Specialist Group on Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering - IWA

THE 2ND IWA DEVELOPMENT CONGRESSThe 2nd IWA Development Congress: Pioneering Water Solutions in Urbanising AreasWe face an impending future, where in the next 40 years approximately 800,000 new urbanresidents will be added every week to existing and new cities around the world. However, themajority of urban population growth will not occur in megacities, as many might think, but rather insmaller cities and towns. This presents a unique opportunity to rethink service delivery in theseareas.At the same time, poorly targeted technical programmes, under investment, lack of awareness ofexisting alternatives and insufficient innovation in conventional water and sanitation servicedelivery have resulted in a world where:• 15% of people have no access to an improved water source (0.9 billion);• 50% of people have no potable in-house tap water (3.0 billion);• 70% of people have no sewerage (4.5 billion);• 80% of people have no wastewater treatment (5.5 billion).The IWA Development Congress, to be held in November in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will provideIWA members and partners with a vehicle to challenge these current conditions, workcollaboratively and develop real solutions for the future. Through these efforts, IWA aims to createa positive impact on poverty reduction, economic growth, human health and environmentalsustainability in urban centres throughout the world.The Congress builds on the success of the first Congress in Mexico City in November 2009 andprovides a meeting place for those who are already, or soon will be, leading the development of onthe-groundsolutions to urban water and sanitation services in the developing world.Now, more than ever, we need to work together to confront these challenges with vigour andinnovation. We will need game-changing thinking and action related to both urban water andsanitation technologies and service provision and their interactions with the complex social andinstitutional fabric that makes up the urban area and its sphere of influence. Business as usual is nota viable option in the light of the future we face.We would like to extend an invitation to attend the Congress to all IWA members. Workingalongside our colleagues in low and middle income countries, sharing experience and expertise bothways, will benefit the water and sanitation sector in the longer term and will make a tangibledifference to water and sanitation service delivery worldwide.Please visit the Congress website www.iwa2011kl.org for more details.________________________________________________________________________________________________________IWA <strong>Specialist</strong> <strong>Group</strong> on Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering:15Newsletter July 2011