Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene 2014 Sept - Oct Vol. 9 No.5 | Page 15

Water in the Post 2015 Development Agenda

Targets & Indicators

Managing wastewater and pollution to protect water quality
industrial or agricultural, is a prerequisite for ensuring,
sustainable development, poverty alleviation, job creation,
human and ecosystem health and people’s well-being. This
concern and recognition was very clearly expressed at
Rio+20 and requires countries to act.

Target D: Reduce wastewater pollution and improve water quality by reducing
untreated domestic and industrial wastewater by (x%); increasing wastewater reused
safely by (y%); and reducing nutrient pollution by (z%) to maximize water resource
availability.

I

n addition to adequate volumes of water, social and
economic development is also dependent on good
water quality. Human activity is the main cause of
pollution that makes water dangerous, expensive or even
unusable. There is a need to limit pollution, manage
wastewater and protect and improve the quality of water
thus enabling needs to be met safely.
The proposed target reflects the growing urgency
for effective wastewater management and prevention
of water-related pollution. Managing the human and
environmental impacts of poor wastewater management
and increasing the re-use of wastewater for productive
purposes has significant public health, environmental
and economic benefits. The Rio+20 outcome document
stressed the need to adopt measures to ‘significantly
reduce water pollution and increase water quality,
(and) significantly improve wastewater treatment’. The
health and poverty reduction benefits are linked to, and
significantly enhance and reinforce, those from targets A
and B, particularly regarding water quality and reducing
waterborne and water-washed
diseases.
There is growing recognition
that the management of
domestic wastewater especially in the urban setting
- is crucial to realize the health
and environmental gains
possible through providing
basic sanitation facilities.
Protection of water quality
from all sources of untreated
wastewater, be they domestic,

Indicators are proposed that promote improved
wastewater management and pollution prevention by
addressing: (i) public health protection (ii) protection of
the environment (iii) promote the reuse of wastewater
and sludge, (iv) support the multiple opportunities of
water, nutrient and energy recovery. It is suggested that
the indicators are prioritized to address: a) pollution
from urban wastewater that comprises both domestic
and industrial components, b) point source pollution
from large scale industrial and agricultural activities,
and c) diffuse pollution, primarily from agriculture. The
indicators are designed to help the progressive realization
of improvements and to be appropriate to the local
context and to the nature of the receiving waters, while
avoiding the creation of perverse incentives or objectives
that may not be in the national best interest.
As with the other targets, this target both supports and is
supported by the other components of the water goal. For
example, it aims to ensure water quality by collecting and
treating the pollution arising from sanitation and hygiene,
but can onl 䁑