Water & Wastewater Treatment

24 | APRIL 2015 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Project focus I n the UK it would be easy to think we live in a world in which water is plentiful. We might grumble about the frequent downpours from grey skies, our school geography classes taught us that 70% of the Earth is covered with water, and in our evening news we o•en hear about floods here and abroad. With all this excess H20, it is difficult to imagine that 748 million people do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. But, ironically, it is this surplus that can be detrimental to human water supply systems. In many of the countries where WaterAid works, climate variations o•en cause flooding, with devastating consequences. The poorest communities are those most vulnerable and we work closely with them to deliver sustainable and resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. The most basic wastewater services are highly susceptible to floods: in many areas of developing cities, commonly used systems such as septic tanks, small-bore sewerage and constructed wetlands are easily overloaded when even minimal surface flooding occurs, leading to widespread contamination of water ● WaterAid mounts response to floods in Malawi ● Communities engaged to monitor threats to sanitation services ● Infrastructure planned to secure supply in future flood events sources. Pit toilets, which are still the most common form of sanitation in urban slums and in rural areas of Africa and Asia, quickly overflow in floods. Simple management techniques, such as placing sandbags on top of the pits, only work for a while. The recent floods in Malawi reminded us how catastrophic flooding can be for poor communities. Almost a quarter of a million people Rémi Kaupp, ProgrAMMe officer - ProgrAMMe SuPPort unit, WAterAid ● With flooding becoming more frequent due to climate change, the poorest regions of the world are usually the most vulnerable ● Basic wastewater systems such as septic tanks, small-bore sewerage and constructed wetlands are easily overloaded when surface flooding occurs ● Diseases such as cholera can follow when water supplies are contaminated • Drivers Flood resilience Securing supply during African floods have been displaced, more than 100 died and many more were injured. Boreholes, shallow wells and tap points were flooded and contaminated, and in some districts most of the water pipes were washed away. Communities needed immediate aid in the form of shelter, food and safe water, but disease prevention also became a concern – human waste and dead animals in the floodwaters contaminated drinking water sources. A woman collecting water in Malawi (WaterAid/John Spaull) A flooded street in Mozambique (WaterAid/eva-Lotta Jansson)

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