Administration, Operations & Research

While we hope you might find the links below of interest, please note the World Bank is not responsible for the content of the following websites.

Organizations and Knowledge Sources 

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is a leading international organization that enhances collaboration in the water supply and sanitation sector, specifically in order to attain universal coverage of water and sanitation services for poor people around the world. WSSCC is a cross between a professional association and an international NGO. It operates with a mandate from the United Nations General Assembly Water supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. This website provides access to Publications and Reports from Forums.

The Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) is a leading institution concerned with education, training, research, and consultancy relating to the planning, provision, and management of infrastructure for development. WEDC is devoted to activities that improve the health and well-being of people living in both rural areas and urban communities and encourages the integration of technological, environmental, social, economic, and management inputs for effective and sustainable development. Through a search database it offers links to papers presented at various conferences dealing with water and sanitation issues internationally, although mainly focusing in Asia and Africa (tip: for search use word i.e 'wastewater', 'sanitation'). This website has related documents to the urban solid waste pilar (tip: search 'solid waste') and provides summaries of ongoing projects led by the organization.

The International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) is a German foundation that facilitates the sharing, promotion and use of knowledge for governments, professionals and partner organizations to better support unprivileged populations in developing countries and contribute to their institutional capacity in order to have access to water and sanitation services. IRC provides a database to search for reports, papers and relevant documents (tip: search for 'urban' and 'wastewater', 'sanitation').

The Pan American Center for Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences (CEPIS) is the specialized center for environmental technology of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO). CEPIS is devoted to technical cooperation in basic environmental sanitation. Its work focuses on strengthening national capabilities with methodologies and technologies related to environmental health risk management, with emphasis on information management, sanitary regulation strengthening, and management of direct interventions. Information presented is both in English and Spanish.

The Australian-based Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) is a research laboratory for advanced studies of environmental systems and the management of water and land in Australia. This research institution has established a jointly-funded National Urban Water Re-use Research Program to provide underpinning support for innovation in: re-use of stormwater, re-use of effluents, policies and regulations and integrated planning and water management. Information about conferences, technical reports, economics and policy papers, other links and general information on the topic can be found on the site.

The Resource Centre Network for Water, Sanitation and Environmental Health (WELL) at London and Loughborough, is a resource centre network providing services and resources in water, sanitation and environmental health for the Department for International Development (DFID) of the British government and partner agencies. The WELL website is a focal point of information about water and environmental health and related issues in developing and transitional countries. The website provides access to a series of publications including fact sheets, case studies, technical briefs and manuals. It also provides access to further resources.

The Electronic Development and Environment Information System (ELDIS) is a gateway to Development Information and presents the following link to a collection of online documents that covers a wide range of development issues across sectors, including water, wastewater and sanitation. (tip: the search can be done by geographical region or by keywords i.e. 'urban wastewater').

Publications & Reports (Reports, Guides, Papers)

"Tools for assessing the Operations and Maintenance status of water supply and sanitation in developing countries" prepared by Andre Cotton. Published by the World Health Organization (2000).

This document proposes a framework for management and tools for assessing the status of operation and maintenance (O&M) through measurement and evaluation of performance. It describes nine tools targeted at international development agencies staff who need to optimize investments in water and sanitation by focusing in strategies to improve operation and maintenance management issues.

"Guidelines on Municipal Wastewater Management" (pdf file) commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (2004).

This is a practical guide for decision makers and professionals to plan and design appropriate, economic and environmentally sound municipal discharge systems. The guidelines focus on four elements: approaches and policies, institutional arrangements, technological choices and financing options. In particular, the document addresses the interface between land-based activities and marine pollution as sewage is discharged directly into open water threatening coastal sustainable development.

The International Water Association Publishing on Water Science & Technology offers abstracts of papers dealing with wastewater modeling approaches, design of recycling and treatment plants, integrated design of sewers, wastewater treatment techniques among others. Papers are presented in pdf format and require a membership or can be bought otherwise.