Water, Sanitation and Health (WASH) Blog

Water, Sanitation and Health at University of Leeds

University of Leeds conducts research into water, sanitation and health across the globe, and across many disciplines. Our researchers are often affiliated with transdisciplinary groups, such as the Centre for Global Development and Water@Leeds.

This blog is a place to hear from our students, staff and alumni about their experiences as researchers, learners and practitioners.

Providing education and menstrual products alone will not allow women and girls to menstruate hygienically and with dignity - we also need to challenge negative, restrictive social norms.

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The Nakuru Accord: Failing better in the WASH sector

Transparency and accountability are necessary for achieving sustainable, positive impacts from water, sanitation and hygiene.

Read and sign The Nakuru Accord
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Students on our Master of Science (WASH Engineering) conduct research projects into pertinent global issues, often undertaking overseas placements with NGOs and other agencies.

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Our researchers conduct world-leading research into the technical, social, environmental, institutional and economic components of water, sanitation and health.

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Check out the latest blogs from our students, staff and alumni

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FSM5 and AfricaSan5 2019: Highlights and Key Takeaways

Dr Sally Cawood, Research Fellow in Urban Sanitation, sums up her experiences from the latest Faecal Sludge Management and African Sanitation conferences.
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My PhD Journey Part 1: Why a Phd … at Leeds … researching incontinence?

Claire Rosato-Scott, PhD Candidate, talks about how she came to be studying for a PhD on incontinence in an engineering school...
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Breaking the silence on women’s experiences of incontinence

Dr Dani Barrington, Lecturer in Water, Sanitation and Health, Dr Lena Jaspersen, University Academic Fellow and Isobel Sale, student of Bachelor of Arts (French and Linguistics) talk about a series of workshops they facilitated to understand women's experiences of incontinence.
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My empowering experience researching menstrual taboos

Elizabeth Goolden, Master of Arts (Global Development) Graduate, talks about what it was like conducting research into the taboos associated with menstruation, comparing between the experiences of girls in UK and Uganda.
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Sanitation coverage in waterfront communities of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Dr Chindo Nwankwao, Commonwealth Rutherford Fellow, discusses the findings of her recent fieldwork in Nigeria.
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Local ownership of WASH responses are required in Pacific schools

Dr Dani Barrington, Lecturer in Water, Sanitation and Health, as well as colleagues Dr Michelle Redman-MacLaren and Humpress Harrington of James Cook University, on the importance of local students and community members leading initiatives to improve WASH systems in schools.
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My experience of conducting research in Bangladesh

Mariam Zaqout, Master of Science (WASH Engineering) Graduate, talks about what it was like conducting research into the emptying of pit latrines in Bangladesh.
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WASH and Disability: A Poem

A poem written by Elon as part of a student seminar in the Master of Science in Water, Sanitation and Health Engineering
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Conquering the world of incontinence – Oui, oui!

Isobel Sale, Bachelor of Arts (French and Linguistics) student, talks about her research looking into the experiences of urinary incontinence that are shared on Mumsnet.
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‘Sponge City: a sponge or a soap bubble?’

Zhe Zhan, Master of Science (WASH Engineering) Graduate, talks about what he discovered when conducting his final research project on Sponge City implementation in Jinan, China.
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Boys and menstruation in Indian schools

Georgia Hales, Master of Engineering Graduate, talks about what she discovered during her final research project investigating the menstrual education of boys in Mumbai schools.
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My experiences of conducting a research project in India

Georgia Hales, Master of Engineering Graduate, talks about what it was like conducting research into menstruation in India.
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The lived experience of a flood: What does climate change feel like?

Dr Celia Way, Research Fellow, on what it's like to experience a flood whilst living in an informal settlement.
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Pieces by University of Leeds WASHies published elsewhere

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Numbers (and Alessandro Volta) don’t lie

PhD candidates Christian Borja-Vega and Christian Israel Aragon-Briteno on anaerobic digestion as a potential solution towards sustainable wastewater re-use and renewable energy for Mexico
Read on The Water Blog (World Bank)
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Menstrual Taboos Across The Globe

Elizabeth Goolden, graduate of University of Leeds MA (Global Development) present the results of her dissertation research, where she investigated the differences and similarities between menstrual taboos in the UK and Uganda
Read on the Irise website
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Reflections on Tweeting the UNC Water and Health Conference

Komal Saini, alumnus of University of Leeds MSc WASH Engineering, on her experiences of building professional networks through Tweeting a conference.
Read on Medium
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Toilets of the future must be designed with people in mind, not technology

Dr Dani Barrington and Dr Rebecca Sindall discuss the cool new technologies being designed by sanitation engineers, highlighting how important it is that users are engaged in designing and testing them.
Read on The Conversation
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‘We Are Still Here’: Returning to Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dr Sally Cawood, Research Fellow, recently returned to Bangladesh to feedback her PhD findings on Community Based Organisations (CBOs), water and sanitation in Dhaka’s low-income settlements. This blog shares some reflections on reconnecting with the NGOs, urban poor groups and communities involved in the research.
Read on University of Manchester's Global Development Institute Blog
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Technology for incontinence hasn’t developed that much

Dr Pete Culmer and Sarah King on new technologies to address incontinence.
Read on The Conversation
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Water and sanitation in Dhaka's low income settlements, Bangladesh.

Dr Sally Cawood draws on data collected in three low-income settlements to outline how much residents – a mixture of tenants, house owners and landlords – pay for water and sanitation (WatSan) services in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Despite significant improvements, fieldwork reveals that overlapping financial and political insecurities at the household and settlement level greatly affect the costs and terms of access.
Read on Micro Save
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Toilet marketing campaigns in developing countries erode people’s dignity

Dr Dani Barrington and Professor Jamie Bartram on why we need to think twice when designing sanitation marketing campaigns that attack people's dignity.
Read on The Conversation
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Why we need to talk about incontinence

Dr Dani Barrington and Dr Pete Culmer on why incontinence is a global issue that needs more attention.
Read on The Conversation
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What do we mean by "WASH marketing exchanges"?

Video produced by International Water Centre detailing the research findings of a previous project led by Dr Dani Barrington.
Watch on YouTube

WASH-related events coming up

Interested in studying water, sanitation and health?

Several courses at University of Leeds will allow you to learn more about water, sanitation and health. These include (but are not limited to):

Something we should add?

This blog is managed by Dr Dani Barrington, but is informal – it is not supposed to represent a specific research project, group or programme at the University, and it is not restricted to WASH research in lower and middle income countries (after all, the Sustainable Development Goals apply to all of us!). It is a place to share our research findings and experiences. If you would like to contribute a blog, suggest an event, add a course to the list or something else, please feel free to shoot Dani an email.