The 9th edition of the "ask the experts" series, the technical exchange session between German and African experts in the water and sanitation sector, was held on December 13, 2023, during the IWA Water and Development Congress organized, in Kigali. The theme of this issue was "innovation to accelerate SDGs 6.2 and 6.3 towards "water-wise" and resilient cities".

During the session, experts discussed on safe collection and conveyance of wastewater under high water table and rocky conditions.  They  showed that beyond the collection and conveyance of wastewater from urban settlements by gravity sewers (conventional or small bore ‘condominial’), there is a smart 3rd way for scenarios with high groundwater table or hard rock soil structure: vacuum

They also discussed on Innovations in safe treatment and reuse of wastewater and faecal sludge in Europe, Asia and Africa.  They stated that energy neutral wastewater treatment systems producing water, energy and nutrients are feasible and scalable for domestic and industrial wastewater

Finally, the model of decentralised wastewater treatment in urban and rural sanitation in South Africa was presented as lessons learned