WASTEWATER AND URBAN LIFE

Global populations are growing rapidly, particularly so in urban areas where the rate of urbanization far outstrips planning and wastewater infrastructure development. Existing wastewater infrastructure of most cities is decaying or no longer appropriate and in slum areas there is no planning and few facilities. Management of wastewater in the urban context must be adapted according, not only to the size, but also to the economic develop- ment and governance capacity of the urban area. By working together, and cooperating across municipalities the challenges of addressing wastewater management can be met and potential benefits realized.

Urban areas are both consumers and producers of large amounts of wastewater. Providing good quality water and sanitation ser- vices to densely populated areas involves significant planning and infrastructure. Over the next 25 years the annual growth rate

Access to sanitation facilities Access to sanitation facilities

West Asia West Asia

North Africa

Type of sanitation facility Shared

Shared Improved

Type of sanitation facility Improved

Unimproved Open

in urban areas is predicted to be twice as high as that projected for the total population (1.8 per cent versus almost 1 per cent). As soon as 2030, 4.9 billion people, roughly 60 per cent of the world’s population, will be urban dwellers (UNDESA 2006).

Commonwealth of Independent States

Commonwealth of Independent States

East Asia East Asia

North Africa

Unimproved

defecation Open

Latin America and Caribbean

defecation

0500 1 000 1 500 Million people

0500 1 000 1 500 Million people

Improved: facilities that ensure hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact. Includes connection to a piped sewer system, septic tank, or pit latrines.

Figure 6: Access to improved sanitation remains a pressing issue in many regions. 24

Improved: facilities that ensure hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact. Includes connection to a piped sewer system, septic tank, or pit latrines.

Shared: sanitation facilities of an otherwise acceptable type shared between two or more households.

Shared: sanitation facilities of an otherwise acceptable type shared between two or more households.

Atlantic Ocean

Latin America and Caribbean

Atlantic Ocean

Saharan Africa

Saharan Africa

Unimproved: facilities that do not ensure hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact

Sub- Sub-

South Asia South Asia

Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

Eastern Asia South

South O aOcean

Pacific Ocean

Oceania Oceania

Source: JMP, Progress in drinking water and sanitation, 2008. Source: JMP, Progress in drinking water and sanitation, 2008.

Unimproved: facilities that do not ensure hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact

Open defecation: in fields, forests, bushes, bodies of water or other open spaces, or disposal of human faeces with solid waste.

Open defecation: in fields, forests, bushes, bodies of water or other open spaces, or disposal of human faeces with solid waste.

O aOcean a ic

Pacific Ocean

a ic Eastern Asia