Professor John Pickford is Leader of theWater, Engineering and Development Centre(WEDC) at Loughborough University ofTechnology, Leicestershire, LEI I 3TU, UK.

some countries define towns by theform of local government irrespectiveof population, in something like theway that there were 'rotten boroughs'in Britain before 1832, electingmembers of parliament with fewvoters. In part the increase in urbanpopulation in developing countries isdue to rural-urban migration. In part itis due to natural growth.

In most towns and cities indeveloping countries three types ofsettlement have special difficulties,affecting the quality of life of thepeople and the provision (or lack ofprovision) of water supply andsanitation. These are slums, squattersettlements and sprawling fringe areas.

Urban problem areasThe Longman Dictionary ofContemporary English defines a slumas 'a city area of poor living conditionsand old unrepaired buildings'. Thepoor living conditions are the result oflack of repair. Buildings becomedilapidated. New towns and cities likeLilongwe, Abuja and Islamabadshould have no slums with thismeaning of the word. However, newbuildings can rapidly become slums asa result of overcrowding and lack ofmaintenance. Tall blocks of flats areparticularly liable to become slumsquickly.

In many of the old slums a typicalhouse was occupied by one well-offfamily in days long ago. With noenforced regulations the plot was fullybuilt up, or additions filled anyremaining space. Dilapidation resultedin deterioration of the building fabric.Any services that once existed becameunserviceable due to lack ofmaintenance. Where once eadl familyhad many rooms, now each roomholds a family. Sometimes two ormore families share a room. Euildingsbecome supersaturated with people.Overcrowding and lack of :.:ervicesresults in higher incidence of disease.With such congestion the provision ofservices may be extremely difficult.

Squatter settlements arecharacteristic of the growth of urbanpopulations in developing countries. In

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1980 and up to 27 per cent in 1987.There are exceptions like Ugandawhere the 90 per cent rural figure stillapplies, but in Zambia more than halfthe population already lived in townsby 1987.

Like most global statistics, theurban population numbers and ratiosare by no means accurate or reliable.Definitions of what constitutes anurban area vary. Is a locality with tenthousand inhabitants a large ruralvillage or a small urban town? Then

NOT LONG AGO it was repeatedlystated that developing countries werepredominantly rural. Something like90 per cent in the population were saidto be rural, contrasting with thedeveloped nations where more peoplelived inside towns than outside. Recentdecades have seen a gradual but steadyincrease in the proportion ofdeveloping country populations livingin towns. For example, in sub-SaharanAfrica townspeople increased from 14per cent in 1963 to 22 per cent in

Urgent urban water and wasteproblemsby John PickfordIn his editorial, John Pickford outlinesthe problems of water and waste intowns and cities, and introduces theother articles in this issue, coveringunconventional solutions, costrecovery and community involvement.

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In Jakarta these people, desperate for shelter, have settled into a row ofabandoned freight cars.

2 WATERLINES VOL.9 NO.1 JULY 1990

Notfar from Abidjan's modern highrrises. some ten thousand people live in thelimited area between the road and the lagoon.

many cltles half the people aresquatters and have been forgenerations. Others have recentlymoved in from rural areas or smallertowns. By definition squatters or theirpredecessors occupied land to whichthey had no title. Some squatters squaton tiny plots alongside roads andrailway lines, canals, rivers and theseashore. Some move on to city-centreredevelopment sites, knowing thatbefore long their shacks will bereplaced by multi-storey banks andoffice blocks. Others (perhaps themajority) live on large tracts of landbeyond the regulated urbandevelopment.

Most squatter settlements start withmakeshift shelter. Wooden crates andcardboard boxes are a good base.Bamboo stakes, grass matting or oddpieces of sacking and plastic sheetingprovide meagre protection from theelements. In some squatter settlementsthese scanty dwellings are graduallyimproved. Mud walls and thatchedroofs are the first stage ofimprovement. Thatch is replaced bytiles or corrugated iron sheets. Thenbricks or cement blocks take the placeof mud walls. There may even be asmattering of two- and three-storeybuildings. Yet the people remainsquatters unless they obtain some kindof legal entitlement to the land - untilthey achieve tenure.

Fringe sprawl exists around townsand cities, taking various forms. Someof the peri-urban development is bysquatters. Some is provided by centralgovernment, municipal councils,housing authorities, are similaragencies. This 'official' housing maybe intended for low-income people,but often the standards, and thereforethe costs, are too high and theproperties are soon taken over by themiddle-income groups. Many housesin developing countries are built in agradual process as money becomesavailable. One room is built first, thenothers until the house is completed.

Unsuitable systemsInevitably an increased urbanpopulation requires more water.Usually the sources of water currentlyused are abstracted to their limit.Obtaining more water soon involvesseeking and developing sources thatare either further away or are at greaterdepth. This results in new capital costsbecause of the longer pipelines anddeeper boreholes. The greater the rateof the growth of water demand thegreater the proportion of new works toold. As old works have either alreadybeen paid for, or were built for much

less than present costs, increased ratesof urbanization results in higher unitcost - more money per unit volume ofwater. Operation costs are usuallyhigher too, because of pumping fromgreater depths or over longerdistances. These increases of cost arecompounded when urbanization andurban pollution overwhelm catchmentareas. Many reservoirs, formerly wellaway from human habitation and fedby run off from open country, havebeen enveloped by urban growth andhave had to be abandoned.

Water distributionPeople in towns generally expect apiped water supply to be available forconnection to their houses, offices andfactories. This is the conventionallevel of urban service. So the

distribution network has to beextended in line with the expansion ofthe urban area. The high ratio of newto old pipes leads to increased costsper unit connection. Existing mainsprove insufficient and have to bereplaced or supplemented.

Other causes of high costs may below density in fringe areas, lowconnection rates and the use ofmarginal land for housing. Theseaffect both the cost per connection andthe cost per unit volume of watersupplied. Low housing density in peri-urban areas is in marked contrast tovery high population density in thecentral core of many Third Worldcities. In part low density is due to thecommon method of constructinghouses in stages. In an area with ahundred plots there may be only twoor three houses that have got to the

WATERLINES VOL.9 NO.1 JULY 1990 3

Volanta handpum : are simple to install, operate and maintain. Theyprovide safe drinki . g water anywhere. And they lost a long, long time.

VOLftNTA HANDPUMPS:LO I MAINTENANCE.

HI ,H RELIABILITY

methods in urban marginal areas ofTegucigalpa. The problems of costrecovery are outlined by RichardFranceys with reference to Borno StateWater Board in Nigeria.

well known. The cost is high. There isa requirement for ample continuouspiped water to every building.Congested and tortuous narrow roadsand alleys in central areas presentconstruction difficulties. In flat terrainit is necessary to pump sewage, withall the attendant difficulties. Dischargeof inadequately treated sewage toseasonal watercourses creates a highrisk of the spread of disease and only afew Third World towns can truthfullyclaim that their sewage is adequatelytreated.

In the peri-urban sprawl, seweragefaces the same difficulties as pipedwater, but connection rates are evenslower because costs are higher. Lowconnection rates mean low sewageflows and low sewage flows result ingreater risks of blockage.

In his paper, Kevin Tayler showsfrom experience in Peshawar andLahore that sewerage can beappropriate for low-incomecommunities. Marcus Vines and BobReed show in their article thatcommunity involvement in Brazil andPakistan provide more affordablesolutions with unconventional sewagesystems.

Operation and maintenance isgenerally more of a problem thanconstruction in growing cities. In partthis is because of finance. It is worthwhile for a politician to push forwardextensions to a water-supply system;he or she may even gain votes bygetting a new sewer installed.Ensuring that enough money isavailable for unblocking blockedsewers and maintaining the system is adifferent matter.

Other systems suffer from poormanagement or insufficient trainedmanpower or from the difficulty ofobtaining spares and supplies evenwhen local funds are available.Bureaucratic hurdles preventingurgently needed spares from beingimported may result in several monthsdelay.

Water and sanitation are usually theresponsibility of municipal councilsand other local government bodies.Strenuous efforts are now beingmade in some countries to build up orstrengthen the quality of their staff. Inmany developing countries however,they are unable to raise funds, attractgood calibre staff or cope with thetasks given them by centralgovernment. These difficulties arisefrom deficiencies in the formal sectorand are to some extent avoided ifindividual families or groups ofhouseholds are responsible for waterand sanitation, as is common in ruralareas.

JV International

Inappropriate sewerageSewerage is the conventional form ofurban sanitation. It has been provedtime and time again that conventionalsewerage and satisfactory sewagetreatment/disposal is excessivelyexpensive. It is often quiteinappropriate for rapidly expandingurban areas in developing countrieswith large communities of squattersand other low-income families. Yetpoliticians, planners and even someengineers still stick to the outwornidea that the whole of every urban areashould be sewered.

The snags with sewerage should be

Jansen Venne oer International b.v.P.O. Box 68130 AA Wijhe Holland'leI. +315702 37°5Thlex 49418 jansv 01Fax +315702 3712

stage where water connections arerequired. Where all the spare familymoney is going into the gradualerection of a house it may be sometime before cash can be found forconnection to the piped water supply.In the meantime people (usually thewomen and children) may have towalk to distant public standpipes, usepolluted 'natural' sources, or buy waterat high prices from water vendors.

Squatters often squat on 'marginal'land. This consists of areas that are notreally fit for housing and so areavoided by those who can afford topurchase or lease planned plots. Theareas may be marginal because ofliability to flooding or landslides, orbecause of very steep gradients. In anycase the provision of water distributionsystems presents difficulties.

The paper by Paul Friedlanderdeals with innovative distribution

4 WAlERLINES VOL.9 NO.1 JULY 1990

This squatter settlement at Karjat near Bombay has very limited water supply and sanitation facilities.

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The article by May Yacoob hasbeen included in this issue to illustratethe principles of communityinvolvement so necessary forsuccessful projects, not only in rural,but also in peri-urban areas.

Water sourcesMany fringe urban areas are as muchan extension of the rural situation intothe towns as an incursion of urbanconditions into the countryside. In theabsence of formal municipal servicesthe people use traditional watersources such as wells, rainwatercollection, streams, tanks (in theIndian sub-continent), qanats (in theMiddle East), and water-holes in thebeds of seasonal streams.

The extension of and improvementto such water sources receives plentyof attention in Waterlines. Forexample, where rainfall is fairlycontinuous throughout the year asatisfactory supply may be obtained bythe collection and storage of roofwaterusing the jars and ferro-cement tanksthat have been fully described.

The major disadvantage ofextending these systems into urbanareas is that pollution is liable to bemore severe than in rural areas. Tosome extent this is inevitable as anincreased number of people produceincreased waste. Pollution can becontrolled by appropriate means,

however, foremost of which isadequate methods of excreta disposal.

SanitationSanitation probably has a greaterinfluence on health and disease thanwater quality. Apart from anythingelse, with adequate sanitation there isless pollution and water quality isbetter.

Septic tanks have a long history ofsuccessful operation in low-densitysuburbs where plots are large enoughand the soil is permeable enough fordisposal of the liquid effluent intosoakaways. Users of WCs connectedto these septic tanks enjoy the samebenefits as those who have sewers.Generally the cost of good septic tanksand sufficient drainage for high water-use is about the same as sewerage andsewage treatment - much too high forthe majority of urban people, whocome into the low-income or low-middle-income categories. Disposal ofeffluent from septic tanks on smallplots or on impervious soil is difficult.It often goes into surface drains andditches, presenting a severe healthhazard.

Good low-cost sanitation isavailable with one of the improvedtypes of pit latrine:o Ventilated improved pit (VIP)

latrines, generally most suitable forthose who use paper and other

solid material for anal cleaning.Vent-pipes remove smells anddetract flies from escaping into thelatrine building, which must bekept fairly dark.

o Pour-flush latrines with a waterseal to prevent smells and fliesfrom reaching the latrine from thepit - most suitable for those whoclean themselves with water.

o The lowest-cost simple pits withtight-fitting covers to put in thesquat hole when the latrine is not inuse - often with a cheap screenaround it instead of the roofed hutnecessary with VIP latrines.

Many people think that pit latrines areonly suitable for rural use. But inrecent years millions have built intowns and cities and they can beentirely satisfactory. Urban pits are nota new idea. For example, in Dar esSalaam they are the traditional form ofsanitation everywhere except in thevery limited sewered districts. Somelarge, lined pits have been in use formore than forty years.

Looking to the future it isreasonable to hope that the prejudiceagainst urban pit latrines will diminish,and that the provision of improvedversions of pit latrines will extendbetter sanitation and improved healthto the tens of millions of familieswithout adequate sanitation in thegrowing urban areas.

WATERLINES VOL.9 NO.1 JULY 1990 5