Water and Wastewater Management in Megacities

Urban agglomerations, in particular megacities, face a large number of challenges. Among these is the supply of the population with drinking water and sanitation services. It is obvious that these lifelines are essential for survival of the urban agglomeration and its inhabitants. Increasing urbanization leads to ever increasing pressures on water supply and sanitation. Some cities, especially those in arid areas, already suffer from water scarcity, a situation which may be exacerbated by climate change. Therefore, there is a pressing need to prepare the city’s water and wastewater system for the future, in order to adapt to potential future developments, such as those driven by population growth and by climate change.

On the other hand, at present, water management in many cities is done in a rather sectoral way - different administrative units are responsible for drinking water supply and for wastewater management, whilst again different units are responsible for water tariff setting and for urban planning. This often hinders a truly integrative approach and may prevent the implementation of more innovative approaches such as, for example, wastewater or greywater recycling or consideration of the water system as an integral part of the urban landscape (water sensitive urban design). Also, lacking involvement of all the stakeholders of the urban water systems in the discussion and decision process often leads to important issues not being considered in the planning process. Furthermore, as experience suggests, measures implemented without the support of the local stakeholders will not lead to successful implementation or may result in lack of support of implementation of measures.

Even from these two short paragraphs, it becomes clear that sustainable water and wastewater management of cities, and their preparation for future developments, represents a rather complex task. This article describes the situation of water supply and sanitation in Lima - the second-driest city in the world, which faces a number of challenges at present and in the future. In order to tackle these challenges, the Peruvian- German cooperation project 'Sustainable Water and Wastewater Management in Urban Growth Centres Coping with Climate Change - Concepts for Lima Metropolitana (Perú) - Lima Water - LiWaâ€� has been set up. The LiWa project provides methodologies and tools assisting in tackling these challenges. Further information on the LiWa project and its partners, which is coordinated by the non-profit research institute ifak Magdeburg, can be found on http://www.lima-water.de. Although the 'LiWaâ€� project puts particular emphasis on the water system of Lima, its methodology and tools are generic and can be applied also to other cities throughout the world.

 

 

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© Witzenhausen-Institut für Abfall, Umwelt und Energie GmbH (4/2025)
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© Witzenhausen-Institut für Abfall, Umwelt und Energie GmbH (4/2025)
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