Regional Report
Regional Process
Commission
Region: Asia-Pacific
ANNEX
Theme: Urban

Coordinator: Asia-Pacific Water Forum

Pre-forum version
March 2018

8 th W ORL D W ATER FORUM | BRASÍ L I A -BRASI L , MARC H 1 8 -2 3 , 2 0 1 8
www.worldwaterforum8.org | secretariat@worldwaterforum8.org| office@apwf.org

1

Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water Forum

Theme: Urban

Circular Economy, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Theme leader: Global Water Partnership Organization
Co-theme leader: PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, UN-HABITAT

Contents
Key Messages................................................................................................................................ 2
1. Background ............................................................................................................................... 3
2. Case studies .............................................................................................................................. 6
2.1 Water Recycling .............................................................................................................. 6
2.2 Wastewater Reuse .......................................................................................................... 8
2.3 CE Enabling Environment................................................................................................. 9
3. Actions and Sub-actions, and measures to overcome the problems and achieve thesolutions..................................................................................................................................... 12

Key Messages
Key Message 1: on Water Reuse – Recycling – Reduce• Water reuse isn’t the future – it is the present. Innovative technologies andapproaches on water resource management can help to diversify sources of water
while at the same time decrease costs, and increase resilience of communities. Thereare considerable opportunities for making use of different sources of water (storm
water, rain water, raw water, grey and black waters) available as potential new
resources, that will require technology transfer, social acceptance, adjusted legislation,
tariffs and regulation. Water recycling is an opportunity in regions with high water
scarcity, this solution becomes essential for social, economic and environmental
sustainability because it reduces stress on the water resource. The approach of water
conservation, i.e. water demand management, is also important for water-scarce areas
when options of developing new water resources are limited and costly. It involves the
adoption of policies or investment by a water utility to reduce the waste of water
resources and achieve efficient water use by all members.
Key Message 2: on Wastewater• Wastewater is not wasted water; it is potentially an important resource. Sludge wastraditionally considered as a waste in the water sector. But now new approaches haveturned it into a valuable resource from wastewater that can be used to generate
electricity, recover nutrients, and reduce landfill disposal. Benefits such as income
generation, employment, poverty alleviation, contribution to food security, improved
environmental standards can be gained from well-defined sludge management.
Decentralized wastewater treatment systems (DEWATS) and community manageable
solutions can respond to local needs and capacity in an efficient and sustainable way.

2

Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water Forum

Key Message 3: on Enabling Environment• Making circular economy a reality requires a conducive and enabling environment. It
will require coordination mechanisms at all levels of government and the involvementof all stakeholders, as well as a long term and holistic urbanistic planning processes.
New business models and opportunities can be derived from the adoption of a circular
economy that will require new finance, regulation, norms, and raising the priority forinvestment in wastewater and reuse. The adoption of a new Circular Economy
approach will also require cultural change and acceptance: sensitization of the
populations on all issues relating to wastewater management and water quality andrainwater.

1. Background
Key Challenges

As the main economic engines of growth, Asian cities are increasingly challenged toensure sustainability of development while reaping the benefits of urbanization. In
2016, 48.2 % of the Asian population was living in urban areas and the urban
population is expected to rise to 64% by 2050 1. In the meantime, water bodies arebeing overexploited, as both sources of water and also as means of wastewaterdisposal.
According to a study released in March 2016 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology
researchers in the journal PLOS2, at least 1 billion of the Asia's estimated 4.4 billion
people could be facing extreme fresh water shortages in the near future. The
researchers go on saying that if current trends in climate change and population
growth continue, models show that a big swath of Asia could be facing a "high risk ofsevere water stress" in as little as 35 years.
Most Asian cities do not have effective wastewater treatment systems. In thePhilippines, for example, only 10% of wastewater is treated while in Indonesia thefigure is 14%, in Viet Nam, 4%, and in India, 9%3 rivers have been degraded byover-extraction and pollution, and entire ecosystems have been damaged, withnegative impacts on biodiversity and the lifestyle of people in the area. In addition,over 1.7 billion people lack access to improved sanitation in Asia and the Pacific andmillions defecate in the open. But building new toilets alone is not enough to improve
public health, says ADB analyst Jingmin Huang.
Cities in Asia and the Pacific region are increasingly feeling the pressure of population
1

Reference: UN-Habitat. (2016). Urbanization and Development, Emerging Future. World Cities Report2016.
2 http://www.businessinsider.com/asia-may-run-out-fresh-water-2050-2016-3?r=US&IR=T&IR=T.
3 https://www.adb.org/features/wastewater-management-and-sanitation-numbers.

3

Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water Forum
growth and urbanization. In South-east Asia, although there are abundant rivers, theoverpopulation has led to major pollution and caused the water to be undrinkable.
Many people don’t have enough clean water to drink. For South Asia4, home to nearly
1.6 billion people, it is estimated that 22 of 32 Indian cities face daily water shortages.
Besides, South-east Asia and India are currently suffering from one of their worst heatwaves in history with temperatures regularly reaching mid-forties 5 (Celsius). Whilenearly 20% of the world’s population are living in China 6, the country only contains 7%of the world’s fresh water. 11 out of 31 Chinese provinces failed to meet the WorldBank’s water needs criteria of 1500 m3 per person in 2014. Due to limited water
resources, water is often a major cause of border conflicts in Central Asia7. And many
Pacific islands 8 are facing the risk that freshwater scarcity may lead to an
uninhabitable island, which is mainly caused by climate change.
The Asian Region is also home to devastating floods exacerbated by the change in rain
patterns. Just recently, in August 2017, more than 800 people have been killed and 24
million affected following widespread floods across south Asia, affecting mainly
Bangladesh, India and Nepal. In 2011, the city of Bangkok has known one of the mostdestructive floods of its history, affecting all sectors of the economy and livelihoods.
Urban planners are wondering how to make better use of rain, storm water andfloods.
The above mentioned situations show that Asia cities face major challenges concerning
both the quantity and the quality of the water resource. Promising experiences on
IUWM and circular economy are gradually being developed in Asia that need to be
captured and shared as they can have the tremendous potential to bring aboutchanges in urban health and economy.
Urban strategic frameworks
The Paris Climate Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to thethreat of climate change. The Agreement requires all parties to make their best efforts
through ‘Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)’, which means each country
determines, plans and regularly reports its own contribution to mitigate global
warming. Since urban areas are responsible for 70% of global carbon dioxide4

http://asiafoundation.org/2015/03/25/south-asias-water-crisis-a-problem-of-scarcity-amid-abundance/.
5

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/southeast-asia-india-suffering-worst-drought-in-20-years/.
6 https://globalriskinsights.com/2017/08/shocks -china-growing-water-crisis/.
7

https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2017/02/06/will-central-asia-fight-over-water-resources/#4135
78114c1f.
8 https://sinkingislands.com/2014/09/20/water-shortage-in-paradise/ .

4

Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water Forumemissions9, cities should take proactive actions to tackle climate change issue, which
can ensure the health, wellbeing and economic opportunities for urban residents. The
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is helping to deliver Paris Agreement andguarantee a sustainable development for both cities and citizens.
The Sustainable Development Goals clearly address these urban wills and challenges
by proposing specific targets on water quality, pollution and wastewater treatment(SDG 6.3), integrated water resources management (SDG 6.5) and on waste
management (SDG 11.6). As more and more people are migrating to cities,
urbanization causes extreme environmental degradation. While at the same time,
most global business activities take place in urban areas, cities should take a lea dingrole to find a balance between nature and human so that both of them could develop
sustainably.
In Quito (October 2016), world leaders adopted the New Urban Agenda which set
global standards of achievement in sustainable urban development, rethinking the way
we build, manage, and live in cities through drawing together cooperation withcommitted partners, relevant stakeholders, and urban actors at all levels ofgovernment as well as the civil society and private sectors.
Promising approaches (IUWM and Circular Economy)
Furthermore, the adoption of integrated and innovative approaches is likely to havemultiple benefits in terms of improved livelihoods, poverty alleviation, health,employment, income generation, ecosystem sustainability, urban resilience capacity,urban food security and energy security. IUWM is nested within the notion of IWRM.
As IWRM provides a framework for interventions over the entire water cycle and areconsideration of the way water is used and reused, the idea behind IUWM is toconsider the entire urban water system in a holistic manner as a part of a coherent
framework.
Emerging innovative approaches are increasingly being adopted that include
integrated management, considering the whole cycle, from its resource to its use, its
waste and reuse, as one system, as well as promoting a multi-sectoral approach where
all urban users of water upstream and downstream can communicate and plan.
Unlike the traditional ‘take-make-dispose’ business model, a circular economy aims toredefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. The circular model basedon three principles: design out waste and pollution; keep products and materials inuse; and regenerate natural system. This concept requires that economy needs towork effectively at all scales for both large and small businesses, globally and locally.
Through recycling and reusing, circular economy will lead to a closed loop of productlifecycle, which can benefit both environment and economy.
9

https://www.iea.org/newsroom/news/2016/september/cities -are-at-the-frontline-of-the-energy-transit
ion.html.

5

Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water ForumThe use of recycled water as a potential resource for industrial and agricultural
applications, as well as for drinking water offers an alternative that could help to face
the challenge of resource availability in water scarce areas. This solution can become
essential for social, economic and environmental sustainability because it reduces
stress on the water resource. Recycling water promotes productive activities acrosssectors, and consequently reduces negative economic and environmental impacts andcontributes to diminishing potential conflicts. Resource recovery and reuse seeks toshift the focus away from waste that needs disposal, toward creating a valuable
resource that can benefit (urban) farmers, create jobs and generate funds to improve
sanitation (IWMI).
Combining policy planning for storm water management, rainwater harvesting, andwastewater treatment is a valuable option for developing eco-efficient water
infrastructure to tackle such problems as water shortage, floods and public healthconcerns – in unison (UNESCAP 2011).
Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems (DEWATS) are based on the principle oflow-maintenance since most important parts of the system work without technicalenergy inputs and cannot be switched off intentionally (ref BORDA). DEWATS
applications provide state-of-the-art-technology at affordable prices because all of thematerials used for construction are locally available.
This is just the beginning of a transition towards integrated management ofwastewater, storm water, solid waste, energy, and urban agriculture within urban
planning and management. It will require to adjust existing norms and regulations
around the use of wastes as well a cultural mind shift in the way we perceive andconsider the use of wastewater in all its forms.

2. Case studies
2.1 Water Recycling
Case 1: NEWater in Singapore10
Although Singapore has abundant rainfall, it still is considered as a water-scarcecity-state. With growth of industries and population placing increased pressures onwater resources in the early years of independence, PUB, Singapore’s National Water
Agency, was compelled to increase local water catchments, and look for innovative
ways to diversify the sources of freshwater.
• Diversify sources of water: developing unconventional sources of water ie.
using membrane technology to reclaim treated wastewater (to produce
high-grade reclaimed water known as NEWater) and desalinate seawater.
These sources of water are not dependent on rainfall, and are thus more
10

References: Water Recycling in Singapore; Singapore Water Story [PowerPoint slides].

6

Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water Forum•••

weather-resilient. Today, NEWater and desalinated water can meet up to 40%
and 25% of total water demand respectively.
Strong government support: water issues are at the top of the government
agenda since independence.
Public acceptance: sustained public education programme (e.g. establishing
the NEWater Visitor Centre for the public to learn about the treatment process
and providing NEWater for public sampling purposes) to complement thetechnical rigor in the development of NEWater.
Monitoring and Maintenance: stringent audit process on NEWater that
continues to take place twice a year in Singapore.

Case 2: Rainwater harvesting and storm water management in Bangladesh 11
Rapid population growth in Dhaka City puts much pressure on urban water system.
Even normal events now can cause drainage congestion and water logging. It can beforeseen the situation will be worse in the future due to climate change.
• Pilot study on rainwater harvesting: conducted by BWP and partnerorganizations. Results turned out to be feasible and promising.
• Recharge groundwater aquifer: rainwater is collected from rooftop and part ofthe storm water is injected.
• Simulation with a model: a rainfall-runoff model was constructed to simulatedifferent scenarios to evaluate the performance of rainwater harvesting.
• Injection rates may vary for different aquifer properties: this is yet to beascertained.
• Rainwater quality: injected water quality was recorded and no significant
threat to contamination of aquifer was observed if rainwater in the first 10 min
is flashed outside the recharge pit.
Case 3: Sponge city – Shenzhen12
Rapid urbanization brought series water challenges to Shenzhen city, in the form ofstorm water pollution, reduced environmental capacity and water shortage. The city is
now aiming to address these issues and uncertain future, through circular economy
and sponge city concepts, as important components for future development.
• Strong political will and support: ‘Shenzhen Water Strategy’ flood control
program and several regulations were introduced (e.g. Shenzhen Blueline
Management Regulations, Shenzhen Water Conservation Regulations).
• Improved storm water management: rainwater infiltration, retention andstorage and Low Impact Development facilities were developed.
• Demonstration area project: Guangming New District was selected to examine
low impact development.
• Sludge reuse for nutrient recovery• Public engagement: public hearings, knowledge sharing and financing platforms
11 Reference: Rainwater Harvesting in Urban Areas.
12 Reference:

http://www.iwa-network.org/city/shenzhen/ .

7

Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water Forum
have been created.
Key lessons learnt on water recycling: Innovative new technologies can be applied todiversify sources of water (recycled water, storm water, rainwater), which can be
helpful to address water issues (e.g. water scarcity; water logging). Developing a newconcept will also improve urban water management (e.g. ‘Sponge city’ concept instorm water management). Monitoring and maintenance on the operation of thesetechnologies should be kept in mind. Sometimes, a demonstration project can be
helpful to examine the feasibility of improved management before widespread
applications. In addition, achieving public acceptance on such innovative s olutions is
significant. The media is an essential partner on public education.
2.2 Wastewater Reuse
Case 1: Wastewater to resource recovery in China 13
Water resource shortage, increasing water use, large wastewater discharge and severe
river water quality are the main challenges for China. To strengthen water security, thegovernment is trying to make use of recycled water and consider wastewater as a newwater resource.
• Recycled water treatment plants: the number and the capacity of the plants
are both increasing. Treated wastewater is used to urban river recharge,
green space irrigation and road cleaning. Higher standards will be applied in the
future.
• Wastewater treatment plants database: all operation data of WWTPs arecollected over the past 10 years.
• Sludge management: sludge is used for biogas production and soil
enhancement. In Beijing, bio char produced from sludge is sold to landscapecompany.
• A new water tariff system: with help of World Bank and ADB, a national water
tariff system is under development.
• Public-Private Partnership: the market is opened to attract more private
sectors to promote PPP.
Case 2: Waste to Watts in India 14
More than half of India is facing high water stress, as demand of water-intensive
sectors is growing (i.e. agriculture, urban, industry and energy production). The current
linear model will fail while a circular economy perspective can make water

13 Reference: Presentations from China during SWWW.

https://programme.worldwaterweek.org/Content/ProposalResources/PDF/2017/pdf-2017-6711-1-Fu_20
170830_SWWW_All.pdf
14 Reference:

http://wri-india.org/blog/waste-watts-how-sewage-could-help-fix-indias-water-energy-and-sa
nitation-woes.

8Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water Forummanagement more efficient. Usable water, nutrients and renewable energy can be
abstracted from industrial and domestic wastewater.
• Sludge-to-energy plants: three useful products are generated (energy,
digestate and water). Produced biogas is used for on-site energy, or purified
further and sold as natural gas. Solid digestate is used for soil enhancement.
• Cost-effectiveness: sludge-to-energy plants can be installed in existing WWTPs,
saving time, space and time.
• Win-win: current WWTPs lack capacity to fully operate. Non-traditional,
smaller sludge-to-energy systems can be helpful to overcome. They can help
WWTPs become financially feasible and reduce GHG emissions, which will meetgrowing water and sanitation needs.
Case 3: Community-managed DEWATS approach in Indonesia 15
In Indonesia, urban sanitation is almost entirely private and on-site, and theinstitutional capacity is limited to manage sanitation services. Indonesian government
then considers DEWATS as the best available option for eradicating open defecationand improving sanitation in urban areas.
• Pilot site (SANIMAS): 7 pilot sites were set up between 2003 and 2004, withdecentralization of powers and functions to local government to promote
co-management.
• Political will and support: service sustainability was drew by revising
implementation guidelines. Sanitation development program was included innational development plan.
• Behavior change: through campaigns and education at community level.
Key lessons learnt on wastewater reuse: Wastewater is not wasted and waste are
valuable. Wastewater reuse can be applied to urban/peri-urban agriculture, which canaddress food security and reduce energy consumption of treatment plant at the sametime. This new idea needs quality control methods to pay attention on public
acceptance, since it raises health concern. Decentralized Waste Treatment System canmeet local community demands and be sustainable applying RRR approach, whichshould be analyzed from a multi-disciplinary perspective. More job opportunities are
created through public private partnership.

2.3 CE Enabling Environment
Case 1: Legal framework on rainwater harvesting and technical guidelines for solid
waste management in Nepal 16
Residents are facing acute water shortage during dry seasons, and land subsidence is
15 Reference: WSP. (2013). Review of Community-managed Decentralized Wastewater Treatment

Systems in Indonesia. WSP, Washington, DC.

Reference: Legal framework on rainwater harvesting and technical guideline for solid
waste management: NEPAL.
16

9

Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water Forumbecoming a concern due to over pumping groundwater. Worse situations will occur
under sustained population growth and climate change. So the government developed
legal framework for rainwater to respond to water crisis.
• Capacity building: workshop were organized to municipal staff to influence thepolicy of local municipalities, inviting engineer and planners as well.
• Public education: 4 demonstration sites were developed to sensitize local
people, with a rainwater harvesting guideline introduced in local language.
Education on rainwater harvesting also took place in schools.
Solid waste management is challenging Nepal. Municipalities are limited to sweeping
streets and dumping waste in the river or vacant land. Modern waste management
techniques haven’t been introduced. Government wants to improve solid waste
management service and protect ecosystems at the same time.
• Political support: acts, guidelines and enforcement mechanisms weredeveloped. Clear responsibilities were identified for stakeholders.
Case 2: Georgia17
To avoid occurrence of discharges of untreated wastewater that can affect access todrinking water, Georgia introduced several laws, regulations on water protection.
• Strong political support and continuous leadership: environmental technicalregulations and decree on sewerage system treatment facilities improvement
were approved. Legislative acts also defined water use categories and water
bodies’ classification.
• Public engagements are involved in projects related to water protection (e.g.
public hearing).
• Inter-governmental cooperation: an authority was set up on trans-boundarywater resource management between Azerbaijan.
Case 3: Green Policy in Mongolia 18
The capital city, Ulaanbaatar is urbanized rapidly as a result of migration from rural
areas. To achieve SDGs and deal with development challenges, the municipality iscommitted to develop a green city.
• Strong political support: Green vision originated from National Green
Development Policy 2014, Ulaanbaatar Economic Development Strategy 2015
and Ulaanbaatar 2020 Master Plan and Development Approach for 2030.
• Key stakeholder engagement: a consultative process was contained during thedevelopment of the Green Development Strategic Action Plan.
• Main challenge: poor environment makes Ulaanbaatar not a ‘livable’ city.
Case 4: Business Models for Resource Recovery in South Asia 19
Four types of business models are recorded by IWMI which make use of wastewater
17 Reference: Georgia case study.

18 Reference: Final Report of the Second GWP Pan-Asia Workshop.
19 Reference: Introduction on RRR, slides from IWMI.

10

Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water Forumand solid waste in urban/peri-urban agriculture. Challenges include lack of awarenessand poor perceptions, as well as logistic capacity.
• Favorable policy environment and institutional capacity: need to be improved
to ensure the model implementation.
• Coordinated efforts and engagement of key stakeholders: to influence
policies.
• Strong public private partnerships are significant.
• Public acceptance: Since these models raise health concerns, actions such as
knowledge education should be delivered, as well as focus on technical issues
and quality control methods.
Case 5: Market opportunities for DEWATS in South-East Asia 20
The low level of sanitation services in some Least Development Countries in SEA makes
water use not sustainable. While DEWATS can provide potential investment andmarket opportunities and thus is promising in SEA.
• Political support: to promote DEWATS, government should design adequate
and sufficient legislative system.
• Public awareness and behavior: should be reformed to better maintain
DEWATS, which can be focused on school education on young generation. And
demand studies are important before intervention.
• Develop scalable solutions: good financing schemes are indispensable.
• Pro-Poor Public Private Partnership: since in low-income countries, investment
from private sector can be limited due to higher risks, the 5P model can beused to overcome this problem.
Key lessons learnt on CE enabling environment: Before government’s intervention,
demand study is suggested to be carried out by government to better understandcurrent situation. Coordination mechanisms and institutional capacity should be
addressed at all levels of government. New business model (i.e. circular economy)
application needs to sensitize the public, which may achieve through public educationand stakeholder engagement. As agriculture is one of the pillars of economy in mostAsian countries, addressing the connection between food security and water security isnecessary. The government should always take care of the main issues (i.e. technical;
institutional; regulatory; economic/financial; social) during implementations. But all
the stakeholders are responsible and have a stake, which means it is not sole
responsibility of government.

20

UNESCAP. (2013). Market Opportunities for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems inSouth-East Asia. UNESCAP Publications, retrieved fromhttp://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Market%20Opportunities%20for%20DEWATS.pdf .

11

Asia-Pacific Regional Report
Regional Process Commission
Asia Pacific Water Forum

3. Actions and Sub-actions, and measures to overcome the problems
and achieve the solutions
o

o
o
o

o

o

o
o
o
o

o

Continuously political leadership and support are required throughout the intervention.
If necessary, existing policies, laws, regulations and guidelines should be revised and newones should be introduced.
Coordination mechanisms should be developed to improve institutional capacity.
Integration of existing institutions needs to be promoted.
Economic incentives and financial funding should be considered. Investments fromprivate sectors are an important part, which requires government to draw their interest.
Under the pressure of water scarcity issue, government should be able to shift to newconcepts (e.g. sponge city in Shenzhen, green city in Mongolia, wastewater reuse) todiversify water sources.
Appropriate innovative technologies can be applied to diversify water sources, it is notjust copy paste from developed countries, sometimes a pilot study could be helpful to
examine feasibility of the new approach. Demand study before intervention is suggested
to help government better understand current situation.
Public acceptance and awareness education on the new concepts and innovativetechnologies should be taken into account. For instance, they may be not aware of thewhole value chain of solid waste, or it can rise health concerns for wastewater reuse. In
addition, water-related behavior change should be promoted. This education on young
generations is extremely significant. One key partner in public education is the media,
whose influence can be considerable.
Monitoring and maintenance of these technologies and facilities are important, to makesure targeted water can always meet the national standards.
Inter-governmental (regional) cooperation on trans-boundary water issues is useful,viewing problems at catchment scales rather than urban scales.
New business models can be developed in improved wastewater management and solid
waste management. Communities should be educated and trained to these models.
Promotion of DEWATS can be promising in some Least Development Countries, where
the coverage of sanitation service is low. Co-management on DEWATS is required, which
may be done with help of public-private partnership model.
Stakeholder engagement should be carried out from the very beginning and throughout
the process. This can be conducted in various forms, e.g. public hearings, online platform
etc. Responsibilities should be identified for each stakeholder.

12