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.

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

Dr Paul Hutchings gives a public lecutre on urban sanitation and University of Leeds WASH research in this area
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In this essay Grace Phiri, PhD researcher, discusses the intersection between women's rights and the fight for public toilets in the UK
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Ruth Sylvester, PhD researcher, discusses how water insecurity and poverty manifest in the UK.
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Charles Shachinda student from the 2020/21 cohort discusses what the WASH MSc did his development and career
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Leonie Hyde-Smith discusses the results from her systematic review on the impacts of climate change on urban sanitation
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Chanda Singoyi discusses his experience on the Water, Sanitation and Health Engineering MSc, including learning about the public health and social dimensions of WASH as well as the technical components
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Dr Paul Hutchings introduces a new pilot project examining whether games can help improve infection prevention and control...
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The WASH Failures Team explain why they will not be publishing a special issue on failures in IJERPH
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Alicia Eduardo talks about her experiences studying the MSc WASH Engineering, both the challenges and the triumphs.
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Matsautso Mumba, student on the Master of Science (WASH Engineering) programme, highlights results from his research project into asset management in WASH in Zambia.
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Hannah Robinson, PhD student and graduate of the Bachelor of Engineering programme discusses her research that looks at the links between taboos and how people dispose of menstrual waste.
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Theresa Schütz, student on the Master of Science (WASH Engineering) programme, gives her helpful (and sometimes hilarious) tips on how to survive WASH's biggest annual conference.
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Desire Sengoga, student on the Master of Science (WASH Engineering) programme, highlights results from his research project into how universities can better support young WASH entrepreneurs.
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Erick Corimanya and Elon Sooknanan, students on the Master of Science (WASH Engineering) programme, talk about the difficulties of collecting cost data from utilities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Claire Rosato-Scott, PhD Candidate, talks about how she is using her corporate experience to manage her PhD workload.
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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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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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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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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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Dr Chindo Nwankwao, Commonwealth Rutherford Fellow, discusses the findings of her recent fieldwork in Nigeria.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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Georgia Hales, Master of Engineering Graduate, talks about what it was like conducting research into menstruation in India.
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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

Georgia Hales and Ruth Sylvester explain why a lack of diversity could be hampering efforts to achieve SDG 6.2...
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Dr Dani Barrington explains that whilst product provision is important, we can't truly eradicate "period poverty" until we end the stigmatization of menstruation.
Read on Policy Forum
Dr Dani Barrington, Dr Emily Wilson and Professor Hazel Barrett outline the reasons why "period poverty" can only be solved by taking a systemic approach.
Read on The Conversation
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)
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
Komal Saini, alumnus of University of Leeds MSc WASH Engineering, on her experiences of building professional networks through Tweeting a conference.
Read on Medium
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
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
Dr Pete Culmer and Sarah King on new technologies to address incontinence.
Read on The Conversation
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
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
Dr Dani Barrington and Dr Pete Culmer on why incontinence is a global issue that needs more attention.
Read on The Conversation
Video produced by International Water Centre detailing the research findings of a previous project led by Dr Dani Barrington.
Watch on YouTube

Something we should add?

This blog is managed by Dr Paul Hutchings, 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 Paul an email.