Summary

In this Study Session, you have learned that:

• WASH services provide the water, sanitation and hygiene needs of urban communities. These include water supply systems, sanitation services and waste management services.
• Water supply services consist of the provision, operation and management of infrastructure for withdrawal (from the water source), treatment and distribution of clean water to communities.
• Sanitation or sewerage services consist of household, institutional and public latrines and the system for collecting and safely disposing of sludge from septic tanks and pit latrines.
• Waste management services include the complete chain of service from waste collection and transport to final disposal, and the management and administration of equipment and infrastructure related to the service.
• WASH services in urban areas are delivered through utilities and municipalities. Utilities are semi-private organisations that provide water supply and sewerage services, septic sludge collection and disposal services to urban communities at affordable prices. Water supply and sewerage utilities recover their expenses through tariffs collected from users.
• Municipalities provide solid waste collection, transport and disposal services. Micro- and small enterprises may partner with municipalities in public–private partnerships.
• Slums and peri-urban areas, characterised by informal and unplanned settlement, with little or no basic services and poor access, pose particularly difficult challenges for the provision of WASH services.