SustSan workshop: Introduction to SSWM by Tandiwe Erlmann

Introduction to Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management - SSWM

Introduction to Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management

seecon international gmbh Tandiwe Erlmann

Ljubljana, Slovenia, April 4th 2014


Find this presentation and more on: www.sswm.info.

What is water?

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Where does it comes from?

How do we use it?



The most important natural resource...

Source: BARRETO –DILLON 2007 2008

It forms oceans and...

Water is...

Source: http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/sickwater/



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The amount of water is constant...



Global Water Resources

•  70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water. (PIDWIRNY 2006)

•  3% is freshwater whereas only 0.5% is easily accessible for human use. (INFORESOURCES FOCUS 2006)

à only 0.5% of global water resources are usable

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Source: WBCSD (2009)



Agriculture Industry Household

Sector-wise distribution of water uses Source: WBCSD (2009): Facts and Trends. Water (Version 2). Geneva: WBDSC. URL: http://www.wbcsd.org/ [Accessed 20.04.2010]

And we use it mainly for...



What are nutrients?

Where do they come from?

How do we use them?

Source: L. BARRETO –DILLON



...chemicals that all plants and animals require for growth.

Macronutrients Nitrogen (N)

Phosphorus (P) Potassium (K)

Sulphur (S) Magnesium (Mg)

Calcium (Ca)

Nutrients

Micronutrients Boron (Bo)

Copper (Cu) Iron (Fe)

Chloride (Cl) Manganese (Mn)

Molybdenum (Mo) Zinc (Zn)

Source: R. Gensch

Nutrients are...



Nutrients are continuously in a circular movement...

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We remove the nutrients in agriculture...

In an agricultural ecosystem, minerals and organic matter are exported from the soil by harvesting the products.

Source: unknown



Where do Nutrients come from?

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Nitrogen (N)

Phosphorus (P)

Potassium (K)

Availability?



Mineral Phosphorus Resources Worldwide

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http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/guide/humimpac.html [Accessed:

29.09.2010]

Source: A. Rosemarin et al

Only some few big reserves worldwide!



Peak Phosphorus

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Peak phosphorus ‘Hubbert’ curve Source: CORDELL, D., DRANGERT, J.-O., WHITE, S. (2009)



Nitrogen

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Nitrogen can be extracted from the surrounding air, but very energy-intensive process (1 litre of oil to

produce 1 kg of nitrogen)

Your food doesn't come from here, but it starts here: an ammonia factory.

Source: http://www.grist.org/article/2010-02-11-tracking-u.s.-farmers-supply-nitrogen-

fertilizer/ [Accessed: 27.09.2101]

http://knowledge.allianz.com/en/media/galleries/greenhouse_gas_sources.html [Accessed: 27.09.2010]

Affordability?



So, how do we handle the water and nutrient cycle?

Everything OK?



Land degradation and reduction of the productivity.

TODAY. Source: http://crs-blog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/afg2008018673.jpg

Maybe not… 756 million people without access to clean water.

TODAY. Source: L. Barreto Dillon

90% wastewater in developing countries is discharge w/o any treatment.



1.03 billion people without sanitation.



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What’s Going Wrong?

Sectoral Thinking

Water

Sanitation

Agriculture

Source: Own Graph

Solid Waste

Energy



(1) Sectoral thinking

Providing Water / Toilets à But what about the wastewater?

Source: L. Barreto Dillon Source: L. Barreto Dillon

What is going wrong?

Providing Food à But no recycling of organic wastes

... etc.



(1) Sectoral thinking Energy intensive transport of drinking water in Germany

Stuttgart

Lake Constance

Water transported

over 200 km! (uphill)




*Based on an average for a toilet that uses about 8 L of Water per flush (11).

With conventional waterborne flush-toilets, we mix

roughly 50 kg of faecal matter (per person/year)

roughly 500 l of urine (per person/year)

with roughly 20’000l of clean flushwater*

50 kg

500 L

20’000 L

If this wastewater is discharged untreated into rivers, an even higher amount of water is polluted! http://thomasmayerarchive.de

(2) Path dependencies




(2) Path dependencies Mixing different types of wastewaters…


What happens at the end of the pipe?



(2) Path dependencies High-Tech Wastewater Treatment Plants


Which will need:

•  Long sewer network & pumps to get the wastewater to the plant

•  Electricity for aeration, pumps and other moving parts

•  Skilled (and thus expensive) operation & maintenance staff

•  High cost

•  Recycling difficult due to contamination of heavy metals, etc..

à Who will pay for this?



Source: L. BARRETO –DILLON

(2) Path dependencies Transfer of path dependencies to developing countries


Straight transfer of conventional systems from industrialised to developing countries



(3) Linear approach Many people still act as if we lived on a flat world…


Source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com




Source: PHADKE 2009

(3) Linear approach Many people still act as if we lived on a flat world…



(3) Linear approach Situation today: linear water flows


GROUNDWATER UTILISATION

WATER

DISCHARGE INTO SURFACE WATER

BODIES

à WATER FLOW à

WASTE WATER

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Nutrients excreted are not recycled, but essentially end up in aquatic ecosystems.


NUTRIENT DEPLETION NUTRIENT

ACCUMULATION

à NUTRIENT FLOW à

FOOD WASTE WATER

(3) Linear approach Situation today: linear nutrient flows



NPK + H20

How are the two cycles interlinked?

NPK

NPK = Nutrients

H20 = Water

H20 H20


NPK



After all, the world is round!

Source: http://blogs.glam.de



The world works in cycles!

Source: PHADKE 2009



The Water… …as well as the Nutrient Cycle!

The world works in cycles!

Source: aucklandcity.govt.nz Source: http://www.pikeconservation.org/soil_ecosystem.htm



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LET’S DO IT BETTER!



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Let’s link water, sanitation, agriculture …

… and tackle these issues in a holistic way!

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Let’s recycle nutrients and water!

Source: MORGAN 2007

Source: SHEWA & GELETA 2009



High level policy making is important, but…

Source: http://mattkava.com



… in the meantime let’s start at a level where WE have the power to do something…

…at the local level!



..let’s involve the affected people in the decision making process…

Source: M. KROPAC 2004



...and take into consideration all aspects of a solution: planning, implementation, operation & maintenance!

Source: M. KROPAC 2008



44 Source: http://www.wsp.org

…let’s not only focus on hardware, but also on software!

Source: www.sswm.info

Source: http://www.wsp.org/userfiles/image/november2002.jpg [Accessed: 23.03.2010]



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Let’s have an integrated approach to all the functional components of the water and nutrient loops:

Water Distribution

Purification

Industrial Use

Recharge / Reuse

Collection

Domestic Use

Agricultural Use

Water Sources

Treatment

Water Loop

Nutrient Loop



Let’s take a holistic approach! è Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management

Source: http://www.sswm.info



Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management (SSWM)…

… is a holistic approach.

… links sustainable sanitation with water management and agriculture.

… considers the water and the nutrient cycle together.



Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management (SSWM)…

… starts simple, and locally.

… is not a specific technology, but about all measures that aim at making sanitation and water management more sustainable.

… gives equal importance to hardware and software.

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Thank you for your attention!

water sanitation

agriculture

Enter the title of your presentation here (go to view à master (THIS TITLE YOU NEED TO ENETER ON BOTH MASTERS: TITLE PAGE MASTER AND NORMAL PAGE MASTER and FINAL PAGE MASTER)

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“Linking up Sustainable Sanitation, Water Management & Agriculture”

With the support of:

Created by:



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Group Work A) Understanding your Water and Sanitation System

Water Distribution

Purification

Industrial Use

Recharge / Reuse

Collection

Domestic Use

Agricultural Use

Water Sources

Treatment

Water Loop

Nutrient Loop

Let’s form 4 groups:

Group 1: rural disperse 50 pp

Group 2: rural town with 100 pp

Group 3: peri-urban area with 500 pp

Group 4: urban area with 1000 pp.

Using the material given, prepare a locality map.

Follow the instructions A) of the hand-out.

Time: 40 Minutes

SustSan workshop: Introduction to SSWM by Tandiwe Erlmann

Environment

path dependencies

barreto dillon

developing

linear approach

operation

nutrient cycle

urban area

world works