Holy smokes...I found this on another board....
By The Syarifa Foundation Team
The Syarifa Foundation, established in 1995, is a non-profit organization based in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Foundation participates in social, educational, and environmental activities in Indonesia and internationally. To help fund its activities, the Syarifa Foundation Team works with the private sector, government and NGOs on environmental communications needs.
Water has been known to be the slave and master of people. As the most common substance on earth, water can make or destroy civilizations. The first great civilizations arose in the valleys of great rivers -- in the Nile Valley of Egypt, the Indus Valley of India and Pakistan, the Huang He Valley of China and the Tigris-Euphrates Valley of Mesopotamia. Despite its glory, the Sumerian civilization of Mesopotamia perished due to improper management of its water supply.
Water is also a source of international conflict between nations. As Kenneth Frederick of Resources for the Future points out, the world's most accessible fresh water supplies are located within basins and aquifers that cross international borders: many countries depend on water sources originating outside their borders.
The 1998 World Development Indicators from the World Bank predict that by 2025 the rise in population will have increased water demands by 650%, resulting in 3 billion people suffering water shortages.
Although for centuries the human race has understood the importance of an adequate water supply, efforts to alleviate related problems have not progressed as expected. Scarcity and inefficient use of water endanger the sustainable development and environmental quality of many regions, especially the Middle East and North Africa.
On a global scale, however, according to the 1997 UNEP Global Environment Outlook, water problems center on distribution and quality rather than quantity. Unsafe water has a negative impact on human health and ecosystems. Scarcity of water in combination with insufficient fertile land will jeopardize self sufficiency in food production. According to this report, efforts should concentrate on resolving issues related to land-based sources of pollution, non-point-source runoff from agricultural and urban areas, protection of ground water reserves, water pricing, the impact of development projects on ecosystems and competing demands for water.
Finding Solutions Internationally
Water experts and stakeholders from many countries have gathered to find solutions to problems facing fresh water supplies. The major international forum that first drew attention to this issue was the First International Symposium on Water Desalination in Washington D.C., held in 1965. Eventually the United Nations promoted scientific research on water resources by proclaiming 1965 to 1974 the International Hydrological Decade.
In 1977 another UN conference was held to seek more efficient ways of using and conserving water. A further important milestone was the 1992 Dublin International Conference on Water and Environment because it raised the issue of sustainable management of water resources. The Global Water Partnership (GWP) was launched in 1995 to help local, national and regional authorities put the Dublin principles into practice. The Global Water Partnership mandate is:
to provide developing countries with more coherent, cost-effective development assistance for water; and,
to increase responsiveness to the needs of these nations and enable industrial countries to offer cost-effective assistance.
A recent significant meeting was the Inter-national Conference on Water and Sustainable Development in March 1998 at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The objective of this meeting, attended by 600 participants, was to contribute to the elaboration of strategies necessary for improving fresh water resource conservation and management in rural and urban areas.
It is naive to question why, after so many major conferences, people still face problems with fresh water. The world's population keeps increasing and natural conditions change, making it difficult to systematically solve problems.
Furthermore, many people are not aware meetings are being held that are informative and could help solve fresh water problems. As the Internet develops, though, the process of information dissemination is progressing well. One example of up-to-date information available is The Earth Negotiations Bulletin that by e-mail regularly reports environmental meetings to its subscribers free of charge. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin is managed by the International Institute on Sustainable Development, a Canadian-based organization. Other organizations have developed mechanisms for those who do not have access to the Internet. Among them is the UNEP IETC with its PC tool, maESTro.
With all the meetings and information available worldwide, what the public needs is the translation of results into programmable activities that can be implemented and evaluated regularly.
Private Profit
Gloomy projections on fresh water supply highlight the role that the private sector can play, and government decision makers in countries with economies in transition often turn to the private sector to assist them. There are many companies in developed countries providing products and services in the fresh water supply business. Their services include drinking water supply, water desalination, purification plants and potable water systems, as well as the construction, operation and maintenance of facilities. The involvement of the private sector in providing fresh water is promising since this sector is capable of providing capital, networks, technology, experience and human resource development.
Although private firms have the potential to assist developing countries, a recent study by researchers at the University of Southern California in the United States concluded that private firms do not perform as well when competition is lacking. According to the report, Privatization of Public Water Service, public agencies still have to participate to ensure accountability and access to important public services.
Eddy Suhaedi, an official at the Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs, has outlined strategies for the third millennium. His institution is trying to develop catalytic local government approaches aimed at: empowering local government officials and the local community; setting up a conducive climate within public sector partnerships for long-term cooperation; mobilizing multinational funds; and, recruiting professionals from institutions worldwide.
In 1996, Ismail Serageldin from the World Bank showed that there is a clear trend towards privatization in industrialized countries, France being a strong example. Seventy percent of that country's water supplies are privately financed. Countries taking a similar approach are Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In middle-income countries, such as Argentina and Malaysia, the private sector is also important in providing and financing services. This does not necessarily mean that countries with economies in transition do not apply this method, however: for thirty years Abidjan has been involving the private sector in providing its water supply.
Private sector involvement has the potential to increase knowledge of human resources in developing countries. Bernard Lafrogne, the representative of Suez Lyonnes Des Eaux in Jakarta, believes that local involvement is an important method for combining strengths. Lafrogne lists the principal requirements of the water privatization business as follows: analytical laboratory work, quality control, infrastructure planning, project management, engineering, crisis control, health and safety, project finance, technical assistance, research laboratories, risk assessment, computer application, training and security.
Consequently, companies should be able and willing to help countries in need since there is not a lack of business incentives, as illustrated by the World Bank Group initiatives. As the largest international source of financing for water projects, the World Bank has lent more than $36 billion since 1950 for investment in irrigation, water supply and sanitation.
The Public Concerns
Private sector involvement has created a number of pros and cons as illustrated by the case of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. The city and its vicinity, with a population of close to 10 million, depend on a piped supply (14%), street vendors (32%) and private wells (54%). Due to administrative mismanagement, water leakage in the city is approximately 50%.
The regional government decided to privatize fresh water supply through two Indonesian companies in cooperation with Thames Water International (Britain) and Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux (France). But private sector involvement is not without consequences, including price increases, inappropriate business practices, a lack of technical capability and insufficient information dissemination.
The Indonesian Consumers' Association stresses that consumers do not care which companies assist the government in water privatization as long as quality, good service and affordable prices are guaranteed. Some people, however, claim that information about Jakarta's water privatization plan has not been widely circulated and only select parties know about it. Due to a lack of transparency, consumers are worried that they do not know how charges will be applied and how much they will be. Ideally, interested parties should give a transparent bid including development costs, types of cooperation, profit sharing, concession time and charges to consumers.
Dr. Elly Rasdiani Sudibjo, an environmental consultant in Indonesia, is not so worried about the lack of transparency, as transparency levels depend entirely on the attitudes of government decision makers and company management. She is more concerned about who the investors are, since those who have the capital do not necessarily have the best technology. In Sudibjo's opinion, consultants can help to manage fresh water projects, and with improved work ethic, there is no reason why a country should not have a perfect system with private sector involvement.
Technology Transfer
Fresh water supply involves technology transfer. For developed countries, technology transfer serves to build relationships, as well as to strengthen economic, political and cultural influence. Technology is also considered a tool to increase business opportunities. As one Canadian organization points out, the steps to penetrating markets in developing countries include showcasing technologies, facilitating development assistance, establishing in-country representatives and marketing.
There is nothing wrong with developed countries marketing their products and services. In fact, people in transitional economies need to be aware of the agenda of technology owners so that they will be able to make informed decisions. Concerned parties in developing countries should be able to establish a mechanism for controlling their own objectives.
One such mechanism is a checklist that can help shape the technological decisions that support fresh water supply:
identify the potentials of fresh water supply in an area (brainstorming, discussions, studies, etc.);
establish local, national and international networks (universities, private sectors, government organizations, NGOs, etc.);
decide on the technology needed (fact finding, technology sourcing, etc.);
review criteria of appropriate technology;
check criteria for Environmentally Sound Technology (EST);
identify potential collaboration;
identify financing options;
modify technology transfer mechanism;
establish agreement and program; and,
implement activities.
Technologies for the Future
The challenge facing the world in the third millennium is the same as in ancient times: people have to make the best use of water. Technologies for fresh water supply are the reason developing countries turn to the private sector, as companies are able to develop technologies through their research and development.
There are many technologies available. One of those that has potential is Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), a resource management technology. This is a method of automatically and remotely monitoring customer resource consumption. Data is collected from customers' utility meters through telecommunications, radios, power-lines and other links. AMR can be used to monitor the use of gas, water and electricity.
Ideally, resources should be produced where they are used. Meters that record the use of electricity, gas and water should provide up-to-date, timely and accurate information. Accurate information on resource use is a necessary baseline for decision makers and regulators. Customers will also be able to manage and adjust their businesses and lifestyles based on accurate information of resource utilization. Consequently, resource conservation is in the interests of the utility industry, the users and the general public.
The advantages of AMR deployment encompass efficiency of operational costs, timely and accurate reading and billing, reductions in leakage, loss, theft and tampering, and improved information availability and customer service. For now, AMR is still considered a sophisticated technology. Countries that have applied this technology include the USA, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Germany and Japan.
Another available technology is desalination which transforms sea water into fresh water. The Economist (4 April 1998) mentioned two types of desalination technologies: distillation and reverse osmosis. In distillation, salty water is heated to produce vapor which is then condensed to produce fresh, potable water. In reverse osmosis, sea water is passed through a filter to remove suspended solids. This water is then passed through a membrane under pressure. Water passes through the membrane, but salt does not. A Canadian company, Candesal Inc., has portable desalination equipment that is appropriate for archipelago nations such as Indonesia and the Philippines.
International Water Solutions Corporation of Canada has patented the Microsep System which allows up to a 70% reduction in installation space compared with standard systems. The system also has a high settling rate of suspended solids and associated contaminants. The reduced-space system is ideal for cities or countries with land limitations.
Apparently, many ESTs in developing countries today are exogenous technologies, which means they are supplied by developed countries. At the 1998 International Seminar on the Information Systems of ESTs, participants recognized that even if many of these technologies are well suited to be applied in developing countries, there is still a need to gather information on endogenous technologies available in developing countries. Information about these technologies may already exist but may not have been properly gathered, documented or organized. Therefore, endogenous, developing-country technologies need to be surveyed, documented and this information widely disseminated. This is true for technologies related to fresh water supply as well.
Communicating Needs and Capabilities
Care must be taken, however, to be sure that the benefits of involving the private sector to provide fresh water are not reduced by miscommunication among interested parties. Too often quality information does not reach appropriate audiences due to poor communications tools. As a result, misunderstandings may occur among companies, the government, shareholders and the general public. As the Jakarta case mentioned above illustrates, the public feel that they do not have enough information, while companies do not want to communicate fully for fear of jeopardizing their contracts.
Communication comprising environmental education aspects may help the public understand what is involved in activities. In the long run communication will not only improve the image of the private sector, it will also increase opportunities for more business. Water, however, will inevitably remain the slave and master of people.
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