Off-Grid Water Supply: Should It Be Mainstreamed?

This book highlights unique and deeper insights into the operations of off-grid water supply business models and the policy implications that they raise. The two key research questions of the report are as follows: 1) What is the efficacy and sustainability of the off-grid model of safe water availability and/or delivery to consumers who don't have piped water supply? 2) What are the key policy considerations for planning a successful off-grid model of safe water delivery? Through the Four-Domain Framework, this book does the gap analysis of the physical, operational, financial, and institutional domains of the few off-grid water operators in cross-country case studies. It also includes a detailed financial analysis of the capital costs as well as operations and maintenance costs of the different off-grid water supply models compared to some of the piped water supply models. The final discusses the need to acknowledge off-grid water solutions in urban water policies, especially for the economically weaker sections. The universal coverage of all by the piped water is an ultimate goal of any water policy; however, in the interim, there is a need to put more emphasis on off-grid water solutions.

Pawan K. Sachdeva has a unique blend of experience in public market investing as well as water-related public policy. He is extremely passionate about making positive contributions to urban water policy aimed at improved water security in Asia. Pawan has close to 30 years of work experience spanning across the public market investing and water-related public policy. He has a B. Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (India), an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (India), and an MPA from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS (Singapore). Currently, he is an Impact Investment Analyst at Amansa Capital, Singapore, and the non-executive director of Water Management International Pte Ltd, Singapore. Pawan is also a co-author of the book "Phnom Penh Water Story," a Springer publication.
Dr Asit K. Biswas is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow, UK, and University of Gujarat, India; Chief Executive, Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico; and Director, Water Management International Pte Ltd, Singapore. Dr Biswas is one of the world's leading water experts, he has been a recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize and Aragon Environment Prize. Author of 87 books, his books have been translated into 42 languages.
Prof Cecilia Tortajada holds the Chair of Professor in Practice in Environmental Innovation, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow, UK., and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. Over 30 years of experience in water, environment and natural resources management in the context of development. Working at present on impacts of global changes on water resources, food, environment, and societies. Winner of the Crystal Drop Award in 2016 and the 50th Anniversary Award in 2021, International Water Resources Association(IWRA). Member of the International Selection Committee, Millennium Technology Prize, Technology Academy Finland; the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships Peer Review College, UK; and the OECD Initiative on Water Governance. A very prolific author, her work has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish languages. She is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Water Resources Development; Associate Editor of Water International; and member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research; Urban, Planning and Transport Research Journal; and International Journal of Water Governance. Co-editor of Water Resources Development and Management book series, Nature Springer, and member of the Series Advisory Board, Springer Briefs in Earth Sciences, Geography & Earth System Sciences.
Ojasvee is a researcher at the National University of Singapore and has a background in economics and environmental studies. She holds two master's degrees in ecological economics from the University of Edinburgh and environmental management from the National University of Singapore (NUS). Her interests lie in the intersection of economics and environmental studies, and her research has focused primarily on topics of collective environmental behaviour, water management, and energy security. Ojasvee has also co-authored the book "Urban Water Demand Management", a Springer publication which documents notable WDM policies, measures and practices relevant to ASEAN stakeholders.
Eva Leneveu is a public affairs professional with a Master's degree in International Affairs. With over three years of experience at 1001fontaines, a leading organization in the water kiosk model, Eva has played a key role in managing strategic partnerships with development agencies and private foundations, supporting the organization's scaling-up strategy. Eva's expertise extends to coordinating research and advocacy efforts to position decentralized safe drinking water solutions in national and international water policies. Her field experience has made her a vocal advocate for performance-based operations and customer-reliant water services that can help bridge the supply gap in developing countries.
Rehan is a joint degree student at Harvard Business School & Harvard Kennedy School. He has 5 years of experience in the social impact & public health space in Pakistan. He recently served as the strategy and growth lead for a 300+ person healthcare organization in Pakistan delivering digitally enabled primary healthcare services across a 2M population, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to that, he founded Sukoon Water, a social enterprise focused on increasing access to safe drinking water in urban slum communities of Karachi. He completed his undergraduate education in economics and public policy, with a minor in history, at Stanford University.
Anuj is a social entrepreneur and a development practitioner with over 2 decades of experience in designing and scaling up of low-cost, high-impact, large-scale, sustainable solutions for both the rural and urban underserved communities across India. He led the evolution of Sarvajal's decentralized drinking water solutions leveraging partnerships with Corporate sponsors and with various govt agencies including NITI. Before May 2009, he was part of the national leadership team of Pratham India, an education non-profit. He is an engineer by training, a PGDRM from Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), an Amul-Tata scholar, a GSBI fellow and a CMO Asia awardee.