• Access, quality and effectiveness of water and sanitation service delivery
• Responsible management of water as a natural resource
• Unsustainable use of water
• Water pollution and contamination
• Inadequate delivery mechanisms and infrastructure
• Inefficient  institutional and governance structures
• Financial resource constraints
• Socio-economic and cultural barriers to water access

For further information about Solution Exchange for the Water Community contact:

Resource Person & Moderator
Environment Communities
United Nations, New Delhi
Tel: 91-11-46532333; Fax: 91-11-24627612
Email: se-wes@solutionexchange-un.net.in

Go to http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/
and click on the Environment- Water link

Read Consolidated Replies of queries discussed on the Water Community by clicking on the topic links below. Please note that these documents are covered by a Creative Commons license.

CURRENT QUERY: Research on Sustainable Sanitation. Examples, Advice. (January-February 2010)

Related Material: http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/environment/cr/res-25011001.pdf
Source: Soultion Exchange - Water Community

1. Cost-Effective and Financially Sustainable Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Services, from Tushaar Shah, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Gujarat (Experiences). Issued 16 June 2005

Provides examples and experiences in context of cost-effective approaches for urban water supply and sanitation services

2. Considerations for Sharing of Catchment Pond Water Resources, from Alka Awasthi, Jal Bhagirathi Foundation, Rajasthan (Advice). Issued 28 June 2005

Offers techno-socio-economic considerations for a village to resolve water security concerns and issues of common property resources.

3. Urban Water Supply from Water Impounding and Aquifer Recharging, from Rahul Banerjee, Aarohi Trust, Madhya Pradesh (Experiences). Issued 19 July 2005

Explores relevant potential experiences in the context of water impounding and aquifer recharging systems

4. International Funding Agencies Supporting NGOs in Water Conservation, from Avani Mohan Singh, Hartika, Uttar Pradesh (Advice). Issued 29 July 2005

Identifies funding agencies providing financing opportunities for NGOs involved in water conservation activities

5. Solid Waste Management in Urban Settings, from Nidhi Prabha Tewari, Sanket Information & Research Agency, New Delhi (Advice). Issued 16 August 2005

Highlights successes and failures of recycling and revenue generation potential of solid wastes through case studies

6. Options for Providing Quality Drinking Water, from S. Mehta, Devarao Shivaram Trust, Bangalore (Experiences). Issued 25 August 2005

Explores simple, inexpensive and sustainable solutions that can be used to provide good quality, chemically free and safe drinking water

7. Arsenic Levels and Drinking Water Quality, from Nupur Bose, A.N. College, Patna (Advice).  Issued 8 September 2005

Discusses arsenic contamination and the levels of arsenic contamination that are considered permissible

8. Improving Access to Irrigation by Small Farmers, from Sanjeev Kumar, Krishi Bharati, Lucknow (Experiences). Cross-posted with Food & Nutrition Security Community. Issued 23 September 2005

Explores affordable and operationally feasible irrigation methods for small farmers, and addresses issues of access and food security

9. Low Cost and Ecologically Sound Sanitation Practices, from Dinesh Kumar, IWMI, Anand (Experiences). Issued 3 October 2005

Identifies low-cost, ecologically sound sanitation practices for urban and rural areas, and experiences in adopting these methods

10. Desalination Techniques, from S.N. Srinivas, TERI, Bangalore (Experiences). Issued 26 October 2005

Provides information and experiences on desalination techniques using solar stills to produce potable water from brackish water 

11. Community Participation in Ground Water Management, from A. J. James, Pragmatix, Gurgaon (Experiences). Issued 8 November 2005

Identifies documented cases of local community-level water management practices in the context of ground water management

12. Exclusion in Drinking Water Supply Networks, from Jyotsna Bapat, Independent Consultant, New Delhi (Experiences). Issued 18 November 2005

Highlights various aspects of social exclusion in drinking water supply networks based on (context-specific) experiences

13. Social Audit for Traditional Wetlands, from Arnab Bhattacharjee, Odisha Prakrutika Jalasampad Surakhya Abhijan, Orissa (Experiences; Examples). Issued 15 December 2005

Provides information on social audit methods to assess impact of development initiatives for traditional wetlands focusing on equity 

14. Water Management Conflicts between Communities and External Actors, from Prema Gera, UNDP, New Delhi (Experiences). Cross-posted with UNDP Energy and Environment Network.  Issued 18 December 2005

Showcases the management of water conflicts (rural-urban, inter-sectoral, policy triggered) between communities & external actors

15. Sanitation Schemes and Biogas Digesters, from B. K. Sharma, Gwalior Children’s Hospital, Madhya Pradesh (Advice; Experiences). Issued 28 December 2005

Provides experiences on community-based sanitation schemes using biogas digesters, and information on relevant technologies.

16. Bio Technology Enzymes Process for Waste Water Treatment, from B. Hariharasubramanian, TWAD Board, Chennai (Experiences). Issued 10 January 2006

Provides experience in adopting bio-technology enzymes process for waste water treatment

17. Integrated Watershed Approaches, from Ramachandrudu Mocherla, WASSAN, Hyderabad (Experiences). Issued 15 January 2006

Provides information and experiences of watershed projects, attempting to address or develop a large area, in an integrated manner

18. State of Environment Report and District Planning, Lokendra Thakkar and Lalit Bhandari, from Environmental Planning and Coordination Organization (EPCO) and Environmental Resource Management India Prvt. Ltd. (ERM), Bhopal (Examples). Cross posted with Decentralization Community. Issued 10 February 2006

Provides a range of models used in the preparation of State of Environment (SoE) reports in district planning process, and offers selection criteria and plan information needs.

19. Watershed Development: Alternative Financing Mechanisms, from Nandkishor Agrawal, German Development Bank, New Delhi (Experiences). Issued 22 February 2006

Provides experiences and lessons learned on alternative finance mechanisms for watershed development and examines the potential for scaling-up successful models.

20. Treatment of Wastewater for Reuse, from K. A. S. Mani, APFAMGS, Hyderabad (Experiences). Issued 14 March 2006

Explores range of approaches in wastewater treatment covering small household level treatment devices, middle range technologies and large intensive solutions

21. Corporate Social Responsibility in Water Resource Management, from Divya Sehgal, Independent Consultant, New Delhi (Experiences). Issued 23 March 2006

Provides examples of corporate and industry involvement in the water sector and their subsequent impact on the livelihoods of communities living within

22. Financing Urban Water and Sanitation Projects that include the Poor, from Chetan Vaidya, USAID-India, New Delhi (Experiences). Issued 30 March 2006

Provides examples of commercially viable urban infrastructure investment projects, for extending access to drinking water and sanitation services for poor people living in cities

23. Popularizing Treatment Technologies for Kitchen Wastes, from Gopal Sane, Samruddhi, New Delhi (Experiences). Issued 13 April 2006

Provides range of experiences and lessons learned by trying to promote adoption of ecologically friendly technologies and related innovations in communities

24. Corruption and WSS Service Delivery, from V. Kurian Baby, SEUF, Thrissur (Experiences). Issued 20 April 2006

Explores series of monitoring mechanisms that maybe employed in project design & development to minimize inefficiencies and enable generation of positive incentives

25. Bio-Medical Waste Management in Rural PHCs, from Venkatesh Harvoo, Exide India, Bangalore (Experiences). Cross-posted with Maternal & Child Health Community. Issued 5 May 2006.

Describes the government regulations, standard guidelines as well as practical experiences on the management of Biomedical Waste in a rural health centre

26. State and Non-State Actors in WSS Service Delivery, from Padmaja Nair, Independent Consultant, Lucknow (Experiences). Issued 13 May 2006

Discusses forms and nature of organizational relationships or partnerships, formal or informal arrangement and factors that promote such collaboration

27. Improving Irrigation Efficiency for Crops Using Groundwater, from K. A. S. Mani, APFAMGS, Hyderabad (Experiences) (Revised). Cross-posted with Food & Nutrition Security Community. Issued 8 June 2006

Examines the usefulness of concepts such as water use efficiency, discusses available technologies and recommends policy measures to improve irrigation.

28. Public Private Partnership in Delivery of Urban Services, from A. N. P. Sinha, Planning Commission, New Delhi (Examples; Experiences). Cross-posted with Decentralization Community. Issued 8 June 2006.

Addresses various aspects of service delivery in urban areas, highlighting PPP models and the underlying features of these partnership arrangements.

29. Low-Cost Technology for Treating Sullage in Special Soils, from Vijaya Saradhi Atluri, Byrraju Foundation, Hyderabad (Advice). Issued 27 June 2006.

Provides technological options to treat sullage for rural communities and specifically for black cotton soil, highlights contextual specifications when selecting an appropriate sullage treatment design

30. The Issue of Convergence in WES Programmes, from Bhawna Vajpai, Water and Sanitation Consultant, New Delhi (Experiences). Issued 28 June 2006

Identifies major barriers to convergence, emphasizes role of communities and their institutions in operationalizing it at grassroots, and provides experiences and suggestions to ensure better convergence

31. Reward Mechanisms Promoting Successful Urban WES Projects, from Sharadbala Joshi, WEDC, UK (Experiences). Issued 5 July 2006

Discuses reward mechanisms in urban areas which help promotion and dissemination of good experiences, deliberates on the social acceptability of awards in this context.

32. Comparative Analysis of Biogas Digester Models, from Sheldon Mendonca, WOTR, Ahmednagar (Examples; Experiences). Issued 18 July 2006

Provides experiences in working with different biogas models, criteria for evaluating models and dos and don’ts while implementing biogas programs

33. UN interventions in the WES Sector, from Preeti Soni, UNDP, New Delhi (Advice). Issued 24 July 2006

Compiles advice from the community on strategic appropriateness of key focus areas of the proposed programmes in water resource management and environmental sanitation pertaining to the UNDAF

34. Gender Equity in Participatory Irrigation Management, from M. S. Prakash, DHV-MDP, New Delhi (Experiences). Cross-posted with Gender Community. Issued 28 July 2006

Deliberates on legal, political, socio-cultural and capacity building constraints, preventing women from being members of Water Users’ Associations (WUAs), exercising voting rights and contesting elections

35. Roof Water Harvesting In Urban Areas for Groundwater Recharge, from Mihir Maitra, ICEF, New Delhi (Experiences). Issued 22 August 2006

Discusses the challenges, and available mechanisms/systems through various experiences of RRWH

36. Improving Water and Sanitation Governance by PRIs, from V. Kurian Baby, SEUF, Kerala (Experiences). Cross-posted with Decentralization Community. Issued 8 September 2006

Presents examples of Panchayat-based watsan schemes, factors preventing PRIs’ effective watsan governance, and identifies capacity-building areas for PRIs

37. Relevance of Public Interest Litigations for Conflict Resolution in Water Sector, from Arati Davis, Svaraj, Bangalore (Experiences). Issued 14 September 2006

Provides examples of PILs which have resulted in tangible benefits; experiences on the use of PIL for resolving water related conflicts and key learnings that have emerged

38. Sanitation Programme for Anganwadi Centres, Meeta Jaruhar, from Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Jharkhand (Experiences). Issued 21 September 2006

Provides inputs for designing child friendly toilets for Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), experiences in evolving toilet designs, plan parameters and some designs developed in other parts of the country.

39. Community-Based Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance, from Ross Nickson, UNICEF, Kolkata (Experiences). Issued 12 October 2006

Presents examples and learnings from Water Quality Monitoring (WQM) initiatives from across the country on whether community based WQM improves drinking water quality via community action

40. Water Budgeting by Communities, from Ravi Niwash, UNV, Jharkhand (Experiences). Issued 7 November 2006

Presents the process that could prepare communities to take up water budgeting for better management of water resources, covering issues, suggestions and experiences

41. Details of Biofuel Operations, from Ravi Prasad Garimella, Balaji Industrial and Agricultural Castings, Hyderabad (Experiences). Cross posted with Food & Nutrition Security Community. Issued 16 November 2006

Discusses alternate energy options through large-scale bio fuel production in India, covering biofuel sources, jatropha and other alternatives, bio fuel programmes, policies and economic instruments

42. Removing Fluoride Contamination, from Kanishk Negi, SPWD, Udaipur (Experiences). Issued 13 December 2006

Discusses treatment techniques for fluoride contaminated water, cites experiences in resolving the fluoride contamination issue in other parts of India.

43. Regenerating Traditional Irrigation Systems, from Sarbeswara Sahoo, Kalpataru, Orissa (Experiences). Issued 22 December 2006

Analyses the nuances involved in the relevance and regeneration of traditional irrigation systems, and the strengths and weaknesses of traditional irrigation systems vis-à-vis modern irrigation systems

44. Watermill Based Energy for Enterprise Development, from B. M. Kandpal, SIMAR, Uttaranchal (Experiences). Issued 30 December 2006

Provides experiences in upgrading watermills for power generation and setting up village enterprises, suggests enterprises to be taken up and possible funding sources for such projects

E-CONSULTATION CONSOLIDATED REPLIES

45. Rajasthan Draft Water Policy, from Prema Gera, UNDP, New Delhi. Issued 31 August 2006

Provides comments on Draft Water Policy, identifies gaps, reflects on problems, and represents views and aspirations of all water users drawing from members’ experiences