Dear Diafarou,

thanks for your detailed introduction, very impressive what you have done so far.
I find it pretty difficult to define a research topic in isolation of a possible supervisor and host university (would you be based at 2iE in Burkina or UNESCO-IHE in Delft or both?).

From the three topics you listed, I like topic 1 the best: 1. Cost-effective Sustainable Sanitation to Prevent Water Resources Pollution: Case of Niger River-West Africa. (Topic 2 is not enough for a PhD topic, at least not the way you have formulated it; Topic 3 is not that relevant, because GHG emissions from WWTPs is so much less significant than from other sources).

I like Topic 1 the best because you can connect it to a real-life situation in your home country Niger, and I bet there are not so many previous research studies done on the same topic in Niger.
There are a couple of buzz words which come to mind and which you could incorporate in your proposal:
IWRM (integrated water resources management) and the water-energy-food nexus (use Google or e.g. www.water-energy-food.org/). Also check out www.sswm.info, the great site set up by Dorothee Spuhler et al. - you could pick up some good ideas there about your case.

Perhaps set up your 3 topic suggestions around variations on Topic 1 (and ecosan and climate change stuff can of course become part of Topic 1 in any case).

Hope this helps. Maybe others who know Niger better than I would like to add.

Oh, and I hope you are aware on all the work on productive sanitation that was done with IFAD and SEI in Niger?
See here all the publications by Linus Dagerskog et al.:
www.susana.org/library?search=Niger or here:
www.susana.org/lang-en/library?showby=ye...&vbl_0=0&country=159

You can draw heaps of ideas out of these publications as well.

Regards,
Elisabeth

Dear Elisabeth, Dear all,
First of all, I am apologizing for not introducing myself, the first time when requesting for your suggestions and comments on PhD thesis topics. My Name is MOUMOUNI Diafarou Ali from Niger republic (see my blog: diafali.blogspot.com/) and currently working in Bamako-Mali with an engineering consultancy firm named BETICO-SARL (website: www.betico.net) as an expert in water management and Irrigation networks operation and maintenance of newly developed Irrigation schemes.
Training and education:
2007-2009:Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Municipal Water and Infrastructure, specializing in sanitary engineering at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, Netherlands.

2004-2005: Master (D.E.S.S.) in Computer Engineering at the International Institute for Water and Environment (2iE), ex (EIER) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

1998-2003: Bachelor of Engineering in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

1997-1998:Professional Certificate in computer Applications, Iya Abubakar computer center, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

1996-1997: Intensive English Course Certificate, Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, Nigeria

1994-1995: Baccalaureate E (Mathematics and technical) at the technical school of Maradi in Niger.

Professional Background:
I have worked in Netherlands, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali and in the course of this, got acquainted with many other water professionals of Europe, Africa and Asia on the issues of water and sanitation.

I have conducted research on the estimation of per capita water consumption in a city where scarcity of water is a crucial problem. I carried out recently, M.Sc. thesis research on “Carbon dioxide and Methane emissions from different wastewater treatment scenarios.” These projects have exposed me to an in-depth knowledge in the area of drinking water and wastewater with the application of different treatment technologies. Moreover I have learnt different strategies to manage water resources in order to face the challenges of climate change. A copy of my research thesis can be found in the Ecosanres.org website.

In January 2006 to September 2007, I was hired as a research assistant at the International Institute for water and Environmental Engineering (2iE), in close collaboration with the Regional Association of Irrigation and Drainage (ARID), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to establish an online database that include most of the relevant software applied in water science ( www.arid-afrique.org/ ). During that period, I have trained some professionals in irrigation to use agricultural software named OLYMPE, which is a very good tool for decision makers.

In 2003, I worked as a water resource and environmental engineer in a big water project named “Sectorial project in water (PSE)” in Niamey, Niger, supervising the construction of water towers and the lay out of the water supply distribution network.

To be acquainted to the new developments in the sector water and sanitation, I have attended several seminars and conferences. The recent one was held from 30 September to 1 October 2008 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands under the theme: “Millennium development goals on sanitation” where various professionals met to share their experience and new concept in the field of sanitation. I have also made a presentation at the conference on Dams in December 2006 under the theme “A tool for decision support to manage water around a dam in Burkina Faso”.

Concerning this research:
To be clear nothing is properly defined, because we are in the process of the finalization of the selection. In fact, I am preselected for a PhD studentship as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Funded Project on Pro-poor Sanitation Innovations, named "Stimulating local innovation on sanitation for the urban poor in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia".

Research theme:Low-cost wastewater collection & treatment
Host Institute: International Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering
2ie (Ouagadougou-Burkina Faso)

So in order to confirm my final admission the 2iE requested me to provide three research topics, that way I suggest you to comment, refine these above topics before submitting to them. I don’t know my supervisor, nether how the research will be conducted. This is just a start to the matter.
Thank you all.
Best wishes
Diafarou

Dear Diafarou (is this your first name?),

Could you please first introduce yourself with a couple of sentences outlining your professional background, keeping in mind that this is not an anonymous forum - we would like to know who we are talking to...

Secondly, PhD thesis topics cannot be commented on in isolation. You have to first tell us:

1. Who would supervise this and at which university?
2. Where would you be based, in Niger oder in the Netherlands?
3. What is the field of expertise of your supervisor?
4. What funds are available e.g. for lab work, analyses, travel, interviews, surveys and so forth?
5. Is it meant to be an engineering type PhD or more into management?
6. What is your prior experience, e.g. what was your MSc on and did it open up more question that should be tackled with a PhD?

Regards from your former lecturer at UNESCO-IHE,
Elisabeth

Dear SuSanA Members,
I hope you are all doing fine. In fact I am requested to provide three PhD topics related on 'low-cost wastewater collection and treatment' in other to confirm my admission to carry out the research. So I am suggesting the three topics below. Please can you proofread it and help me to reshape them. Thank you in advance.

[
1. Cost-effective Sustainable Sanitation to Prevent Water Resources Pollution: Case of Niger River-West Africa.
Niger River is one of the precious water resources in West Africa, third in terms of the largest river in Africa. More than 250 million peoples depends on this resource, in terms of agriculture, water supply, livestock breeding, fisheries, transport, buffer for wastewater and many other human need and activities.
However, nowadays this surface water is threatened by not only, the silting up, but also its quality. This later aspect is accelerating by the increased population growth, industrialization and the level of waste generation and current waste handling, treatment (untreated) and disposal practices of the riparian.

The consequences are enormous and these range from high cost of drinking water supply treatment to degradation of land, water resources and threaten biodiversity, human health (outbreaks of many water related diseases) and environmental health in general. Therefore, investing in sanitation and hygiene is not only about saving human lives and dignity; it is the foundation for investing in human development, especially in poor urban and peri-urban areas. However, one of the main bottlenecks encountered by the Niger River Basin management authority (ABN) and the municipalities is the limited knowledge and awareness about more appropriate and sustainable systems and technologies of managing sanitation problems in such a way that will keep project costs affordable and acceptable in order to protect our water resources.
Therefore, the overall aim of this research work is to draw the attention of the Niger River Basin management authority (ABN) and the municipalities on the need to start implementing proper sustainable sanitation solutions. As part of the specific objectives of the research work,, there is an urgent need to monitor the pollution load of the river due to the discharge of the untreated wastewater. Also, the research work will entail the development of a suitable model that could be used for simulating the increased pollution rate of the river and also be used to experience the low wastewater collection and treatment technologies. Lastly, there is a need to come up with some stricter effluent discharge criteria standards at the end of the research work in order to mitigate the gradual pollution rate of the river.



2. Assessment of Ecological sanitation as an affordable and sustainable sanitation system, in response to climate change.
Environmental pollution has been in existence, way back from man’s earliest civilization down to the industrial revolution. The situation is getting worse despite concerted efforts by scholars. One of the mitigation measures is to apply wastewater treatment options that consume less energy. For instance, a new concept in sanitation aims to offer sustainable alternatives for a number of elements in the urban water cycle. A key sustainability aspect is the aim of recycling nutrients and organic matter via urban, peri-urban and rural agriculture, while making minimal use of natural resources (e.g. water, chemicals and energy).

Abundant information exists about sanitation technologies but it is scattered throughout dozens of books, reports, proceedings and journals, this research aims to investigate the applicability of Ecological Sanitation as an affordable sustainable to meet the increase challenges of climate change. The goal is to explore deeper, the proposition that systems offer a more effective, affordable and sustainable alternatives to conventional water borne systems.
After conducting this research, the candidate will:
- have an appreciation of the “sanitation crisis” in developing countries
- be able to describe shortcomings of conventional sanitation (sewer-based or pit based) and understand the benefits of EcoSan compared to conventional sanitation
- be able to describe in broad terms the concept of EcoSan
- have an appreciation of the concept of sustainability as it relates to sanitation
- be able to discuss which of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) targets are related to sanitation
- know about the particular difficulties of sanitation provision in urban slums, and the role EcoSan could play to improve the situation



3. Carbon dioxide and Methane emissions from innovative low-cost wastewater collection and treatment scenarios.
Since the era of industrialization, concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) have tremendously increased in the atmosphere, as a result of the extensive use of fossil fuels, deforestation, improper waste management, transport, and other economic activities (Boer, 2008).This has led to a great accumulation of greenhouse gases, forming a blanket around the Earth which contributes in the so-called “Global Warming”. Over the last decades, wastewater treatment has developed strongly and has become a very important asset in mitigating the impact of domestic and industrial effluents on the environment. There are many different forms of wastewater treatment, and one of the most effective treatment technologies in terms COD, N and P removal, activated sludge is often criticized for its high energy use. Some other treatment concepts have a more "green" image, but it is not clear whether this image is justified based on their greenhouse gas emission. This research focuses on the estimation of GHG emissions of different wastewater treatment configurations, both conventional and innovative systems.
In this regard, various strategies have been developed to face the new challenges of climate change and phosphate shortage. Nevertheless, most research (Chen and Lin, 2008; Lovett et al., 2008; Margarita and Scarlette, 2007; Rasheed, 2008; Vanotti et al., 2008) has concentrated on GHG emissions from conventional waste management, while largely neglecting innovative sanitation practices. The calculation of the overall emissions of each system is a major challenge.