With growing urbanisation, cities are becoming water guzzlers. Often dependent on distant cleaner upstream (or imperil the groundwater sources) and discharge their waste into downstream. The conventional method of wastewater management is capital and resource intensive, hence unaffordable to many cities. This has resulted in higher dependence on on-site sanitation systems across India and the global south. CSE’s Sustainable Water and Sanitation Programme is geared to help re-invent the urban water – wastewater management by establishing policy principles, innovative technologies and implementation strategies to help lay the foundation for water and waste prudent society. The programme has expanded in many parts of the global south by partnering with research institutes, government and networks.

CSE is organising the SFD Week as first knowledge conclave to learn from the experiences and help cities move beyond merely constructing toilets to becoming ODF, thus ensuring city-wide sanitation.The event is being actively supported by the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), the International Water Association (IWA) and the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management Alliance (NFSSM Alliance).