An Integrated Perspective for Urban Water Management 43
UNESCO-IHP and the Institute of Water Education have both devoted programs committed to carrying out research, education, and capacity-building activities in the area of urban water management. UNESCO-IHP’s Urban Water Management Program has published academic work on topics relevant to sustainable urban water management (for example, model simulation for urban groundwater management, and urban water management in arid and semiarid areas) as well as providing capacity-building support on key urban water issues. The UNESCO Institute of Water Education in Delft has a specific research theme focusing on developing research and solutions based on several key concepts of urban water management. Many graduates from this program work for large water utilities, regulators, or other public authorities throughout Africa.
The Urban Water Cycle Is One System It is important to understand and articulate the relationship between the various components of the urban water system (water supply, wastewater, and stormwater) and to manage them as a single system. System components have a number of positive and negative interactions. • Negative interactions include the impact of poor sanitation on the water quality of potential water sources, both surface and ground (Lee and Schwab, 2005; Tucci et al., 2009); and cross-contamination that takes place between leaky sewers, foul water bodies, and drinking-water supply pipes, which is particularly a problem with intermittent supply (Vairavamoorthy et al., 2007). • Positive interactions include opportunities for considering a portfolio of water sources, reuse, recycling, and cascading use of water (GWP, 2010; Mitchell, 2004). Analysis at different scales exposes different opportunities. Analysis at the household scale exposes opportunities for rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling (Batchelor et al., 2011); analysis at the neighborhood scale exposes opportunities for local surface water/groundwater use and wastewater recycling using natural systems (Bieker et al., 2010); and analysis at the city scale exposes interactions with road infrastructure and settlement structures and receiving water resources.