Health Impacts of Wastewater Health Impacts of Wastewater Reuse: Assessing the Reuse: Assessing the Feasibility of the WHO Feasibility of the WHO

Guidelines in Low-Income Guidelines in Low-Income CommunitiesCommunities

Ann Thomas, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

IRC MUS Meeting, Delft, February 12th, 2007

Overview

What is IDRC?

‘Livelihoods,health and wastewater reuse’

Overview of other IDRC projects in environmental sanitation, productivity, livelihoods.

Partnering with IDRC

What is IDRC ?

A crown corporation created by the Parliament of Canada in 1970

Board appointed by Government of Canada

Mission: “Empowerment Through Knowledge”

Supporting researchers in developing countries in finding practical, long-term solutions to social, economic, and environmental problems

The Program Areas Environment and Natural Resource

Management – ECOHEALTH, Rural Poverty and Environment, Urban Poverty and Environment

Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D)

Innovation, Policy and Science

Social and Economic Policy

Urban Programming at IDRC– Previous themes under ‘Cities Feeding People’ – urban

agriculture, wastewater reuse

– Present themes under UPE: Urban agriculture, water and sanitation, vulnerability to disasters, solid waste management, land tenure

– Global Focus City Program: 8 cities globally, capacity building, decentralization, environmental sanitation prioritized, partnerships between governments, ngos, research institutes, communities

- Other Programming: Combination of analysis/diagnostic, piloting/testing and policy/best-practice influence.

Urban Agriculture, Wastewater Reuse and Livelihoods

• Prioritisation of greywater reuse research (1998) at an IDRC workshop;

• Greywater/wastewater projects in Palestine, Jordan , Lebanon and Dakar;

• Wastewater reuse a key issue in urban agriculture … a strong perceived need for better planning, innovation and integration….

Health vs. social benefits

Health risks Social benefits•Farmers: intestinal parasites (I.e. worms, amoeba,etc)

•Consumers: bacterial and viral infections from consumption of raw vegetables (I.e. cholera)

•Heavy metal accumulation in soils

•Risks vary with gender, class, ethnicity

•Water treatment alone may not be sufficient

• Income generation(produce, ww vending)

•Livelihood/food security support at the hh level

•Employment creation

• Dependence of urban centres on locally grown produce in the absence of refrigerated transport (60% of Dakar’s produce made with ww in or close to the city)

•Appropriate/realistic guidelines needed to adapt and apply international (WHO) guidelines for wastewater treatment and reuse for the benefit of poor stakeholders.

•Non-treatment options may play a significant role in reducing disease risk in such circumstances.

Hyderabad Declarations (2002)

WHO/IDRC/FAO Guiding Principles

• WW is a resource and economic catalyst;

• Multi-stakeholder approaches and dialogue may help guide effective municipal planning and knowledge of UA and wastewater reuse;

• A balance of various approaches and interventions needed;

•Increased research capacity is key to effective risk reduction.

Four Cases in MEWA

•Selected via competitive call of shortlisted institutions in MEWA;

•Kumasi, Tamale, Jordan, Dakar selected;

•Complementarity: Analysis of risk chains and various stakeholder approaches: farmers, farm workers, neighbours, consumers, vendors;

•Focus on non-treatment but also includes basic/low-cost treatment where feasible.

Research Questions

• Locally feasible exposure control strategies?

•Best methods for increasing awareness of health hazards for farmers, workers, consumers?

• Cost-effectiveness?

• Enabling environment for reduced risk?

• Capacity building needs for all stakeholders in order to successfully reduce exposure?

Challenges

-Balancing health and economic gains.

-How to improve (through incentives?) adoption of best practise by various stakeholders?

- Increasing awareness amongst decision-makers of the importance of wastewater reuse to productivity and food security.

- Leveraging the link between productivity and environmental sanitation to incentivize improved, integrated services.

•Jakarta: Examining economic incentives for improved water, sanitation, and solid waste services: linking enhanced services to productivity and livelihoods;

• Dakar: Strengthening/formalizing scavenger organizations;

• Gianyar,Bali: Linking the benefits of carbon emissions reductions at landfill to poor (neighbouring) communities;

Other project examples: environmental sanitation and

livelihoods

Partnering with IDRC Development research grant-

making is the core of our activities;

• Upcoming calls on Productive Strategies, Compensation for Environmental Services, Migration and Remittances;

• Rural-urban linkages: Globally;

• Climate change in Africa.

Contact us

Ann ThomasInternational Development Research

Centre (IDRC)

250 Albert Street, Ottawa Ontario

email: athomas@idrc.ca

Web: http://www.idrc.ca/