Is safe and sustainable water and sanitation for all an unaffordable
pipedream? This book surveys the worldwide development of water and
sewage services and the challenges in meeting Sustainable Development
Goal 6 (SDG6) along with climate change, population growth and
urbanisation. It explores the reasons why current SDG6 progress is
failing, including weak policy implementation, staff shortages and
inadequate funding, as well as the limited impact of aid funding. The
author contends that despite a series of innovations, debt finance
remains too small to address needs of developing economies. Therefore,
instead of advocating new funding, this book proposes addressing the
funding gap through technological innovation and more efficient
management and procurement through a series of examples that have
challenged traditional assumptions.
After four decades of good intentions, SDG6 is making a difference in
monitoring shortfalls for the first time, allowing for more effective
responses. This book outlines the role of innovation in hardware
development, procurement and installation, and discusses how network
management and operations can most effectively address funding gaps. The
potential for savings is considerable, if effectively replicated. New
approaches are driving forward affordable resilience, including
nature-based solutions such as upstream habitat enhancement to retain
water and improve downstream water quality; the circular economy,
including water, nutrient, energy and heat recovery from wastewater; and
demand management. This book will be of great value to scholars, policy
makers and practitioners interested in the global finance of sustainable
water and sanitation.
