International Water Association


The International Water Association is a self-governing nonprofit organization and knowledge hub for the water sector, connecting water professionals and companies to find solutions to the world's water challenges. It has permanent staff housed in its headquarters and global secretariat in central London, England, to support the activities, and has a regional office in Chennai, India. The aim of the IWA is to function as an international network for water experts and promote standards and optimal approaches in sustainable water management. Its membership is a global mosaic comprising 313 technology companies, water and wastewater utilities, 54 universities, and wider stakeholders in the fields of water services, infrastructure engineering and consulting as well as 7,791 individuals including scientists and researchers, with 53 governing members. IWA is an affiliated member of the International Science Council. IWA features regional associations, approximately 50 specialist groups covering key topics in urban water management, specialized task forces, and web-based knowledge networks.
Two significant conferences are organized by the IWA biennially: the World Water Congress & Exhibition and the Water and Development Congress & Exhibition. IWA works across a wide range of issues covering the full water cycle, with four programmes – Basins of the Future, Cities of the Future, Water and Sanitation Services including Water policy and regulation – that work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the 70th UN General Assembly and addressing the threat to sustainable water posed by climate change.

History

Merger of IWSA and IAWQ

The association traces its historical roots back to the International Water Supply Association, established in June 1947 in Harrogate, United Kingdom, changing its name to International Water Service Association in the mid-1990s, and the International Association on Water Quality, which was originally formed as the International Association for Water Pollution Research in 1962, formally constituted in June 1965 also in the same city, renamed International Association of Water Pollution Research and Control in March 1982 and adopting IAWQ in May 1992. Both were global membership organizations – one related to drinking water utility and the other related to wastewater utility – dedicated to advancing research and best practices through international collaboration, but represented two distinct causes, perspectives, histories, and membership profiles.
The organizations had a series of activities centered on recurring congresses, which in the later years would include specialty conferences and regional conferences for individuals without the means of attending the biennial events. The self-managed specialist group framework initially developed within IAWPRC would eventually evolve into the cornerstone of IWA's operational approach extending beyond IWA's biennial congresses, and be further enriched by clusters and programs formed by specialist groups within IWA. In the history of IWSA, the focus of publication of journals was smaller compared to IAWQ.
Discussions regarding a merger between the IWSA and IAWQ commenced in 1996. Given their shared location in London for several years, the idea of a merger had long been considered. Ultimately, negotiations for the merger were conducted through what later became known as the Merger Coordinating Group, who held a last meeting in London on 12-13 May 1999. On 23 January 1998, the then presidents, Nicholas Hood of IWSA and Thomas Keinath of IAWQ, signed a memorandum of understanding, paving the way for the ratification of the merger between the two organizations. After receiving mandates from their respective boards of directors to the formal proposal, IWSA in May and IAWQ in June the same year, the full merger was scheduled to take place by 1 August 1999. The merger was formally sealed during a signing event held at the Stockholm Water Week in August 1999. Under UK Charity Law, the merger officially dissolved IWSA and IAWQ, giving rise to the establishment of a new association.
The two professional, technical associations with separate cultures, and working methods eventually merged on 7 September 1999 to form the International Water Association, creating one international organization focused on the full water cycle. The merger was motivated by the streamlining of operations and a desire to accumulate critical mass. Legally signed and created at the end of July 1999, the IWA was ceremonially launched at the final IWSA 22nd World Water Congress and Exhibition, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 18–24 September 1999, in collaboration with AIDIS Argentina. IWA was operational in their new headquarters on Caxton Street, London, United Kingdom from January 2000. Included in the merger process was a new member leadership structure, the Scientific and Technical Council and a Management and Policy Council, and the creation of two subsidiaries: IWA Publishing and the IWA Foundation.

Early years, new agendas and offices

The first congress under the auspices of the new organization was held in Paris in 2000 with nearly 2.500 delegates attending 450 oral presentations, 750 poster presentations and 4 workshops and seminars. In 2009, IWA launched a biennial Development Congress, with Mexico City as the inaugural location, as a key component of its comprehensive agenda to drive advancements in the developing world. Together with the America’s Clean Water Foundation, IWA sponsored the first World Water Monitoring Day in October 2003, handled the joint coordination of the program together with the Water Environment Federation from July 2006 until January 2015, where the coordinator role was transferred to EarthEcho International. By September 2016, the membership numbers at IWA had increased to 6,295 members, which was an increase from 4,901 members in 2007.
Water professionals had increasingly discussed and agreed on the necessity for a consistent framework within which to ensure drinking water quality standards, which was further emphasized by the World Health Organization's development of the 3rd edition of its Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, emphasizing proactive risk-based management alongside end-product monitoring for compliance. A generic framework for water quality management was crafted during workshops in Bonn, Germany in October 2001 and refined in February 2004, resulting in the Bonn Charter for Safe Drinking Water, launched by IWA in September 2004 during the 4th WWC&E. The Bonn Charter for Safe Drinking Water advocates for the adoption of Water Safety Plans, in alignment with the WHO GDWQ.
By 2015, the target year for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals from 2009, the 2030 agenda of the UN Sustainable Development Goals was embraced as a new main water-focused issue of concern among the many other global priorities. In March 2015, AquaRating was announced as the world's first rating agency for the water sector by establishing the international standard for assessing water and sanitation services provision, jointly developed by the Inter-American Development Bank and the IWA. On 1 September 2016, the World Bank and IWA announced the establishment of a partnership surrounding the reduction of water losses. In a partnership with OPEC Fund for International Development, the IWA published a report on 26 February 2017, emphasizes the critical need for swift and substantial action to significantly enhance wastewater treatment, reuse, and recycling.
At an official ceremony on 14 November 2007, a major operational office in The Hague, the Netherlands, was opened, which followed the opening of regional offices in Beijing, Republic of China and Singapore, and later in Nairobi, Kenya, Bucharest, Romania and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. A regional office in Chennai, India was established in May 2018 to coordinate the organization's activities across South Asia, and hosts a sub-unit of the IT and Digital Transformation team. A collaboration agreement that established IWA's new Global Operations Hub in Nanjing, Republic of China, was signed on 22 October 2018 to host the Asia & Oceania Regional Member Engagement and Service, Water Intelligence, IWA Learn, and Event, becoming fully operational in July 2019, and staying active until late 2022 or early 2023. Brexit let to the shutdown of the association's operations in the Netherlands and the transfer of activities back to the United Kingdom, where IWA and IWA Publishing has shared an expanded office in London since July 2020.

Management

Presidents of IWA

All past presidents of the International Water Association are listed below. The length of the presidency is a two-year term of office, which can be renewed for a second mandate following a constitutional change at a Beijing meeting in 2006. The person becomes president-elect until the term officially commences at the conclusion of the opening ceremony of an upcoming World Water Congress & Exhibition event with the term ending at the close of the next WWC&E. The association's work and strategy is guided and directed by its Governing Assembly, Board of Directors, Strategic Council and committees. Votings for the position of IWA President have occurred during a world congress or by the association’s Governing Assembly at the IWA annual general meeting. A vice president and a senior vice president is also elected as officers.
During the merger in 1999, two co-presidents, both hailing from South Africa, were elected at the Buenos Aires Congress. They were tasked with overseeing a two-year transition period from September 1999 through October 2001 as the newly formed organization, worked towards operational establishment. Diane D’Arras of France became the association's first female president in October 2016. Due to a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the presidency of Tom Mollenkopf became effective in May 2021 despite being elected for his first term in October 2019.
  • 1999–2001: Piet Odendaal
  • 1999–2001: Vincent Bath
  • 2001–2003: Norihito Tambo
  • 2003–2004: Michael Rouse
  • 2004–2006:
  • 2006–2010: David Garman
  • 2010–2014: Glen Daigger
  • 2014–2016: Helmut Kroiss
  • 2016–2021: Diane D’Arras
  • 2021–2024: Tom Mollenkopf
  • 2024–present: Hamanth Chotoo Kasan