The Source Book has four sections. Part A presents the background to the project, its objectives, and the methodology used to prepare it, and also summarizes the results of the Workshops held in Barbados and Peru. Part B, Chapters 1 through 4, deals specifically with the alternative technologies identified in the two Workshops. These include technologies for freshwater augmentation, water quality improvement, wastewater treatment and water reuse, and water conservation. Because the specific technologies summarized in each of these groupings are frequently used in more than one application, the sectoral applications of each of the technologies are shown in tabular form in Part A below. Part C, Chapter 5, presents case studies of selected technologies which have been successfully utilized in the region. Part D presents various supplemental materials, including a list of participants at the Workshops and conversion factors, that may be useful to the reader.
For each of the technologies in Part B, a profile is presented. Each profile consists of the following elements:
Technical Description, describing the technology and indicating design considerations and labor and material requirements needed for its implementation.Extent of Use, characterizing the extent to which the technology is applied in the region and giving examples of the types of areas in which it is used.
Operation and Maintenance, describing the skills required for the operation and maintenance of the technology.
Level of Involvement, describing the level of involvement by government, private-sector organizations, community organizations, and households needed to implement and maintain the technology.
Costs, indicating, where possible, the range of representative capital and annual operating and maintenance costs in absolute terms (expressed in United States dollars of 1995 as unit costs of output; e.g., $ per m3 of water).
Effectiveness, describing the ability of the technology to accomplish the objective (s) of the application, using quantitative measures if possible.
Suitability, describing the geographic areas where the technology is suitable for application. Advantages, listing the technical and social advantages of the technology.
Disadvantages, listing the social and technical disadvantages impeding the use of the technology and, in particular, noting any environmental impacts associated with the implementation of the technology.
Cultural Acceptability, describing any cultural factors inhibiting or limiting the application of the technology.
Further Development of the Technology, describing any additional development needed for this technology to be applied in other areas.
Information Sources, listing the information sources used to prepare the profile, including the name, title, organizational affiliation, address, telephone/fax number (s), and E-mail address of the experts, managers, and consultants who can provide information, and a selected bibliography.
Part C presents selected case studies. The purpose of the case studies is to highlight technologies that have been successfully adopted. The case study also provides insight into the cultural, social, and economic factors that facilitated the implementation of the technology.
Finally, Part D contains an acknowledgment of the national and international agencies and organizations that contributed to the preparation of this Source Book, the list of participants in the two Workshops and their contributions, and a table of conversion factors between metric and English units.
