Monitoring sanitation has generally focused on basic access with its implicit links to health impacts. The new thinking on urban sanitation monitoring goes beyond the household level facilities to encompass wider dimensions of equity, public health and natural environment. This requires an assessment of the full value chain from the user interface to storage, conveyance, treatment and disposal or reuse. In developing country context, this also necessitates incorporating other sanitation dimensions beyond excreta management, especially management of greywater, storm water and solid waste as these are often interlinked on the ground. In this context, it is important to revisit the concept of the sanitation ladder, widely used by the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), which has focused on household access. This paper suggests a framework for outcome-based citywide assessment of the full sanitation value chain across different sanitation sub-sectors. The ladder is redefined using a city sanitation score to assess city level performance. The suggested outcome-based assessment for different components of the value chain also provides a basis for city level monitoring of overall sanitation performance.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Review Article|
July 18 2013
City sanitation ladder: moving from household to citywide sanitation assessment
Meera Mehta;
1CEPT University, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad- 380009, India
E-mail: meeramehta@cept.ac.in
Search for other works by this author on:
Dinesh Mehta
Dinesh Mehta
1CEPT University, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad- 380009, India
Search for other works by this author on:
Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development (2013) 3 (4): 481–488.
Article history
Received:
December 03 2012
Accepted:
April 22 2013
Citation
Meera Mehta, Dinesh Mehta; City sanitation ladder: moving from household to citywide sanitation assessment. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development 1 December 2013; 3 (4): 481–488. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2013.134
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.
Impact Factor 1.786
CiteScore 2.2 • Q2
38 days from submission to first decision on average