From theory to practice – exploring sustainable solutions in WASH

Imagine a world where 2 billion people live without safe, reliable drinking water at their home, and 4.5 billion people live without safe sanitation. That's the world we live in right now.

Imagine a world where passionate, smart, creative people are working to address this challenge. People in governments, people in civil society, the private sector, community advocates and also researchers (like me). That's also the world we live in right now.

Now cast your mind forward to time when these numbers look a whole lot better. Millions - or billions - more have safe water and toilets. And I ask you to consider, in this future, what does the natural environment look like?

In one possible scenario, cities drink, but groundwater is depleted. We deal with the pathogens  contained in faecal waste, but we also dispose of its valuable (and scarce) nutrients. Nutrients which are essential for food production.

In another scenario, we seek win-wins. We manage our water to ensure everyone, everywhere has safe water to drink, without compromising the resource on which this depends. We treat our waste to be safe, and also support food security.

The decisions we make now, and in coming years, will determine which future we create. And I'm hoping you agree with me that the second is the one we want.

My research is about this future. It's about how we can realise people's human rights to water and sanitation in a way that strengthens, rather than threatens, our environmental integrity. 

I'm inspired by a framework that's about achieving social foundations while not transgressing ecological limits - go search for 'planetary boundaries and donut economics' if you want to know more.

What this framework makes clear is that we have to do things differently. Historically we have exceeded our planetary limits and  failed to meet basic needs.

So I’m exploring - through three transdisciplinary studies - how the water and sanitation sector can shape a better future.

First, I analysed literature and identified four future priorities, including strengthening the links between household water supply and water resource management sectors, and scaling-up reuse.

Second, I addressed a gap in global monitoring frameworks, establishing that 80% of  people in Asia-Pacific countries rely on groundwater as a source of drinking water. Using systems thinking tools, I considered how water and sanitation professionals can better engage in sustainable groundwater resource management.

Third, I investigated an innovative resource-oriented sanitation system in Sri Lanka to find out what it costs to achieve the kind of circular system we saw in the image of our preferred future…and what it takes from a governance perspective to make these kinds of systems the norm.

Weaving these studies together, I hope that my research provides signposts for those of us passionate about people having safe water and sanitation, and a sustainable environment.

If we make good choices now, I think we can achieve both.