Water and Sanitation 101

Hi everyone. Welcome to my first post on water and sanitation in Africa. Of course, I am no expert on these matters but join me on my blogging journey ðŸ˜€

Why the theme?

Now, I’ll admit that I chose the theme of water and sanitation before I even experienced one lecture. That being said, I was immediately drawn to this specific thematic area due to my personal experience of different water and sanitation conditions to that of the UK. Although, not specific to Africa, India presents its own challenges within this area which made me want to explore the theme further. Growing up, my childhood holidays would be spent across different Indian states; Karnataka, Andra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra to name a few. Staying in villages meant that water would be fetched from a shallow groundwater well with a bucket and rope as well as boiling water in the kettle for drinking, cooking and bathing. Experiencing the vastly different water supply systems, makes me appreciate access to safe, treated water supply I have at home in London. 

What is Sanitation?

So how do we determine water and sanitation issues in Africa? Perhaps, the first obstacle to cross, is defining sanitation. Thereafter, we can remove the common generalisation of Africa and think of 54 distinct, diverse countries which have varying geographies, cultures and most importantly their own water and sanitation issues as Wainaina’s (2019) satirical article reminds us!

According to The World Health Organisation (WHO) sanitation is defined as ‘access to and use of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and faeces’ (WHO, 2018). The lack of access to safe, clean water and basic sanitation represents a ‘silent crisis’ (Barry et al. 2008). Issues of collecting water, disease, dangerous contaminants such as arsenic warrants the urgent need to reengage in conversation about water and sanitation (Pare and Bonzi-Coulibaly, 2013). However, it is equally vital to consider the unconventional ways of thinking about water and sanitation. Sanitation varies across all social lines which general definitions often ignore. For example, the nexus between gender and sanitation is important in the context of exploring cultural and social factors creating inadequate sanitary conditions for women and girls which will have a dedicated post (Wendland et al. 2018).  

Why Africa?

Despite, worldwide recognition of the UN’s SDG6, there is still strong dependence on inadequate, unsafe and so called ‘improved’ water sources for water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) across Africa (Dinka, 2017). Figure 1 clearly shows the shocking share of deaths attributed to unsafe water sources, with the highest concentration clustered across African countries. Scholar Nayebare et al (2020) explores the issues of so-called improved water sources and the devasting impacts that gross faecal contamination presents to citizens. The study brings important questions to the forefront, zooming in on the inadequacy and dishonesty of current monitoring and maintenance of facilities which will be explored in the next post.



Figure 1: Share of deaths attributed to unsafe water sources, 2019

What to expect?

The purpose of this blog is to explore the different WASH issues, with special focus on faecal contamination and toilets as a sanitation infrastructure.  As we journey on, I aim to respond to ongoing discussions, highlight case studies spanning topics of top-down vs bottom-up schemes, ecological sanitation and gender. 


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