the hour-long programme, click here.

Global Water Partnership invites you to visit our new look IWRM ToolBox website

2008-10-03T00:00:00Z

The mission of the Global Water Partnership (GWP) is to support countries in the sustainable management and development of their water resources.