Staff

Abishek Sankara Narayan

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Abishek Sankara Narayan

(Dr. Sc. ETH) Project Manager / PostDoc

Department Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development

About Me

My research is on water and sanitation for development. I work in the intersection of Urban Planning, Wastewater Engineering and Environmental Policy.

Currently, I focus on three major topics:

1. Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS)

This research contributes to the conceptualisation of CWIS and the development of a planning approach to implement it. I collaborate with the many partners including World Bank, Gates Foundation, Asian Development Bank, and GIZ among others.


2. Integrating Basic Services (WABES)
Water, Sanitation and Solid Waste are inherently similar and have many interactions between their physical value chains. Integrating these offer a possibility to reap co-benefits. In two small towns in Uganda, we are testing if and how this could be done. This work is done with the support of SDC. 


3. Scaling up WASH innovations (Lab to Land) 

A number of technological innovations in the WASH sector already exist, but have failed to scale up and solve real world challenges. I ask: What should we do to bring such innovations from lab to the land. This research is done in collaboration with TU Munich.   


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My interest in water came from founding the Clean Adyar Initative, a citizen action group on river restoration in Chennai, India. There I understood the need for taking a holistic approach to water challenges. 

I have a background in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Policy from Anna and Oxford Universities respectively. More recently, I received my PhD in Envrionmental Engineering from ETH Zurich.

I am also a visiting / guest lecturer on the topics of Water, Sanitation and Urbanization at EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich,  IHE Delft, TU Berlin, TU Munich and University of Oxford.


I am active in two key WASH networks -
Swiss Water Partnership, where I co-founded the SWP Youth network and help coordinate the youth activities. I am also part of the Steering Board of the Partnership.
Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), where I am a lead for the working group on Cities, and also on the Core Committee of the Alliance. 

I strongly believe that for achieving sustainable and equitable development in WASH and elsewhere, there needs to be holistic planning, youth participation, and clear communication of science. It is therefore these three aspects that I try to focus in any of my scientific or development endeavor.  

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Projects

4S is assessing small-scale sanitation systems in South Asia to provide policy recommendations for improved sanitation system design, implementation and O&M.

4S: Small-Scale Sanitation Scaling-Up
The aim of CWIS research is to develop a method that synthesizes existing information about the sanitation landscapes of cities in India and that presents comprehensive sanitation solutions.

Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS)

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Curriculum Vitae

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Publications

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Advancements in and integration of water, sanitation, and solid waste for low- and middle-income countries

The water, sanitation, and solid waste sectors are closely related and have many interactions between their respective service chains in low-and middle-income countries. Currently, these interactions mostly lead to cross-contamination, and opportunities for co-benefits are seldom realized. This review presents the key advancements within each of these three development sectors in the past two decades. We identify numerous similarities such as decentralization, resource recovery, community involved planning, and digitalization. Despite the potential for synergies and the opportunities to maximize positive interactions, there have been few attempts to break the existing sectoral silos in order to integrate these three service chains. We argue that, with the right enabling environment, an integrated approach to holistically planning and implementing water supply, sanitation, and solid waste management can create positive interactions resulting in co-benefits among complementary development goals.
Narayan, A. S.; Marks, S. J.; Meierhofer, R.; Strande, L.; Tilley, E.; Zurbrügg, C.; Lüthi, C. (2021) Advancements in and integration of water, sanitation, and solid waste for low- and middle-income countries, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 46, 193-219, doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-030620-042304, Institutional Repository

The clean plan: analysing sanitation planning in India using the CWIS planning framework

Sanitation in India has received national attention for over a decade, especially with the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) making it a political priority. However, due to the lack of appropriate sanitation planning practices, there have been little long-term gains made in urban sanitation beyond the ending of open defaecation. In this paper, we analyse the key barriers to sanitation planning, in India, in the context of the emerging paradigm of Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS). A mixed method approach of shit flow diagrams, social network analysis, policy analysis, interviews and workshops at the national, state (2) and city (4) levels was conducted. Eight factors were identified as important barriers for planning including inadequate planning capacities, lack of ownership of city sanitation plans among city governments, poor community involvement, absence of a uniform planning framework, unreliable political and financial support, overlapping jurisdictions, and scheme-based funding. The paper also proposes the CWIS Planning Framework which offers a perspective at overcoming these barriers with the recommendation of bridging top-down and bottom-up planning approaches. While there is increasingly more clarity on what CWIS means, there is little understanding on how to plan for it. Therefore, this framework provides the theoretical basis for planning with the CWIS approach.
Narayan, A. S.; Maurer, M.; Lüthi, C. (2021) The clean plan: analysing sanitation planning in India using the CWIS planning framework, Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 11(6), 1036-1047, doi:10.2166/washdev.2021.130, Institutional Repository

Solving urban sanitation - sustainably and equitably

Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) is gaining traction as an integrated approach that can achieve multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Abishek S. Narayan and Christoph Lüthi at the Department of Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development (Sandec) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) in Zurich, Switzerland, explain the concept and its implementation through current projects.
Narayan, A. S.; Lüthi, C. (2020) Solving urban sanitation - sustainably and equitably, World Water, 43(4), 18-21, Institutional Repository

A sanitation journey. Principles, approaches & tools for urban sanitation

Although the number of urban dwellers in the Global South with access to improved sanitation increased significantly over the last three decades, progress has been outpaced by rapid urban growth. The number of people in urban areas lacking improved sanitation has steadily increased and today over 1.8 billion urban dwellers do not use safely managed services. Progress has not only been slow, but also uneven between different segments of the population. The focus of ministries, urban authorities and financing agencies has been mostly on incremental expansion of sewers, benefitting non-poor segments of the population, and in most places, utilities have failed to provide citywide services mainly because they have stayed within the sewer paradigm. [...]
Schertenleib, R.; Lüthi, C.; Panesar, A.; Büürma, M.; Kapur, D.; Sankara Narayan, A.; Pres, A.; Salian, P.; Spuhler, D.; Tempel, A. (2021) A sanitation journey. Principles, approaches & tools for urban sanitation, 79 p, Institutional Repository

Social network analysis for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH): application in governance of decentralized wastewater treatment in India using a novel validation methodology

Social network analysis (SNA) is a versatile and increasingly popular methodological tool to understand structures of relationships between actors involved in governance situations. Given the complexity of the set of stakeholders involved in the governance of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and the diversity of their interests, this article proposes SNA to the WASH sector. The use of SNA as an appropriate diagnostic tool for planning Citywide Inclusive Sanitation is explored. Missing data is a major problem for SNA in the studies of governance situations, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Therefore, a novel validation methodology for incomplete SNA data, relying on information from internal and external experts is proposed. SNA and the validation method is then applied to study the governance of decentralized wastewater treatment in four cities of India. The results corroborate key differences between mega and secondary cities in terms of institutions, community engagement and overall sanitation situation including aspects of decentralized wastewater treatment plants, based on the city types.
Narayan, A. S.; Fischer, M.; Lüthi, C. (2020) Social network analysis for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH): application in governance of decentralized wastewater treatment in India using a novel validation methodology, Frontiers in Environmental Science, 7, 198 (18 pp.), doi:10.3389/fenvs.2019.00198, Institutional Repository
Lüthi, C.; Sankara Narayan, A. (2018) Citywide inclusive sanitation: achieving the urban water SDGs, In: Camarena, L.; Machado-Filho, H.; Casagrande, L.; Byrd, R.; Tsakanika, A.; Wotton, S. (Eds.), Urban waters - How does water impact and is impacted by cities and human settlements?, 11-13, Institutional Repository

Technology, implementation and operation of small‐scale sanitation in India. Performance analysis and policy recommendations. Small‐scale sanitation scaling‐up (4S) - project report vol. I

Introduction – In addition to underground drainage and large‐scale sewage treatment plants (STPs) and the management of faecal sludge and septage from non‐sewered on‐site systems, small‐scale sanitation (SSS) systems are becoming increasingly important. Such systems consist of small‐scale sewerage networks and STPs, allowing for incremental, modular and flexible implementation. Therefore, they have significant potential for cost‐effective local wastewater treatment and reuse. In order to improve public health, relieve water stress and protect the environment in urban India, SSS systems have a key role to play.
Since a policy drive for small sewage treatment plants (SSTPs) in India beginning in 2006, there has been a remarkable growth in the number of installations in the country’s rapidly expanding urban areas, especially in big cities. However, it is known that many of the existing systems are underperforming or have failed for various reasons.
Thus far, SSS sector developments in India have not been informed by a systematic assessment of lessons learned, and there has been very little research on the enabling conditions and implications for the successful long‐term operation and management of SSS systems at scale. The main goal of the "Technology, Implementation and Operation" component of the 4S Project is to evaluate present experience with SSS systems and to develop evidence‐based policy recommendations for their successful design, implementation, operation and maintenance at scale.
Klinger, M.; Ulrich, L.; Ramprasad, C.; Wolf, A. T.; Reynaud, N.; Narayan, A. S.; Siemsen, P.; Lüthi, C.; Philip, L. (2020) Technology, implementation and operation of small‐scale sanitation in India. Performance analysis and policy recommendations. Small‐scale sanitation scaling‐up (4S) - project report vol. I, 127 p, Institutional Repository
Johnstone, D. W. M.; Nowicki, S.; Narayan, A. S.; Sinha, R. (2020) Wastewater. From a toxin to a valuable resource, In: Dadson, S. J.; Garrick, D. E.; Penning‐Rowsell, E. C.; Hall, J. W.; Hope, R.; Hughes, J. (Eds.), Water science, policy, and management: a global challenge, 291-307, Institutional Repository

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Address

E-Mail: abishek.narayan@eawag.ch
Phone: +41 58 765 6771
Fax: +41 58 765 5802
Address: Eawag
Überlandstrasse 133
8600 Dübendorf
Office: FC F36
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