Presentation to Columbia University's Engineering for Developing Communities class, May 2019. Provides a background on the transition from the MDG to the SDG era in water and sanitation, the current status of the sector, and how data can play a role in accelerating progress toward safely managed water and sanitation.

1. Achieving the SDGs
…in our lifetime
John Feighery, PhD
Co-founder and Chief Operating Office, mWater

2. Millennium Development Goals
• Developed by Northern academic
institutions and international
organizations
• No “Water Goal”; and the sub-targets
did not include the word “safe"
• Improved Water Supply and Improved
Sanitation were invented
• Community Management Model
promoted for maintenance

3. Sustainable Development Goal
• Accessible on premises
• Available when needed
• Safe - free of contamination

4. Rungs on a ladder?
Intermediate Service Levels:
• Poor water quality -> health benefits not
achieved
• Infrastructure not maintained because users
don’t want to pay for inferior services
• Water hauling, mostly by women and girls

5. Water and sanitation are linked

6. We know how to deliver safe water
Source:WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, “Safely Managed DrinkingWater”
% compliance with WHO E. coli standard

7. We have known for a long time

8. Piped water is safer and more sustainable
Safely Managed Services:
• High quality water -> reduced disease
• Adequate quantity of safe water for
domestic uses, such as bathing/washing
• Professionally managed infrastructure,
supported by user fees
• Girls go to school and women can work

9. The future
of water is
pipes
Data from the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme for Water and Sanitation (JMP).
www.washdata.org

10. The future
of rural
water is
pipes
Data from the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme for Water and Sanitation (JMP).
www.washdata.org

11. The story of China

12. The state of theWASH sector in 2019
Problem #1:We
don’t have enough
money
Problem #2: Our
solutions are not
scalable or
sustainable
Hutton andVerughese 2016. “The Costs of Meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development GoalTargets on
DrinkingWater, Sanitation, and Hygiene.”TheWorld Bank Group.

13. The state of theWASH sector in 2019
Problem #1:We
don’t have enough
money
Problem #2: Our
solutions are not
scalable or
sustainable
Hutton andVerughese 2016. “The Costs of Meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development GoalTargets on
DrinkingWater, Sanitation, and Hygiene.”TheWorld Bank Group.

14. CurrentWASH sector thinking
• USAID – move countries along the “journey to self-reliance” – shift in
emphasis from building infrastructure to supporting institutions and
strengthening systems
• NGOs and UN agencies beginning to embrace ‘System strengthening’
and supporting the ‘enabling environment’ – presumes that building
strong institutions leads to good services; yet only 2% of foreign ODA
goes toward system strengthening
• Social enterprises and innovation – public/private partnerships,
entrepreneurship, solutionism
• New emphasis onWASH finance – engaging with commercial lending
institutions, developing pipeline of “investable projects”

15. How do we get to safely managed water?
Aid can’t do it alone, we need to:
• Professionalize operations and
maintenance
• Manage public assets and water
resources better
• Improve fee collection and
accountability
• Demonstrate a financial track record
to investors
All of this requires data

16. mWater: Turning
data into action
45,000+ users in 158
countries
Local NGOs and
researchers
International
organizations and
large NGOs
Governments and
utilities

17. the mWater platform
Free mobile data collection
and analysis
• Surveyor MobileApp (Android,
iPhone, & web) for data collection
• Portal (portal.mwater.co) for
survey design, data cleaning, and
visualization
1
7

18. Our business model: free
• Large organizations and programs
invest in building and maintaining the
software
• All users benefit when one
organization invests back into the
platform
• No ongoing software fees or IT
consultants -> Sustainable capacity
for the water sector
mWater investors include:

19. Examples of data in action
Haiti – Commune Action Plans Malawi – Borehole Forensics

20. Join us!
www.mWater.co
info@mwater.co