2022 Seed Grant Award Problem Statements 

Water / Sanitation

Problem #11:  Developing a User-friendly Computer and Mobile Phone Application for Water and Sanitation Costing

Country/Region of execution: Baltimore, USA
Collaborating Organization: Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has been a leading international humanitarian agency since 1943. We work in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide with a staff of over 6000. CRS partners with communities, civil society organizations, governments, private sector firms, and research institutions to address urgent needs and develop sustainable solutions that transform the world now and for future generations.
Problem Statement Description:  Currently, most water and sanitation costing tools consider only Capital Cost (Capex) and Operational Cost (OpEx) in estimating total water cost. This approach to costing water and sanitation interventions only covers SDG 6 targets 1 and 2 and does not consider targets 3 and 4 related to source water protection cost (SopEx) for multiple uses. Thus, the cost of water quality protection, water quantity, and associated benefits at the source before it reaches the intake for multiple uses are not usually considered. As a result, most water resources management and water and sanitation services provisions and water resources and water and sanitation governance are not connected. In addition, water resources management programs linked to agriculture and other livelihood activities and water and sanitation programs do not take watershed, and water catchment approaches to program assessment, design, and implementation. Developing a user-friendly software application for water resources and water and sanitation costing that comprises SopEx, CapEx and OpEx will help achieve all SDG 6 related to water resources management, water, and sanitation in all contexts and water. In addressing the problem, CRS has developed a water security strategy that connects water resources management, water supply in all contexts, and water governance and currently working on developing source water protection methodology, taking a humanitarian-development approach to water and sanitation programming, and strengthening governance and financing using AZURE-blended water finance mechanism. There is a need to build on the ongoing work and co-develop a user-friendly computer and mobile phone application for Water and Sanitation Costing for analysis and decision making.