Education

Making money with water

Private companies should invest in bringing clean water to people who do not have easy access to water, says Professor Cees van den Akker, one of the discussion leaders of the World Water Forum.

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Floods along the Yangste river, drought in Africa, nitrates in groundwater in Western Europe% to cope with water-related problems, which take many different shapes and forms throughout the world, innovations are needed in institutional arrangements, technologies and financing. At the World Water Forum, in The Hague, which begins tomorrow, about two thousand people from all over the world will discuss water-related problems. The Forum aims to produce recommendations for a conference of ministers from about 130 countries, which will be held next week.

Twenty percent of the world’s population does not have easy access to drinking water, according to Van den Akker, Professor of Hydrology and Water-management at TU Delft, who is hosting a World Water Forum session on water and health management. These people have to walk more than one mile to get their 20 litres of clean water, which is the minimum amount a person needs per day. And because women are almost always responsible for gathering water for their families, a large part of a woman’s day is spent carrying ten litre buckets of water. In the Netherlands, each person uses 135 litres of drinking water per day.

In many cities in developing countries, the poorest people must pay the most for their water, because they do not have access to the city waterworks. Consequently, the poor are dependent on water dealers who, driving their tanker trucks of ‘blue gold’ into the slums, demand up to one hundred times the standard price.

Van den Akker believes Western companies should invest in making water available to everyone, at a fair price. Western commercial water suppliers have experience with and knowledge of water-management, and they have large amounts of money, which could be invested in creating and maintaining efficient water infrastructures. ‘For Western companies, this is a win-win situation,’ Van den Akker believes. ‘Due to world population growth, water supply will become such a major problem that it’s beneficial for Western companies to invest in the waterworks of developing countries. Companies can expect a return on their investments in 20 to 30 years. However, because of the financial risks involved, they should be covered by the World Bank, for example.’ Van den Akker knows, however, that more than just technical expertise is required: ‘You also need an effective system for collecting money for the water that people have used.”

Vicious circle

It’s been busy week for Van den Akker. Many of the people who are coming to the Netherlands for the World Water Forum have also planned a visit to TU Delft, including a group from the Philippines who are working on a project with TU Delft. Van den Akker and his researchers are currently teaching lecturers from the Philippines, helping them to raise their degree standards to MSc-level, and eventually PhD-level. While in Delft, the Filipinos are specialising in water-management and are developing new textbooks for their students in the Philippines.

Van den Akker: ‘We’re teaching them that water can be managed by creating basins next to the river, which enables the water to infiltrate into the soil.’ In some cases, this process can preserve the water for use during the dry season. Research is also being done to determine how much water can be infiltrated into various soils.

The project, however, has encountered a serious problem. Van den Akker: ‘We’re confronted with a vicious circle. Raising the level of teaching in Philippine universities is a very difficult process, because the people we have trained are often headhunted by local companies, who pay higher salaries. However, if universities also pay higher salaries, tuition fees will rise and many students will no longer be able to afford to study.’ Faced with this regrettable situation, Van Akker admits that the main reason why they continue this project is to enable TU Delft students to do their field research abroad.

Private companies should invest in bringing clean water to people who do not have easy access to water, says Professor Cees van den Akker, one of the discussion leaders of the World Water Forum.

Floods along the Yangste river, drought in Africa, nitrates in groundwater in Western Europe% to cope with water-related problems, which take many different shapes and forms throughout the world, innovations are needed in institutional arrangements, technologies and financing. At the World Water Forum, in The Hague, which begins tomorrow, about two thousand people from all over the world will discuss water-related problems. The Forum aims to produce recommendations for a conference of ministers from about 130 countries, which will be held next week.

Twenty percent of the world’s population does not have easy access to drinking water, according to Van den Akker, Professor of Hydrology and Water-management at TU Delft, who is hosting a World Water Forum session on water and health management. These people have to walk more than one mile to get their 20 litres of clean water, which is the minimum amount a person needs per day. And because women are almost always responsible for gathering water for their families, a large part of a woman’s day is spent carrying ten litre buckets of water. In the Netherlands, each person uses 135 litres of drinking water per day.

In many cities in developing countries, the poorest people must pay the most for their water, because they do not have access to the city waterworks. Consequently, the poor are dependent on water dealers who, driving their tanker trucks of ‘blue gold’ into the slums, demand up to one hundred times the standard price.

Van den Akker believes Western companies should invest in making water available to everyone, at a fair price. Western commercial water suppliers have experience with and knowledge of water-management, and they have large amounts of money, which could be invested in creating and maintaining efficient water infrastructures. ‘For Western companies, this is a win-win situation,’ Van den Akker believes. ‘Due to world population growth, water supply will become such a major problem that it’s beneficial for Western companies to invest in the waterworks of developing countries. Companies can expect a return on their investments in 20 to 30 years. However, because of the financial risks involved, they should be covered by the World Bank, for example.’ Van den Akker knows, however, that more than just technical expertise is required: ‘You also need an effective system for collecting money for the water that people have used.”

Vicious circle

It’s been busy week for Van den Akker. Many of the people who are coming to the Netherlands for the World Water Forum have also planned a visit to TU Delft, including a group from the Philippines who are working on a project with TU Delft. Van den Akker and his researchers are currently teaching lecturers from the Philippines, helping them to raise their degree standards to MSc-level, and eventually PhD-level. While in Delft, the Filipinos are specialising in water-management and are developing new textbooks for their students in the Philippines.

Van den Akker: ‘We’re teaching them that water can be managed by creating basins next to the river, which enables the water to infiltrate into the soil.’ In some cases, this process can preserve the water for use during the dry season. Research is also being done to determine how much water can be infiltrated into various soils.

The project, however, has encountered a serious problem. Van den Akker: ‘We’re confronted with a vicious circle. Raising the level of teaching in Philippine universities is a very difficult process, because the people we have trained are often headhunted by local companies, who pay higher salaries. However, if universities also pay higher salaries, tuition fees will rise and many students will no longer be able to afford to study.’ Faced with this regrettable situation, Van Akker admits that the main reason why they continue this project is to enable TU Delft students to do their field research abroad.

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