Guidelines on Municipal Wastewater Management: A Practical Guide for Decision-makers and Professionals on how to Plan, Design, and Finance Appropriate and Environmentally Sound Municipal Wastewater Discharge Systems

Wastewater causes serious environmental and human health problems, especially in coastal zones. There is no single solution to solve such problems, because of the large variation in economic, social, cultural, and physical characteristics in an area. In the framework of the UNEP/WHO/UN-HABITAT/WSSCC Strategic Action Plan on Municipal Wastewater (SAP), adopted in 2001 at the UNEP/GPA Intergovernmental Review Meeting in Montreal, guidelines have been developed on municipal wastewater management. Version 3 is presented in this report. In parallel, ten key points have been formulated for local and national action on municipal wastewater. These 10 keys, listed and annotated below, are prerequisite for successful municipal wastewater management. The Guidelines and Keys for Action both cover policy issues, management approaches, technology selection and financing mechanisms.