Veolia Water Technologies by GineersNow Engineering Magazine GineersNow Engineering Magazine September 2016 | Page 55

social enterprises since the infrastructure will be complete. INTRODUCTION GN: How does your company define clean water and wastewater? Allen: Clean water = safe to drink. Drinking water standards for each of our nine countries and liters/per capita/per day for basic water service are all different. Wastewater = There is no standard definition. We are working in rural areas with on-site sanitation and collection of fecal sludge from latrines and septic tanks. No sewer system, therefore, no wastewater! GN: How do people gain access to clean water? Allen: Household connections and community water points. We have an extensive monitoring and evaluation program for our district-level work. We track over 40 indicators that measure progress in 4 categories: Level of service for water, the level of sustainability for the service provider (utility or service authority), household data for sanitation, and public institution (clinics and schools) level of service. We also have asset registers and an exit strategy for both water and sanitation – when the districts can maintain reliable and quality level of sustainable service and aid independence then Water For People can exit. GN: Do we have limited access to clean, drinkable water? Are we running out of it? Allen: Not running out – there is enough water in the world. It needs to be allocated adequately to people/agriculture/industry, with proper stewardship, to meet the basic needs of all and treated to be safe. In our districts, we often have to develop secondary sources as we have lost water supply due to climate change. THE MACRO LEVEL OF THE WORLD’S WATER TECHNOLOGY GN: Where are we today? What is the current situation of clean water and wastewater? Allen: 1.8 billion people globally do not have access to safe water and 2.4 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation. This is a global crisis! Each day, women and children spend 200 million hours collecting water for their families –equivalent to 20% of the US workforce dedicated to continuously collecting water! Additionally, 840,000 people die each year from diarrhea from contaminated water. Solving the global water and sanitation crisis would be a dramatic positive change on health, quality of life, and the economy. There is a 5:1 benefit to cost ratio. It will cost $50B per year through 2030 to meet SDG6 (United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #6) which is water and sanitation for all. The return on this investment is incredible - $250B per year! Without a doubt, the investment is worth it! governments, and communities to create systems and services that last. It isn't just about digging wells, building water systems, and installing toilets. We focus our Everyone Forever model on the long-term change and societal progress in developing (no longer third world) countries. We deliver measurable impact as we help build water and sanitation infrastructure as well as local institutions and service authorities (utilities). They operate and maintain the systems for generations to come, supported by local entrepreneurs and market forces. We have reached the tipping point in several of our districts, and we are now replicating and scaling our model. GN: What are the future innovations that you or your company is pursuing? Allen: We are working on innovations to scale and replicate faster. We are pleased that others are replicating Everyone Forever, for example, in places like Bolivia. GN: What impact have you delivered (social, economic and environmental)? Do you have metrics or statistics of your accomplishments? Allen: We are implementing our 2013 strategy to provide sustainable services to 4 million people. Currently, we have reached over 600,000 and will reach 4 million by 2022. In 2017 a second program will begin for 3 million more people. Our monitoring and evaluation program (called EF Tracker) is world-class. Also, we have developed numerous water and sanitation offices staffed with GN: What are the latest water technologies today? Allen: There are new ones every day. We have the technologies we need. To successfully implement technology we need national leadership to prioritize water and sanitation, governance, regulation, supply chain development, and investment in infrastructure and institution building (without corruption). GN: Where is water tech heading 20 years from now? Are we on the right track? Are we delayed? Are we progressing? Allen: Technologies to make processes more efficient, conserve water and improve water quality are all under continuous development, and we are on track. THE MICRO LEVEL OF THE WORLD’S WATER TECHNOLOGY GN: What are the initiatives/ projects that you are doing (or have done) that will provide clean water to third world countries? Allen: Our innovative approach to development brings together local entrepreneurs, technology, SEPTEMBER 2016 Clean Water Technologies 55