Achieving SDG6: The Critical Role of Urban Utilities in Water and Sanitation

A letter from from ROCKBlue President and Co-Founder, Peter Macy.

When the United Nations announced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, everyone was filled with hope and optimism. The Goals, while aggressive, had realistic time frames associated with them, and the end game was transforming the world whose population was 7 billion. Who couldn’t get behind that?

Having spent my career as a water engineer, I was personally motivated to work towards achieving SDG6: Safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all by 2030.

We’re now 12 years in, the world population is 8.5 billion, and the reality is we will likely fail, as 2 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water and 3.6 billion lack adequate sanitation services. Of equal concern is that many of the gains made in the past simply are not durable. 

There’s an impactful two-word answer to this problem: Urban Utilities.

Stay with me – Fifty-six percent of the world’s population lives in cities and by 2050, that number will jump to nearly seventy percent. There is a realistic way to make a sizable impact in providing water to most people where they live. And the simplest way to do that is by extending the reach and improving the operations of urban utilities. Significant and lasting impact, through sustained capacity building, does not have to be expensive.

Let me offer a couple examples from two of our partner utilities.

During the height of the COVID pandemic, when most utilities were struggling to maintain the status quo, the Lusaka Water Supply & Sanitation Company (LWSC) in the capital city of Zambia, struggled but in collaboration with our ROCKBlue team, took positive steps in some important areas – they:

• Grew their customer base by 38%, so they now provide water to over 3 million people
• Provided sanitation to 82% of their service area, an increase of 15%
• Produced almost 20% more water, and the associated increase in revenue
• Improved their water quality to 95% compliance

The second example is our partner in Malawi’s capital city, the Lilongwe Water Board (LWB). While navigating health crises, a struggling economy, and climate challenges, they’ve produced impressive, durable results, including:

• Providing a nearly continuous 24/7 water supply
• Adding 40% more new customers
• Increasing coverage of their service area by 10% for a total of 93%
• Growing revenue by more than 13%
• Building key new infrastructure

How were these results achieved? By providing sustained, affordable mentoring and advisory services to managers and executives – and we are seeing tangible, durable results. For example, for the 96 utility impact indices tracked for our partner utilities, 83% have improved and been sustained over the lifetime of their partnership, dating back to 2016. 

Billions of people will lack access to basic water and sanitation services in 2030 unless progress quadruples. Rural interventions, while indisputably helpful, aren’t going to be enough to make the exponential impact we need to reach SDG6.

The Sustainable Development Goals aim to transform our world. And transformation requires bold solutions. One proven solution is to focus on the performance and management of urban utilities. You can play a role and drive real impact by partnering with those giving attention to utility operations in rapidly growing cities in the developing world such as ROCKBlue.

How you can make a difference?

Individuals

Consider higher donations to those who would maximize long term, quantifiable impact. All the while remaining open to new approaches to grow the number of avenues to address SDG6.

At ROCKBlue we have numerous initiatives that are driving large, cost-effective and durable impact across the developing world. There are a number of ways that you can support us, you can:

• Introduce us to a foundation or private organization who might be looking to help those who lack proper access to water and sanitation
• Donate to our organization – And thank you for your previous support!
• Share this on your social channels and follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube 

Thank you for taking the time to read this Call to Action and for continuing to support ROCKBlue. We look forward to collaborating with you as we strive to meet SDG6.

Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to hearing from you!

Foundations, Corporations, Aid Agencies, & Development Financial Institutions

A sizable commitment is required to impact SDG6, and we can no longer afford backsliding of results. As part of your evaluation criteria, ask your potential partners to demonstrate the following, and give higher selection weighting to those that do so:

• Proven or projected long-term impact
• A high ratio of impact per dollar spent

Amplify this Call to Action by sharing your concern for SDG6 with potential and existing contractors, partners, employees, and others in the WASH community.

At ROCKBlue, we have numerous initiatives driving real impact across the developing world. We are seeking support and would love to discuss collaborating with your organization. Feel free to arrange a meeting with our team by emailing info[@]rockblue.org.

Thank you for reading. We appreciate your hard work as we all strive to achieve SDG6.

– Peter Macy