White City, Black Waters is written by Adjunct Professor, PhD Petri S Juuti. The book examines how water and waste water services and water protection started and developed in Helsinki and Greater Helsinki area from late 1800s to the 2000s. Furthermore, it is discussed what are the challenges of the future looked from the point of view of the professionals of the water sector. - Helsingin vedet 1800-luvun lopusta 2000-luvulle -tutkimus antaa yleiskuvan vesihuollon pitkästä kehityksestä ja ihmisen ja eri vesien suhteesta Helsingissä. Tässä kirjassa annetaan myös tietoa Suomen jätevedenpuhdistuksen historian monista vaiheista keskittyen Helsinkiin sekä perehdytään siihen, mitä vesi merkitsi ja miten siihen suhtauduttiin eri aikoina. Kirjassa perehdytään muun muassa Vantaanjoen ristiriitaiseen, mutta keskeiseen rooliin sekä viemärinä että raakavesilähteenä, saastumattoman ja riittävän raakavesivesilähteen löytämiseksi tehtyihin varhaisiin pohjavesitutkimuksiin, ulosteongelman ratkaisuun sekä Päijänteen ottamiseen raakavesilähteeksi. Teos taustoittaa viemäröinnin ja jätevesienpuhdistuksen historiaa koko Euroopan mittakaavassa tuhansien vuosien takaa. Erityisesti perehdytään Suomessa tehtyihin ratkaisuihin ja syvällisemmin Helsingin viemäröinnin varhaisiin vaiheisiin ja jätevedenpuhdistuksen alkutaipaleeseen. Keskeiseksi nousevat kysymykset, mitä toimia toteutettiin kun tavoitteeksi otettiin vesistöjen puhdistuminen, miten nämä toimenpiteet ovat vaikuttaneet asukkaiden elämään ja ympäristön tilaan. Lisäksi pohditaan mitkä ovat tulevaisuuden haasteet vesihuollon ammattilaisten näkökulmasta katsottuna.
Water is a matter of life. At its 58th session, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a draft resolution, without a vote, proclaiming 2005 to 2015 as the International Decade for Action Water for Life. This recommendation, which came at the close of the International Year of Freshwater 2003, called for a greater focus on water-related issues and for actions to ensure the participation of women in water-related development efforts. It also recommitted countries to achieving the water-related goals of the 2000 Millennium Declaration, the 2002 Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and Agenda 21. The Decade is to focus on water-related issues at various levels and on the implementation of programmes and projects, and the furtherance of cooperation on all levels, in order to help achieve the internationally agreed water-related goals. The goal is to halve by 2015 the proportion of people unable to reach or afford safe drinking water who also lack access to basic sanitation.1 We, the editors, think that the goal is justified on many grounds although it is unlikely to be achieved as such. Yet, we remain hopeful that the goal will for its part help provide the necessary water and sanitation to as many people in the global village as possible. This is the second time that water issues have been highlighted as part of a UN Decade. The UN declared 1981-1990 as the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade with the aim of providing safe drinking water and adequate sanitation systems for all people by 1991. The official start of the 'Water for Life' Decade was on World Water Day, 22 March 2005.2 In Finland water-related issues are now in good order. It is true that the relatively large water resources and small population of Finland favour the provision of water services in comparison to many other countries. On the other hand, the large number of dispersed settlements is a challenge. Yet, abundant water resources are not the determining factor behind Finland's success in several international water and environment-related comparisons since they also take into account many other factors besides natural conditions. Issues related to the governance of water services have also been considered they also constitute the special emphasis of this book and the related research project "Evolution and futures of water management: strategic decisions, challenges and effectiveness (EFWAM)". Several international comparisons have rated Finland among the top, or as the top country, in the world in the field of water and the environment. The comparisons include the "water quality index" (www.unesco.org/water/wwap) which emphasises water pollution control and quality, the "water poverty index" (www. nwl.ac.uk/research/WPI) focusing on the availability and management of water resources, the "transparency index" (www.gwdg.de/~uwvw/icr.htm) indicating transparency and level of corruption, the "environmental sustainability index" measuring environmental protection and sustainability (www.ciesin.columbia. edu/indicators/ESI) as well as the European comparison of water pollution control called "name, shame and fame" (www.europa.eu.int/comm./environment/nsf/ index.htm). For instance, according to the Water Poverty Index (WPI) published in 2002, Finland was the highest-ranking country with a WPI of 77.9 points. The WPI evaluated performance in the following five categories: resources, access, capacity, use and environmental impact (Lawrence et al 2002). Even though the Finnish institutional arrangements may not be replicable as such, they present an example of an enabling environment for successful water governance (Hukka et al 2006). Another example of international interest towards Finnish development is the annual development report of the World Bank (2005) which monitors social equality and its development. Finland's contribution to the report consisted of a study on factors that enabled the quick progress of Finland into an egalitarian welfare state. Similar interest has also been shown by OECD and the American Society of Civil Engineers (Heikkilä 2005). Finnish comprehensive education has also received top marks in PISA assessments (www.oph.fi/english/SubPage. asp?path=447,65535). Yet, during the compilation of this book we Finns received a reminder of how vulnerable our infrastructure can be. Although lives were not directly lost as a result of the contamination of the water supply in the City of Nokia, all the other consequences were really troublesome for the whole community. The incident proved again that all technical systems linked closely to the environment are subject to errors of various types, particularly in operation and management. An analysis of the long-term experiences and futures of the water sector has not yet been made. There is reason to believe that such a study would improve understanding and produce research-based knowledge. Research on the development and strategies of Finnish water supply and sanitation would be relevant since the country's development in that sector was among the fastest after WW II. Besides, the tacit knowledge of the experts involved in the development is still available for analysis. In "Water: a Matter of Life" we used primarily the New Institutional Economics Approach. The Nobel Prize Laureate Douglass C. North (1990, p. 3-4), a driving force behind the approach, defines institutional development as follows: "institutions are the rules of the game in a society, or the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction" while "organisations are groups of individuals bound to some common purpose to achieve objectives". Using the analogy of soccer, institutions are the rules of the game while organisations are the players (North 1990, p. 3). This book and research are also an integral part of the work of the Capacity Development in Water and Environmental Services (CADWES) team3 at Tampere University of Technology and the International Environmental History Group (IEHG)4 at the Dept. of History, University of Tampere. The aim of the former is to produce useful information about the institutional development of water services and water resources in a broad sense based on inter- and multidisciplinary research: about organisations, administration, legislation, and operating policy including official and unofficial rules. The latter team concentrates on environmental history while many synergies exist between the activities of the two teams. Water is both a global and a local issue in many respects. We hope that the following articles will further illuminate this fact. By publishing the papers as a book, we also aim to disseminate the results to promote the thinking that sustainable governance of water and sanitation systems requires long-term analysis and strategic thinking where pasts and futures influence each other.
This paper describes the technological development of wells and toilets and the cultural practices related to them in two countries, South Africa and Finland, from the Middle Ages to modern times. Wells and toilets have always been linked to the well-being of humans and they still are the most common technical systems in the service of mankind. They are simple to build, but if they are constructed improperly or stop functioning properly, they may endanger the health of both humans and the environment. The solutions used for getting clean water or for disposal of excrement have always been a matter of life and death for human settlements. Located on opposite sides of the world, the climate and natural resources of South Africa and Finland are very different. However, surprisingly similar solutions, for example wind turbines to pump water, have been used in rural areas. Furthermore, urbanization and industrialization occurred in both countries at approximately the same time in the 19th century, which caused increasing environmental problems in Finnish and South African urban areas. The transition to modern water supply and waste disposal systems was a very demanding process for municipal administrations in both countries.
100 years of water supply and sanitation in Finland This book is written by Petri S. Juuti, Tapio S.Katko & Riikka P. Rajala. Finland is known as a land of thousands of lakes. Yet, there are regions in Finland where lakes are very few and the lack of fresh water is an ordinary problem. Finland is quite unique in Fennoscandia as to its water resources. The country has some 56 000 lakes with a minimum area of one hectare and all together 200000 lakes. Ground water occurs in alluvial eskers formed during ice ages, the last of which ended some 10 000 years ago. Nowadays some 60 per cent of the people use natural or artificially recharged ground water. However, areas lower than 50–60 metres above sea level have problems with water quality due to geological reasons. In such areas bigger cities use surface water for their water supply or acquire their raw water from sources further away. The book shows us how water supply and sanitation have developed in Finland during years of political independence starting from the year 1917. - Tässä dosentti Petri Juutin, dosentti Tapio Katkon ja TkT Riikka Rajalan kirjoittamassa vertaisarvioidussa monografiassa on kuvattu koko Suomen vesihuollon eli vedenhankinnan ja jätevesihuollon historia sadan vuoden ajalta. Kirjan ensimmäisessä osassa taustoitetaan vesihuollon yhteiskunnallista merkitystä ja kuvataan lyhyesti keskeiset kehitysvaiheet. Toisessa osassa kuvataan tutkimuksen kohteena olevien vesilaitosten keskeisiä vaiheita ja valintoja. Teoksen loppuosassa on tutkimuksen vertaileva analyysi ja lopputulokset sekä tulevaisuuden haasteet ja mahdollisuudet. Sata vuotta vesihuoltoa Suomessa 1917-2017 teos on osa Valtioneu-voston kanslian koordinoiman Suomen itsenäisyyden satavuotisjuhlavuoden 2017 ohjelmaa.
Water and wastewater services are invaluable for communities. The aim of this article is to understand and explain the overall long-term development of water services in Finland in the wider PESTEL framework with policy implications for the future. The original megastudy was based on an extensive literature review. The article first covers the birth and development of urban and rural water systems in Finland. This is followed by analysing selected decisions with long-term impacts, institutional issues, discussion and lessons learnt, and conclusions. The development of water services in Finland has largely been based on trust. In socio-institutional factors, institutional diversity is fundamental. Gradual expansion of water supply and wastewater systems has brought technical, economic and social benefits in a country with quite a dispersed population. Efficient water pollution control in communities was implemented within two decades through developing technology and applying proper legislation and control. Continuous and dynamic development has been a key principle. Nature-based solutions include raw water source selection, treatment processes such as managed aquifer recharge, sites for final effluents disposal, and water related land use planning. Aging infrastructure is the most pressing future challenge in Finland and worldwide and will need new requirements and innovations. ; publishedVersion ; Peer reviewed
Achieving universal access to basic services and safe and affordable water and sanitation to all by 2030, as targeted in Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 6, is of utmost importance in improving people's well-being. In Kenya, this means fulfilling a significant water services gap. This study analyzed the viability of user-owned urban water utilities there from managers' perspectives. It found that the high performance of the few licensed private utilities, high ownership and control, small size, robust public participation, and regulatory policies favor their performance. Yet, the costliness of water services production limits their viability in the most sidelined low-income areas. The article recommends (i) diversifying service production models, (ii) establishing a revolving fund to finance major capital investments, (iii) making full cost recovery a key policy objective, (iv) mobilizing financing from local users, including low-income earners, and (v) setting pricing structures that imply cross-subsidizing between the rich and poor.
Water really does matter: presently some 1.2 billion people do not have access to clean water and more than 2.6 billion lack access to proper sanitation. Water-borne diseases cause the death of five to six million people in developing countries each year some fifteen thousand a day! Enormous efforts will be needed to meet the set goal of wider access to water and sanitation. In the last 10 years more children have died from diarrhoea than all the people lost in armed conflicts since WWII. Improved water and sanitation services have many positive direct and indirect effects on public health and the national economy. Healthier people living to adulthood increase human resources and ultimately the productivity and well-being of nations. Besides, as regards the various water use purposes, a recent study showed that community water supply should be the first priority in all societies. The United Nations General Assembly declared the period of 2005-2015 as the International Water Decade to raise awareness and to galvanise people into action for better management and protection of our most crucial resource. "Water matters" is what the UN said in 2002. Through the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, countries have committed themselves to the millennium target to halve the proportion of people lacking access to clean water and proper sanitation by 2015. Enormous efforts will be needed to meet the goal. How can it be achieved? Lessons learned from earlier industrialised and urbanised societies might help us understand the present crisis. This book is based on the multidisciplinary research project "Governance of water and environmental services in long-term perspectives (GOWLOP) A Comparative Study" funded by the Academy of Finland (project number 210816). The study explores the long-term development of the relationships between water supply and sanitation, environmental health, and social change in a global context with a special focus on Kenya, Nepal, South Africa and Finland. The general objective of the project was to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the development of water use, water supply, water pollution control and sanitation services, and their overall long-term political, economic, social, cultural, technological, environmental and health impacts. The study aimed to explain the strategic decisions made over the years and to identify the key drivers - strategies, principles and practices which have resulted in historically significant changes in public health and overall development of community water supply and sanitation services, their governance, social importance and impacts during two urbanisation periods in Africa (Kenya, South Africa), Asia (Nepal) and Europe (Finland). Some key findings of the GOWLOP project are presented in this book.
