Sustaining groundwater safety in peri-urban areas

最近一项关于发展中国家居民卫生和供水的研究发现，超过20亿人生活在坑式厕所普遍存在的地方，并将地下水作为其主要饮用水来源。为什么这很重要？坑式厕所将粪便排入地下，病原体和化学品从坑中扩散出来，可能污染饮用水。在这种情况下，疾病会迅速传播，儿童死亡可能很常见。撒哈拉以南非洲的许多城市正在迅速发展，自来水和污水处理系统难以跟上这种增长的步伐。因此，在较贫穷的社区，许多家庭不得不临时凑合以满足其卫生和供水需求：他们依靠坑式厕所和浅威尔斯井，这可能使他们接触到受污染的地下水。该试点项目旨在评估肯尼亚基苏穆的穷人现在和将来受不安全地下水影响的程度。基苏穆是肯尼亚第三大城市，人口增长迅速。大部分的人口增长是在城市郊区周围的城郊贫民窟地区。与其他贫民区一样，坑式厕所是主要的卫生形式，手挖威尔斯是重要的水源。最近，肯尼亚政府公布了一个发展规划框架，称为“肯尼亚2030年远景”。愿景文件中的一些关键发展目标是：在贫民窟安装有形和社会基础设施;恢复和扩大城市供水和卫生设施;以及固体废物管理。我们正在使用愿景文件作为这个项目的参考点。它将为预测《2030年远景规划》所推动的不同发展战略的成果提供时间框架。项目的初始阶段将包括联网活动、有限的地下水质量测试以及初步可行性研究，探讨未来不同的人口和土地使用情况及其对地下水质量的影响。水质数据将与社会经济信息相结合，用于评估穷人与富人相比，在多大程度上受到污染的地下水的影响。研究结果将有助于设计一个后续项目，以评估城市地下水质量未来可能发生的变化。该项目还将评价今后管理城市地下水的不同战略，以造福于主要依赖地下水资源的城市周边贫困社区，向生活在贫民窟地区的最弱势群体提供安全用水和卫生设施的挑战是巨大的。如果要实现这些社区人民健康和福祉的重大和可持续收益，就必须优先考虑最有效的干预措施。本项目将研究不同的未来情景对一系列发展方案的影响。它将为水和卫生部门的关键机构提供宝贵的援助，帮助它们努力改善全世界贫民窟居民的生活。

A recent study of sanitation and water provision for people living in developing countries found that over two billion people live in places where pit latrines are prevalent and use groundwater as their main source of drinking water. Why is this important? Pit latrines dispose of faeces into the ground, where the diffusion of pathogens and chemicals out of the pit can contaminate the water that is used for drinking. Under these conditions disease can spread quickly and death in childhood can be common. Many cities in sub-Saharan Africa are growing rapidly and piped water and sewerage systems struggle to keep pace with this growth. Consequently, in poorer neighbourhoods, many households are forced to improvise to meet their sanitation and water supply needs: they rely on a mix of pit latrines and shallow wells, potentially exposing them to contaminated groundwater. This pilot project aims to assess how far the poor in Kisumu, Kenya, are exposed to unsafe groundwater, both now and in the future. Kisumu is the third largest city in Kenya and its population is increasing rapidly. Most of the population growth is in the peri-urban slum districts around the outskirts of the city. In common with other slum areas pit latrines are the dominant form of sanitation and hand-dug wells are a vital source of water. Recently, the Government of Kenya published a development planning framework called Kenya Vision 2030. Some of the key development objectives within the Vision document are: installation of physical and social infrastructure in slums; rehabilitation and expansion of urban water and sanitation facilities; and solid waste management. We are using the Vision document as the point of reference for this project. It will provide the timeframe for predicting the outcomes of the different development strategies that are being promoted by Vision 2030. The initial project phase will involve networking activities, limited groundwater quality testing, and an initial feasibility study looking into different future population and land use scenarios and their impact on groundwater quality. Water quality data will be combined with socio-economic information and used to assess how far the poor are differentially exposed to contaminated groundwater, relative to the rich. The findings will help in designing a subsequent follow-on project to assess likely future changes in urban groundwater quality. This project will also evaluate different strategies for managing urban groundwaters into the future for the benefit of the poor peri-urban communities who depend largely on groundwater resources.The challenge of providing safe water and hygienic sanitation to the most vulnerable people living in the slum districts is substantial. Prioritising the most effective interventions is vital if significant and sustainable gains to the health and wellbeing of people in these communities are to be achieved. This project will look at the implications of different future scenarios for a range of development options. It will provide a valuable aid to key agencies in the water and sanitation sector as they work to improve the lives of slum dwellers worldwide.