The twenty first century man is facing a great challenge: to be able to reach a global level of development that eliminates the big inequalities of the world population, ensuring a decent quality of life and minimum personal conditions for any Earth inhabitant. All this guaranteeing that the impact on natural resources allows their conservation for the use and enjoyment of future generations. This is how it was established by the Rio de Janeiro Conference on Environment and Development (1992) and ratified by the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002. In the first one, it was concluded that social and economic development as well as the protection of the environment were key aspects to reach sustainable development. The second one goes further away, acquiring stronger commitments that reduce the huge differences between rich and poor people, advocating for the universality of the human dignity in its widest concept.

Without any doubts, one of the most important objectives to achieve this global goal is to find a solution for the lack of access to potable water and basic sanitation; aspects considered by several studies to be key elements for the development of any country.

Although water has always been considered as a good to be consumed, we currently talk about water as a scarce resource not accessible to everyone in the same way. There is an important imbalance between developed and developing countries regarding the access and purification of water. Countries are now aware that water is a scarce resource of limited access for a great part of the world population.

Despite the efforts made, many countries are not yet in the condition of reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) related to water. Given the key role of the water resource for the accomplishment of the MDG, after acknowledging in Johannesburg the need for specific actions at a global level to solve water problems, and following the presentation of the First UN World Water Development Report at the Third World Water Forum (Kyoto, 2003) the international community and the UN established in 2005 the Water Decade, an initiative intended to reduce in half the world population without access to a secure source of potable water and basic sanitation by 2015.

Currently, more than one billion people are deprived of their right to clean water, most of them from the poorest countries, while 2.6 billions do not have access to adequate sanitation. The differences between rich and poor communities and urban and rural ones, aggravates even more this situation, whilst the lack of basic sanitation negatively affects health and social development, specially of women and children. The Asian continent represents more than 60% of the world population that still lacks access to potable water and adequate basic sanitation.



According to the reports of UNICEF and who, approximately 1.8 million children die each year as a direct consequence of diarrhea and other waterborne diseases caused by polluted water and insufficient sanitation. Despite the availability of funding, the new technologies and current capacities to solve the water crisis, at the beginning of the 21st century, polluted water is considered to be the second cause of infant mortality in the world.

Bearing this in mind, the UN has recently declared the year 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation. Among other objectives, this decision is intended to fulfill all the commitments acquired previously to guarantee a good quality of life in the planet. The access to adequate sanitation and wastewater treatment has a double benefit: it improves the life conditions of the affected population (poverty, hygiene, healthiness, etc), and it is a conservation strategy of the good ecological status of water resources.

To propose a global diagnosis of the situation, aware of the difficulty of generalizing at a global level, we can state that the problem is more or less solved in large and medium cities and in those areas with adequate social, economic and technological development. On the contrary, the population most affected in terms of lack of basic services (drinking water and sanitation) is concentrated on rural and scattered areas, as well as in the marginal zones of the large cities in underprivileged countries.

It is in this context where the main economic and technical limitations occur, where it is necessary to have solid and adjusted solutions that guarantee the elimination and adequate treatment of wastewater with minimum implementation costs and affordable service costs for the benefited population. The decentralized systems at a small scale, as well as the non-conventional purification technologies, are a solution to this situation, given their resemblance with natural purification processes and the fact that their simplicity regarding their management and exploitation considerably reduce infrastructure and service costs.

During the last years, we have been able to observe a remarkable scientific progress concerning the development of sanitation and purification technologies, especially non-conventional technologies, natural or macrophyte systems, which have been the object of numerous and important research studies by the scientific community. Nonetheless, such progress has not turned into a solution for this problem. This is why the scientific community should ask themselves if their findings are actually contributing to improve the world situation in regards to basic sanitation and purification, and so, as to what point their efforts contribute to the achievement of the MDG.

According to existing studies, the access to drinking water and proper sanitation and treatment of urban wastewater provide the backbone of development. The migratory phenomenon where rural population leave the countryside to the city in the quest of greater quality of life is leading to the increase of marginal ghettos that do not only diminish the poverty levels, but that also generates manifold sanitary problems due to the deficient conditions in which they are obliged to live in.

This situation is susceptible to be solved, since all this process has also previously occurred in the first world countries. Effective performance through a series of corrective measures as well as the creation of appropriate supplying infrastructures may guarantee certain quality levels, therefore restraining this migratory process and consolidating rural areas as regions suitable for the development of a worthy life.

The origins of the problem vary from country to country. There are however some common factors. In the first place, there are few countries approaching to the water management and sanitation issue as a political priority; secondly, some of the poorest people of the planet are already paying some of the highest water prices of the world, which reflects the limited cover of the supplying networks in the poor districts where this population lives.

In general, this is the regional situation of the water and sanitation at the international level.

Latin America and the Caribbean

The distribution of drinkable water and sanitation services follows a pattern of inequality, characteristic of a region with acute social and economic disparities. Within the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, not only the differences between the urban areas and the rural zones are specially remarked, but also those existing within the rural environment.

The average potable water supply cover increased from an 83% in 1990 to a 91% in 2004. This region is relatively rich in available water resources available. However, there are extensive arid zones and high altitude areas where water shortage is a serious problem. The absolute number of people without access to improved drinkable water sources was reduced in one third, from 74 million in 1990 to 50 million in 2004. The sanitation cover increased from a 68% to a 77% between 1992 and 2004, and 127 million people gained access through that period. But in order to reach the goal it is necessary that another 103 million people obtain access from now until 2015. The potable water cover in the urban environment reaches the 96%, very elevated overall. But in the rural areas, which represent 34 out of the 50 million people without access to improved potable water sources, cover supply gets to just 73% of the population.

These disparities are even greater in the case of the sanitation. Although a 86% of the people who live in urban areas have access to improved sanitation facilities, these are only available for about 49% of the rural population. These huge disparities are strongly linked the social and economic situation. Among the indigenous populations, as well as it is in the ghettos and African-American populations, the level of service is lower than in the rest of the areas.

Natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes are frequent in the region, often having devastating effects on the public health and water supply. Between 1994 and 2003, the economic losses in the matter of water and sanitation accounted for 650 million dollars, resulting in damages that underwent at least 2,100 urban systems and 4,500 rural aqueducts, as well as the destruction of 28,000 wells and 173,000 latrines.

On the other side, infant mortality rates of 5 year-old children or less in Latin America and the Caribbean was reduced 43% between 1990 and 2004. Also, 16 out of the 33 countries of the region well directed towards achieving the MDG in water and sanitation.

Proportionally, this is the region of the world that suffers the most from the absence of these services, with just about 64 percent of the population having access to a suitable water supply. The situation is even worse in the rural areas where the cover reached only the 50 percent compared to the 86 percent in the urban zones. And even so, more than half of the inhabitants of the urban zones lack a suitable supply (understanding suitable supply as a connection until the home or a water taking in the garden.

Africa

This is, proportionally, the region of the world that suffers more of the absence of this service, with just around 64 percent of the population having access to suitable water supply. The situation is worse in the countryside where the coverage of the service is only 50 percent compared to the 86 percent in the urban areas. Yet, more than half of the inhabitants of the urban zones lack a suitable supply, if we understand suitable water supply enjoying a home connection of water.

The water and sanitation overview in western and central Africa is particularly serious, for it registers the highest mortality among five years old on less infants, from all of the developing regions. Most of the population living in the region is concentrated in the countryside, but the urbanization process is advancing quickly. Between the period 1990 to 2004 approximately 49 million of urban dwellers obtained access to improved drinkable water sources (compared to just 26 million in the rural environment). Yet that increase did not correspond to the growth of the urban population, given that the number of inhabitants of the urban zones without access duplicated from 17 to 34 million.

The civil conflicts, along with the populations of internal displaced refugees that these generate, have supposed an overload of the carrying capacity of the region and its resources and delayed the progress regarding water supply and sanitation coverage.

Middle East and North Africa

Although more than half of the countries in the region with enough data available to calculate trends are in their way to fulfill the goal relative to drinkable water, the access to improved potable water sources has only increased marginally in the set of the region, from an 86% in 1990 to a 88% in 2004. Moreover, the number of people without access increased from 39 million to 44 million during the same period. Around 34 million out of these 44 live in the countryside, approximately the same number that in 1990. However, in 2004 there was almost the double of inhabitants of urban zones without potable water than those in 1990.

Regarding sanitation coverage, there were greater progresses in the region, rising from 68% in 1990 to 74% in 2004, which means that 87 million people got access and that the MDG goal on sanitation based in a 84% may be reached. Nevertheless, the number of people without access increased during this period in absolute terms, from 88 million in 1990 to 96 million in 2004. In order to reach the goal, it is needed to reach other 107 million people by 2015.

There are huge inequalities between urban and rural zones regarding sanitation coverage, since they account for 90% and 53% respectively.Emergency situations related to the conflicts keep being a concerning issue. The priority is to make potable water directly available to the needed families and to rehabilitate the damaged water supply and sanitation systems.

Asia

The coverage of sanitation of south Asia is amongst the lowest of the world, around the 37%, similar to that from sub-Saharan Africa. About 921 million people live in the region without latrines, representing more than one third of the world-wide population in this situation.

This is specially worrying for the children living in the region. Infant mortality in south Asia ranks the highest of the world, apart form sub-Saharan Africa.

The region has impelled the access to improved water sources, extending the coverage from a 71% in 1990 to a 85% in 2004, almost fulfilling the 86% MDG goal. The absolute number of people living in the region without improved potable water sources has diminished about 33%, from 326 million in 1990 to 222 million in 2004. Around 445 million people obtained access to drinkable water during this period, 88% of which living in India and Pakistan. But there is still the need to supply another 243 million to reach the goal by 2015.

The proportional increase in the access to improved sanitation facilities has exceeded even the increase in the access to drinkable water. The rate has been more than the double, from 17% in 1990 to 37% in 2004. However, it began at such a slow pace that it will be necessary to considerably accelerate the rate in order for the region to fulfill the MDG goal of 59%. Another 478 million people must have access to drinkable water by 2015.



Regarding sanitation coverage, in southern Asia we can observe the most serious disparities between the urban and rural zones worldwide. Whereas the number of people without access to sanitation in the urban zones increased from 139 million in 1990 to 153 million in 2004, there is double the chance of having this service in the urban environment than in the rural areas.

On the contrary, concerning of the access to improved potable water sources, south Asia almost reduced to a half the difference between the urban and rural zones from 1990 to 2004.

If we focus in East Asia and the Pacific we will find that there are 402 million people without access to improved potable water sources and another 272 million people will have to obtain access by 2015 to meet the goals.

The progress in the sanitation coverage in the region in the cleaning cover was even more remarkable, since it increased from 30% in 1990 to 51% in 2004, and almost half a million people obtained access during that period. Nevertheless, the total number of people who do not have access yet, remains quite high (944 million). More than one third of the world population without access to basic sanitation lives in East Asia and the Pacific.

As it happens in all the regions of the world, the people living in the urban zones have more probabilities of having access to improved sources of potable water and sanitation facilities than the people living in the rural areas.

Around a 92% of the population of the urban zones in the region benefit from improved potable water supply. However, this represents a reduction compared to the existing 97% in 1990. This has multiply per 5 the number of urban dwellers without access to drinkable water between 1990 and 2004, due to the fast urbanization and sprawl.

In the last few years, the purification of wastewater has been a continuous concern for the competent authorities at the European level. As a result, the Directive 91/271/CEE, related to the treatment of urban wastewater, establishes criteria and deadlines for the purification of wastewater in all the Member States according to population size, the place and the spill area, while the Directive 2000/60/CEE (Water Framework Directive) establishes a community framework of action for water policy aspects. Both Directives state the need for an appropriate spill treatment with the purpose of maintaining a good ecological status of water resources.

At the European level, the obligations included in these Directives have determined the actions taken during the last years regarding purification matters. They have also affected later regulations on the treatment of wastewater in the EU Member States.

The progress made in the application of the Directive 91/271 has involved an important and decisive boost in the framework of purification, at both the national and international level. Nonetheless, there are still numerous communities without access to wastewater treatment or, in any case, with insufficient treatment.

In Europe, in the presence of the deadlines established by the Directives, the actions taken towards wastewater purification in the last years have influenced mainly those municipalities with a population size of 2.000 to 10.000 inhab-eq. These towns have the greatest shortages of infrastructures and deficiencies of management models. This situation becomes aggravated for communities with less than 2.000 inhab-eq due to, among other things, the limitations of their economic resources, the lack of specialized personnel, their decentralized location, etc. All these aspects contribute to a deficient control over sanitation and wastewater purification services.

Although the deadlines established by European regulations have expired, communities with a population under 2.000 inhab-eq still have much to do in regards to wastewater purification and sanitation.

Faced with this situation, small communities need to find sustainable solutions adjusted to the specific features of the environment. This is giving a great boost for non-conventional technologies and decentralized systems.

At the European level, the status of water purification in small communities is an accurate reflection of the Spanish situation. The last studies made in Spain estimate in more than 800 the urban areas with a population size higher than 2,000 inhabitants that do not comply with the Directive 91/271/EC. These areas are mostly towns of small population size (less than 5,000 inhabitants). The degree of non-fulfillment is higher for communities with less than 2,000 inhabitants.

This problem has worsened with the increase in the number of areas declared as sensitive; this has increased the number of small communities that, when draining their water into these areas, need a secondary treatment to obtain the qualification of “adequate treatment”.



In Spain, approximately 39% of the population (according to the last census the population size is 44,708,964 inhabitants) live in communities with a population size of less than 10,000 people. More than 77,000 urban areas have less than 10,000 inhabitants. This data gives us an idea of how highly dispersed the population is, requiring infrastructures and a quality of service in regards to the urban water cycle that should not be inferior to the ones in the large cities.

Currently, the Government of Spain is working in the preparation of the National Plan of Water Quality, which its main objective is to enforce the compliance of the goals established in the Directive 91/271 and the new requirements stated in the wfd. In this sense, the Plan revolves around several focal points, among them:

- A greater distribution of the responsibilities between the different Public Administrations.
- The promotion of R+D+I (Research, Development and Innovation) and public participation to achieve a more effective management of water resources.

Andalusia, pioneer in R+D

Andalusia has a great amount of experience in research and development regarding water purification in small towns, with its main point of reference in the Wastewater Treatment Experimental Plant of Carrión de los Céspedes (PECC).

The PECC, located 30 km from Seville, has been managed by the Center for New Water Technologies (CENTA) since 1999. It is part of a R+D+I strategy on wastewater purification, mainly non-conventional technologies, that started about 20 years ago with the main characteristic of combining purely scientific studies with an extensive knowledge of purification adjusted to specific areas.

This strategy started in 1987 with the objective of answering the problems referred to the purification of wastewater generated by scattered rural communities, where it is necessary to have a simple management model with low maintenance costs and adjusted to the technical and financial limitations of the area.

Since its implementation, the PECC has been a pioneer experience and a point of reference at the national and international level. The work developed in this plant has allowed us to improve our knowledge on the subject and to communicate such knowledge and the experience gained to other regions, such as Morocco and Latin America.

All the purification systems with non-conventional technologies are implemented at the PECC at a small scale, making the plant a unique place that allows managers and researchers involved in purification to assess on the ground the different options offered by these technologies, and so be able to apply them in their own management settings.