2.3 From Policy to Action
Learning objective: become acquainted
with regulations and how to interpret them
and translate them into local action
Jan-Olof Drangert. Linköping University, Sweden
Policies = stating aims and ideals
• ’No water body is to be degraded’
• ’High protection of human health and ecosystems’
• ’Cost recovery’
• ’Pro-poor policies’
• ’Water for All’ and ’Water is a human right’
• ’Sanitation by All?’
• ’No open defecation’
• ’Recirculation of nutrients and zero emissions’, etc.
The policy should be SMART = Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Realistic/resource-related/result-oriented, and
Time-bound.
Jan-Olof Drangert. Linköping University, Sweden
Governance guided by principles
• Outcome-based regulation: The regulation is not prescriptive
about the technology or process itself, but about the overall
environmental outcomes of the process.
• Precautionary principle: Where there are threats of serious
or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific
certainty is enough reason for postponement of the activity.
• Deal with pollution at the source: If a pollution situation is
identified, the source of pollution should be addressed rather
than the end-of-pipe result.
• Polluter pays: The polluter should in general bear the cost of
pollution prevention, control and remediation.
• Recirculation: Recycling of waste products
• Risk assessment: A risk assessment of the pressure and
impacts guide the actions to be taken and to be monitored
Jan-Olof Drangert. Linköping university, Sweden
Strategies connect policy with resources
• Do the right thing – effective
(address problems of the chemical society)
• Do the thing right - efficient
(focus on man-made wastewater, not end-of-pipe)
Good governance is always helpful
Jan-Olof Drangert. Linköping university, Sweden
Some ongoing strategic shifts
Emphasis on hardware
and infrastructure
Emphasis on software
and local resources
Supply-driven approach
Demand-driven
Individual subsidies seen
as drivers for change
Market-based solutions
Relatively high-cost tech
recommendations
Local resources
Construction
Operation, maintenance
Jan-Olof Drangert. Linköping university, Sweden
Sanitation arrangements from a
management point of view
The key question is about control, not decentralisation. Two extremes:
Turn-key management where the utility (private or public)
provides the service and the residents just pay the bill
Own-key management where single households or housing
associations initiate, build and control, while they put to use
available skills, materials, and other local resources
WC &
sewerage
Dry urinediverting toilet
Turn-key
Own-key
Aqua privy
Dug latrine
Jan-Olof Drangert. Linköping university, Sweden
Market-based sanitation strategy
’One stop shopping’ display at ring producer:
Households
visualising a pour-flush toilet with a septic
tank
The
Market
Retailers
Wholesalers
Courtesy of Jeff Chapin,
designer Odeo, USA
Manufacturers
(produce cement,
brick, plastic
pipes, steel, etc.
ceramic...)
Edu. & Marketing
Services (e.g. health
education, info on
sanitation products &
suppliers)
Construction
Services
Transportation
Services
Credit Services
(formal and informal)
Social marketing - nothing strange
Plumber’s sanitation
shop in Sweden
Urban exhibition of
toilet options in full
scale and models
in Trichy, India
Jan-Olof Drangert. Linköping university, Sweden
Orangi sanitation project in Karachi, Pakistan
Part of the Orangi area in Karachi
in a flat, flood-prone area
Ready underground
sewer in a lane in
Orangi constructed
by self-help work
under the guidance
of the OPP project
Digging for sewers in Orangi
Source: Pervaiz, Rahman and Hassan, 2008
Guiding policy of a municipal council
The council shall be generous in granting house connections
to the communal water supply
on the condition that the discharge system for wastewater
from the premises is of good standard
- all new building plans shall include a clause on urine to be
discharged separately in new houses and in houses that are
being rehabilitated
- laying a separate urine pipe from the house to the border of
the premises is the responsibility of the property owner
- the municipality is responsible for the emptying, storing, and
disposal of the urine
Jan-Olof Drangert. Linköping university, Sweden
One policy and two strategies and their impacts
in two cities and their rural hinterland
Decentralised water supply and sewerage
Centralised
water and
sewerage
Jan-Olof Drangert, Linkoping university, Sweden
Managing sanitation through effective policies,
strategies and sustainable arrangements
• Match policies with the level of governance
• Coordinate responsibilities for water,
wastewater, stormwater, sanitation and
solid waste
• Devolve responsibilities to the lowest level
starting with what the household can do
• Make sure the resources are adequate to
perform the tasks at the intended level
• Reuse recovered resources (water, urine,
faeces, organics, etc.) on soil, not in water
Jan-Olof Drangert. Linköping university, Sweden