Improving Water and Sanitation Access in California and Around the Globe

From 2001 to 2003, Dr. Georgia Kayser served as a Peace Corps volunteer in El Paraíso de Celén, a rural community in southern Ecuador at 10,000 feet. She lived in a household with piped water. The water was untreated, and there was no access to a toilet.

“I had to build a pit toilet,” says Kayser. “That was when I really started to get interested in water equity and sanitation access and equity.”

There have been major improvements in access to water and sanitation globally, such as increased sanitation and water treatment services. However, an estimated 25% of households worldwide still do not have reliable access to safe drinking water, and 46% lack adequate sanitation. Access issues are interwoven with inequity and health disparities, disproportionately affecting resource-denied populations. Dr. Kayser’s research focuses on access to clean water and sanitation, as well as the communities that could benefit from interventions and improved policies.

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