International Resources
The Association is encouraging two-way communication with the world water associations and AWWA members to receive valuable lessons from our colleagues outside of North America. We hope you benefit from this portal and communicate your ideas to the IC.
John Batten
International Council Chair
Welcome to AWWA's international portal. The mission of AWWA's International Council (IC), the volunteer operating unit organizing this page, is to liaison with the world water community and international AWWA members. This will be done by:
- Keeping AWWA's international members informed
- Promoting AWWA publications and conferences
- Encouraging partnerships with world water organizations
Read John Batten's May 2010 overview of the International Council's vision of global opportunities.
News
Safe Water Conference in Malaysia in November
The Managing Drinking Water Safety for Public Health Conference in Malaysia in November 2010 is organized by the International Water Association and the Malaysian Water Association and is cosponsored by the World Health Organization. The event will focus on urban, community and household level water management. Water safety interventions within other specific settings, such as health care facilities and schools, will also be addressed.
AWWA co-publishing IDA Journal
The International Desalination Association and AWWA recently began co-publishing the quarterly IDA Journal on Desalination and Water Reuse, a new publication that will include peer-reviewed articles on the technical and scientific aspects of desalination.
Debuted at the IDA World Congress in Dubai in November 2009, the new journal has Jim Birkett at the helm of both the Peer Review Editorial Board and the Editorial Advisory Board. Birkett brings to his position more than 40 years of experience in the study of desalination, advanced water treatment, and membrane separation industries and technologies. Learn more.
AWWA aids Indonesian water officials
Efforts by Indonesian water authorities to extend and improve water service nationwide were featured on national television on the HDNet weekly documentary- news program "World Report" in March 2009. The segment, "Water Bringers: The West’s Indonesia Experiment" can be seen here in it's entirety (click to play the 26-minute video).
An initiative sponsored by the World Bank, with AWWA in the forefront, is attempting to bring access to more clean water for Indonesians. As the segment highlights, the effort must overcome politics, poverty, and a culture often resistant to change in order to be successful.
Indonesia’s water supply sector hopes to add some 20 million connections by 2015 to a water infrastructure that currently reaches only 40 percent of the urban population and 19 percent of the rural population. However, the country’s utilities are plagued by debt and a culture that is unfamiliar with paying tariffs that cover the full cost of the service.
The Indonesian initiative stems in part from a growing partnership with AWWA, which in 2008 joined with the World Bank and the Dutch water utility organization, Vewin, to help Indonesian professionals ramp up the expansion of drinking water service in their country.
In August 2008, AWWA designed a week packed with briefings, tours, and financial training to help the leadership of PERPAMSI, the Indonesian association of water utilities, consider what AWWA resources might be adapted to their needs.
Despite jet lag and initial language barriers, the six Indonesians rolled up their sleeves and dug into conversations and material about how AWWA elects officers, the duties of the Board of Directors, the organization of sections within the association, sources of revenue, association publishing, training, quality programs, standards, and staff structure.
In addition to briefings from AWWA staff, the Indonesian utility managers took a fast version of an AWWA course on financial management for utilities. A very animated group spent several sessions with Dave LaFrance, director of finance for Denver Water, talking about financial policies and rate structures that will support the operation of a utility. Read more.
