MSc in Municipal Water and Infrastructure

During the next two decades the world's population is expected to double. The high concentration of people in urban areas will place

enormous pressure on the local environment and on available resources.

It will also generate ever-higher, sometimes conflicting demands on services such as water supply and sanitation.

At the same time, under decentralisation policies, the responsibility for delivering such services will be increasingly delegated to lower levels of government that are often ill equipped for this challenge in terms of financial and human resources.

Aim of the programme

The International Masters Programme in Municipal Water and Infrastructure educates professionals in the fields of water supply, sanitation and integrated urban engineering, particularly in urban areas.

Once they have successfully completed this programme, graduates will be able to:

• Place their profession in the wider social, economic and environmental contexts of urbanisation and municipal water and infrastructure services provision.
• Act as a competent professional in their area of chosen specialisation.
• Contribute to the development of innovative approaches to the provision of sustainable and equitable municipal water, sanitation, environmental and infrastructure services in developing and transition countries.

The programme is offered by the Department of Urban Water and Sanitation of UNESCO-IHE.

Participant profile

The programme is directed predominantly at civil and sanitary engineers working in water supply and waste-water companies,

municipal assemblies, government ministries and consulting companies dealing with water supply, sanitation and municipal infrastructure.

Depending on their choice of specialisation, participants should have a Bachelors or equivalent degree in civil engineering, sanitary engineering, chemical engineering, hydraulic engineering, environmental engineering or related fields.

Prospective candidates would also benefit greatly from having had several years of experience as a professional engineer.

Programme Structure

The International Masters Programme in Municipal Water and Infrastructure is an 18 month programme. During the first year students take basic and specialised modules and participate in an international fieldtrip and group-work. This is followed by a six months period during which participants conduct individual research and complete and defend an MSc thesis.

Foundation Phase
The Municipal Water and Infrastructure Programme starts with three basic modules, which all participants are required to take:

• An Introductory module covering water/waste water chemistry and water quality, microbiology and GIS.
• Integrated Urban Water Management focuses on urban water cycle management, and also includes urban hydrology, applied hydraulics and technical writing.
• The Support Subjects module includes project management, engineering economics, data and modelling and applied statistics.

Specialisation Phase
After the foundation phase, participants follow seven three-week modules within their chosen area of specialisation. This part of the programme also includes fieldwork and a two-week international fieldtrip.

Integration Phase
After completing their specialisation modules, participants come together in a multi-disciplinary, problem-solving environment, to apply their knowledge, insights and skills, and to integrate what they have learned (e.g. through case studies and group work).

MSc Thesis
The Municipal Water and Infrastructure programme culminates in an MSc thesis. Research can take the form of experimental work, modelling, or case studies. It starts with a six-week period to develop an individual research proposal, combined with tuition in research methods and skills. The actual research takes place over a period of about six months.

Research topics preferably fit within the following research lines:

• Water Supply Engineering: river bank filtration, low-cost coagulants, optimising conventional treatment, membrane technology, and distribution-system water quality.
• Sanitary Engineering: on-site and off-site sanitation, activated sludge and anaerobic digestion systems, membrane bio-reactors and soil-aquifer treatment, and hazardous liquid waste and industrial treatment.
• Integrated Urban Engineering: risk analysis of water distribution systems, asset management systems, integrated infrastructure design, and optimal design of urban drainage networks.

Where possible, topics are selected with a direct relevance to the participant's own country and working environment. In such cases part of the research work (data collection in particular) is often carried out in the home country.

Specialisations within the MSc Programme are: