Department Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development

Sanitation Planning

Rapid urbanisation presents significant challenges for cities worldwide, particularly in delivering effective sanitation services that are essential for public health, environmental sustainability, climate resilience and human dignity. The complexities of urban environments—characterized by high population density, informal settlements, and fragmented governance further complicate sanitation provision. SESP addresses these challenges through innovative planning approaches such as CLUES and CWIS, ensuring that sanitation planning is both equitable and sustainable in diverse urban contexts.

Contact

Dr. Christoph Lüthi Dr. Eng. Infrastructure Planning Tel. +41 58 765 5614 Send Mail
Dr. Abishek S Narayan Project Manager / Researcher Tel. +41 58 765 6771 Send Mail

Current Projects

WABES explores opportunities for integrated planning, implementation and sustainability of water, solid waste and fecal sludge service provision in urban settings.
The aim of CWIS research is to develop a method that synthesizes existing information about the sanitation landscapes of cities in India and that presents comprehensive sanitation solutions.
WaterReuseLab aims at analyzing how a new generation of decentralized water reuse systems could be developed in Bengaluru, India
In partnership with SECO, a project contributing to sanitation solutions for settlements which cannot be connected to large-scale wastewater treatment schemes in the Greater Tirana region, in Albania

Past Projects

This research aims to bridge the planning gap for secondary towns (i.e. less than 100’000 population).
Eawag-Sandec in partnership with UN-HABITAT and WSSCC has published complete guidelines for Community-Led Urban Environmental Sanitation Planning (CLUES).
This two-year research project assesses the conditions and functionality of sanitary infrastructure in four selected health centres in India and Uganda.
Identifying criteria to determine when a shared toilet can be considered of high quality in terms of user acceptability, impact on wellbeing and other potential quality indicators.

Resources

A broad overview of sanitation systems and technologies in various contexts.
ConCaD will build capacity of private sector consulting firms and individual consultants to plan and design urban sanitation services.