Managing water, including obtaining clean water and disposing of wastewater, is very important for every country in the world. UNEP and Tongji University, one of the leading higher education institutions in China, co-established the UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD) in May 2002 to help African countries deal with this issue.

Since 2008, IESD has been involved in the project "Development and Demonstration of New Technologies for Safe Water Supply" under the ongoing UNEP-China-Africa Cooperation Program on the Environment, which is sponsored by China's Ministry of Science and Technology, and coordinated by the Regional Office for Africa of UNEP. 

Africa desperately needs safe, environmentally sound and cost-efficient ways to treat and dispose wastewater produced by urban communities and industries. Africa is urbanizing quickly and new cities are struggling to provide access to water and sanitation to the fast-growing population. The wastewater produced by communities and factories has been grossly undervalued as a resource for clean water, and even energy and nutrients, according to the World Bank. Wastewater, without proper treatment, however, can become a hazard to the local environment and health.

At the same time, the important role that forestry can play in improving the urban and periurban environments in arid and semi-arid regions has not been fully realized. UNEP thus came up with the idea of using municipal wastewater to irrigate forests, forest plantations, greenbelts and amenity trees in urban areas, thereby killing two birds with one stone.

IESD took on the challenge and proved that the idea is not only possible, but also effective and efficient in practice. Using treatment technologies from China, wastewater was first treated to reach the standards for irrigation purposes, while producing no harm to the soil. Then, several plants were carefully chosen to study the use of the treated wastewater. Finally, the plant Jatropha (bio-fuel) was selected for use in urban afforestation in Libya.

Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company is the water and sewerage service provider within the city of Nairobi and its environment. This year, the company has joined the project for another initiative: treatment of drinking water. 

Peter Kuguru, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nairobi Water Company, expressed his hopes for the cooperation. "We are expecting the cooperation with IESD on the project of safe water supply. This will not only improve the efficiency of the water and wastewater treatment works in terms of quality and quantity, but also expose the company staff to emerging technologies in water and wastewater management." According to him, the project will also bring great potential benefits for local people. Environmental sustainability will be improved and after the cooperation, Nairobi Water Company will be a hub for excellence in water and wastewater management. "Hopefully, water availability will be guaranteed as technology will be adopted, which will ensure a continuous supply of water throughout the year," he added.

Starting in 2008, the project has benefited many cities in Libya, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia and Burundi. To date, more than 30 professionals and officials have received training on wastewater treatment and sustainable utilization of wastewater for afforestation by Tongji University in Shanghai, China. Students from Egypt and Kenya received scholarships for higher education (MSC and PhD) for further research in the area of water treatment, and a pilot project on the reuse of wastewater for irrigating trees in Sirt, Libya has begun. More pilot projects are under construction in Ethiopia and Kenya.

To date, in the targeted countries, people have become more aware of the importance of wastewater treatment and management. The local capacity on the issues has been improved through various technology promotion activities, such as trainings, joint research and educational programs.

(Dr. Mohamed A.S. Abdel-Monem is the Regional Team Leader of Ecosystem Management in ROA/UNEP and the focal point for the Program from UNEP; and Tian Ping is Dr. Mohamed's assistant, special coordinator of the Program)