Worldwide interest in affordable water solutions is rising rapidly.

Next week UN Water Conference will be held in New York. This major event was last organized 40 years ago and this time you can be part of it. It presents two sessions on affordable water solutions.

• The session “2 with 8” is about Safe drinking water for 2 billion people.
• The session “Supporting Self-supply” shares experiences on the massive impact of self-supply and how it helps to reach SDG 6.1 and at the same time increase food security and reduce poverty.

Mark Thursday 23rd March 09.00 (EST). Check your local time here.

How to join?

Register through registration. After registration, on the day prior to the event, the Zoom-link for the event will be provided to you.

Great book on Self-supply,

Filling the gaps in public water supply provision

‘Self-supply has long been overlooked because it is largely unmapped, unmonitored and unregulated, and therefore invisible to policy-makers and decision-takers. This wonderful new book shows what they are missing by providing an accessible but comprehensive overview of self-supply in its many forms and contexts, from the lowest income countries to the highest. It puts people at the centre of the challenge to achieve universal water access and is a celebration of ingenuity and resilience – and highlights that household investment and remittances can play a vital role in plugging the investment gap in rural water infrastructure. This book is destined to become a classic reference that all rural water supply professionals should become familiar with.’

Sean Furey, Director, Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN)

How to get the book?

The hardcover book costs £ 62.95 but you can download it for free at:

Detailed study on SMART Approach

Assessment of the Simple, Market-based, Affordable and Repairable Technologies (SMART) approach for Water and Sanitation.

With support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IRC has been working with many people for over a year to investigate how effective the “SMART approach” is. Here, of course, “SMART” stands for Simple, Market-based, Affordable and Repairable Technologies. This included in-depth research into the work of the Jacana SMART Centres in Zambia, including 238 field surveys, 183 water quality tests, numerous interviews with beneficiaries and literature research.
A huge job for which we are enormously grateful to everyone who participated. Because we can say that we are doing important work, but who are we?

We can be proud of the findings. Anyway, just browse through it yourself: