A few interesting ‘bits and pieces’:

WHO/UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation’s website does not only benefit from a makeover but also features new country, regional and global estimates for 2014.

In 2011, the Water, Sanitation & Hygiene program initiated the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge to bring sustainable sanitation solutions to the 2.5 billion people worldwide who don’t have access to safe, affordable sanitation.
Grants have been awarded to sixteen researchers around the world who are using innovative approaches—based on fundamental engineering processes—for the safe and sustainable management of human waste. In addition to these Reinvent the Toilet Challenge (RTTC) grants, we have made a range of other investments that are aligned with reinventing the toilet, and we are continuously seeking to expand our partnerships on this challenge.
For latest information from the Reinvent the Toilet Fair held in India 2014:
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Reinvent-the-Toilet-Challenge
(Loughborough University is one of the researchers)

‘Water Voices – Water Tomorrow, Kiribati and Tonga’ http://www.thewaterchannel.tv/media-gallery/87-water-voices-water-tomorrow-kiribati-and-tonga
(an interesting video on small island problems)

MDPI Office of the Publisher – Water (open access journal)
Special Issue ‘Sustainable Drainage Systems’
 http://www.mdpi.com/journal/water/special_issues/SuDS

3 extracts from Sanitation Updates:
(For more go to http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com/)

IIED presents SHARE-funded City-Wide Sanitation Project findings
SEI-SuSanA webinar videos online – Adding missing links in sanitation value chains
DFID pledges €28 million to SNV for multi-country sanitation programme
Posted: 07 May 2014

 A selection from email alerts:

 JOURNAL OF WATER SUPPLY RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY : Water supply technology; Resilient water supply systems: pursuing safety, sustainability and environmental friendliness
VOL 63; NUMB 2 (2014)
ISSN 1606-9935
• pp.85-85
Editorial Resilient water supply systems: pursuing safety, sustainability and environmental friendliness
Ohgaki, S.
• pp.86-94
Resilient water supply system for earthquake and tsunami
Miyajima, M.
• pp.95-105
Impacts of liquefaction on the potable water system of Christchurch in the 2010-2011 Canterbury (NZ) earthquakes
Cubrinovski, M.; Hughes, M.; O Rourke, T.D.
• pp.106-113
Reduction of chlorinous odor by the combination of oxidation and ion-exchange treatments
Echigo, S.; Itoh, S.; Ishihara, S.; Aoki, Y.; Hisamoto, Y.
• pp.114-123
Quantitative microbial risk assessment of drinking water treated with advanced water treatment process
Zhou, L.; Echigo, S.; Ohkouchi, Y.; Itoh, S.
• pp.124-130
Drinking water treatment technologies in Europe: state of the art – challenges – research needs
van der Hoek, J.P.; Bertelkamp, C.; Verliefde, A.R.D.; Singhal, N.
• pp.131-138
A long-term plan for water pipeline rehabilitation considering preventive maintenance
Kim, M.; Inakazu, T.; Koizumi, A.; Koo, J.
• pp.139-145
Development of comprehensive evaluation procedure for anti-seismic strategies: evaluating Kobe City’s earthquake resistance improvement plan from the customer’s viewpoint
Sakaki, K.; Matsuda, Y.; Hirayama, N.; Itoh, S.
• pp.146-153
Earthquake proofing of water treatment plants through seismic system risk analysis
Hayashi, K.; Ohtake, K.; Baba, K.; Suto, T.; Yoshikawa, H.
• pp.154-161
Household survey of installation and treatment efficiency of point-of-use water treatment systems in Hanoi, Vietnam
Do, A.T.; Kuroda, K.; Hayashi, T.; Nga, T.T.V.; Oguma, K.; Takizawa, S.
• pp.162-169
Development of performance assessment method for drinking water infrastructure
Suzuki, Y.; Adachi, W.; Amano, M.; Fujiwara, M.

WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
VOL 69; NUMB 6 (2014)
ISSN 0273-1223
• pp.1159-1166
Effect of co-managing organic waste using municipal wastewater and solid waste treatment systems in megacities
Takaoka, M.; Oshita, K.; Iwamoto, T.; Mizuno, T.

JOURNAL OF WATER AND HEALTH
VOL 12; NUMB 1 (2014)
ISSN 1477-8920
• pp.34-40
Magnesium in drinking water – a case for prevention?
Rylander, R.
• pp.173-183
The challenge of global water access monitoring: evaluating straight-line distance versus self-reported travel time among rural households in Mozambique
Ho, J.C.; Russel, K.C.; Davis, J.
• pp.184-195
Of water and worms: Guinea worm re-emergence in Niger
Royal, N.
• pp.196-209
Community-based wastewater treatment systems and water quality of an Indonesian village
Lim, H.S.; Lee, L.Y.; Bramono, S.E.

WATER POLICY
VOL 16; NUMB 2 (2014)
ISSN 1366-7017
• pp.222-243
Water policy reform and Indigenous governance
• pp.298-322
Extending the water safety plan concept to the urban water cycle
• pp.323-339
Environmental cost-benefit analysis of decentralised wastewater treatment and re-use: a case study of rural Jordan

WATER RESEARCH
VOL 56; (2014)
ISSN 0043-1354
• pp.77-87
Toxicity assessment and modelling of Moringa oleifera seeds in water purification by whole cell bioreporter
Al-Anizi, A. A.; Hellyer, M. T.; Zhang, D.
Abstract:
Moringa oleifera has been used as a coagulation reagent for drinking water purification, especially in developing countries such as Malawi. This research revealed the cytoxicity and genotoxicity of M. oleifera by Acinetobacter bioreporter. The results indicated that significant cytoxicity effects were observed when the powdered M. oleifera seeds concentration is from 1 to 50 mg/L. Through direct contact, ethanolic-water extraction and hexane extraction, the toxic effects of hydrophobic and hydrophilic components in M. oleifera seeds were distinguished. It suggested that the hydrophobic lipids contributed to the dominant cytoxicity, consequently resulting in the dominant genotoxicity in the water-soluble fraction due to limited dissolution when the M. oleifera seeds granule concentration was from 10 to 1000 mg/L. Based on cytoxicity and genotoxicity model, the LC50 and LC90 of M. oleifera seeds were 8.5 mg/L and 300 mg/L respectively and their genotoxicity was equivalent to 8.3 mg mitomycin C per 1.0 g dry M. oleifera seed. The toxicity of M. oleifera has also remarkable synergistic effects, suggesting whole cell bioreporter as an appropriate and complementary tool to chemical analysis for environmental toxicity assessment.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
” (2014)
ISSN 0048-9697
• pp.129-136
Occurrence of Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Cyclospora in influent and effluent water at wastewater treatment plants in Arizona
Kitajima, M.; Haramoto, E.; Iker, B. C.; Gerba, C. P.
Abstract
We investigated the occurrence of Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Cyclospora at two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Arizona over a 12-month period, from August 2011 to July 2012. Influent and effluent wastewater samples were collected monthly, and protozoan (oo)cysts were concentrated using an electronegative filter, followed by the detection of protozoa using fluorescent microscopy (Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts) and PCR-based methods (Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia intestinalis, and Cyclospora cayetanensis). The concentration of Giardia cysts in the influent was always higher than that of Cryptosporidium oocysts (mean concentration of 4.8-6.4×10^3 versus 7.4×10^1-1.0×10^2(oo)cysts/l) with no clear seasonality, and log10 reduction of Giardia cysts was significantly higher than that of Cryptosporidium oocysts for both WWTPs (P<0.05). Log10 reduction of Giardia cysts at the WWTP utilizing activated sludge was significantly higher than the other WWTP using trickling filter (P=0.014), while no statistically significant difference between the two WWTPs was observed for the log10 reduction of Cryptosporidium oocysts (P=0.207). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that G. intestinalis strains identified in wastewater belonged to two assemblages, AII and B, which are potentially infectious to humans. C. cayetanensis was also detected from both influent and effluent using a newly developed quantitative PCR, with the highest influent concentration of 1.2×10^4copies/l. Our results demonstrated that these protozoan pathogens are prevalent in the study area and that efficacy of the conventional wastewater treatment processes at physically removing (oo)cysts is limited.
¦TROPICAL MEDICINE AND INTERNATIONAL HEALTH VOL 19; NUMB 5 (2014) pp.522-527 The elusive effect of water and sanitation on the global burden of disease Schmidt, W. P.

¦TROPICAL MEDICINE AND INTERNATIONAL HEALTH VOL 19; NUMB 5 (2014) pp.528-536 Toys and toilets: cross-sectional study using children’s toys to evaluate environmental faecal contamination in rural Bangladeshi households with different sanitation facilities and practices Vujcic, J.; Ram, P. K.; Hussain, F.; Unicomb, L.; Gope, P. S.; Abedin, J.; Mahmud, Z. H.; Sirajul Is

¦PLoS ONE Vol. 9; No. 4 (2014) Shared Sanitation versus Individual Household Latrines: A Systematic Review of Health Outcomes Heijnen, Marieke; Cumming, Oliver; Peletz, Rachel; Chan, Gabrielle Ka-Seen; Brown, Joe; Baker, Kelly

¦MEMOIR- GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA : Random Harvest An Anthology of Editorials 81 (2013) pp.257-265 Water Supply and Sanitation in the Indian Context
• SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL ON HUMAN RIGHTS VOL 29; PART 3 (2013) pp.615-650
THE RIGHT TO BASIC SANITATION: A HUMAN RIGHT IN NEED OF CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEE IN AFRICA
Kamga, S.D.

• PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Vol. 8; No. 4 (2014)
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH): A Critical Component for Sustainable Soil-Transmitted Helminth and Schistosomiasis Control
Campbell, Suzy J.; Savage, Georgia B.; Gray, Darren J.; Atkinson, Jo-An M.; Soares Magalh?es, Ricard

• COMPETITION AND CHANGE VOL 18; NUMB 2 (2014) pp.150-163
A Political Economy of Privatization Contracts: The Case of Water and Sanitation in Ghana and Argentinna
Dagdeviren, H.; Robertson, S.A.

• SOCIAL SCIENCE AND MEDICINE VOL 110; (2014) pp.18-25
Social marketing of water and sanitation products: A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature
Evans, W. D.; Pattanayak, S. K.; Young, S.; Buszin, J.; Rai, S.; Bihm, J. W.
Abstract
Like commercial marketing, social marketing uses the 4 “Ps” and seeks exchange of value between the marketer and consumer. Behaviors such as handwashing, and products such as those for oral rehydration treatment (ORT), can be marketed like commercial products in developing countries. Although social marketing in these areas is growing, there has been no systematic review of the current state of practice, research and evaluation. We searched the literature for published peer-reviewed studies available through major online publication databases. We identified manuscripts in the health, social science, and business literature on social marketing that used at least one of the 4 Ps of marketing and had a behavioral objective targeting the behaviors or products related to improving water and sanitation. We developed formalized decision rules and applied them in identifying articles for review. We initially identified 117 articles and reviewed a final set of 32 that met our criteria. Social marketing is a widespread strategy. Marketing efforts have created high levels of awareness of health threats and solutions, including behavior change and socially marketed products. There is widespread use of the 4 Ps of marketing, with price interventions being the least common. Evaluations show consistent improvements in behavioral mediators but mixed results in behavior change. Interventions have successfully used social marketing following widely recommended strategies. Future evaluations need to focus on mediators that explain successful behavior change in order to identify best practices and improve future programs. More rigorous evaluations including quasi-experimental designs and randomized trials are needed. More consistent reporting of evaluation results that permits meta-analysis of effects is needed.

• WORLD DEVELOPMENT -OXFORD- VOL 60; (2014) pp.31-42
Public Service Provision under Conditions of Insufficient Citizen Demand: Insights from the Urban Sanitation Sector in Indonesia
Winters, M. S.; Karim, A. G.; Martawardaya, B.
Abstract:
Indonesia drastically lags behind other countries in Southeast Asia and at similar levels of development in supplying urban wastewater sanitation. We use case studies from three cities in Indonesia to better understand why wastewater services are underprovided. We find strong demand-side constraints that interact with supply-side decision making. After comparing the urban wastewater sector in Indonesia to the health, education, and rural wastewater sectors in the country and to the urban wastewater sector in other Southeast Asian countries, we conclude by arguing for an increase in educational programs that will foment citizen demands on the government.