What you will learn
- Plan emergency water supply: quantity, access, treatment and quality control.
- Design safe and dignified sanitation: latrines, faecal sludge and waste management, drainage.
- Conduct behaviour-based hygiene promotion and contribute to the cholera response.
Course information
- Level
- Beginner to intermediate
- Study time
- 18 hours over 3 days (lessons, case studies, exercises)
- Format
- Online, at your own pace, free and unlimited access
- Assessment
- Daily quizzes + final exam of 20 randomly drawn questions (30 min, pass mark 70%)
- Credential
- Named, numbered certificate of achievement, verifiable online (QR code)
- Reference frameworks
- Sphere Association · WHO · Eawag / GWC
Programme
- Day1Water supplyWhy WASH saves lives · Quantity and access: the Sphere benchmarks · Water supply options · Treating water and monitoring its quality Scenario: A new camp of 8,000 people
- Day2SanitationLatrines: the benchmarks · Faecal sludge and solid waste · Drainage and vector control Scenario: Unused latrines
- Day3Hygiene promotion and cholera responsePromoting hygiene · Hygiene items · The cholera response Scenario: Cholera alert
- Final assessment and certificate20 questions · 70% to pass · 3 attempts per 24 hours
Who is it for?
WASH officers and technicians, hygiene promoters, multi-sector project managers, health and nutrition staff, and candidates aiming for a first WASH position.
The certificate
With at least 70% correct answers in the final assessment, you receive a certificate in your name, with a unique code that recruiters can verify on Humanitaires Jobs. A free Members area account is required.
Key concepts
The vocabulary you need to master for this course and the exam.
- Free residual chlorine
- Chlorine remaining in the water after treatment, which protects against recontamination.
- Turbidity
- Cloudiness of water caused by particles, which reduces the effectiveness of chlorine.
- Hygiene promotion
- An approach that addresses risky behaviours together with communities.
- Faecal sludge management
- Safe collection, transport and treatment of pit contents.
- Household water treatment
- Treatment of water at household level (filter, chlorine, boiling).
- Menstrual hygiene
- Access to products, privacy, washing facilities and disposal.
- Water trucking
- Emergency water supply by tanker truck.
- Cholera
- An acute diarrhoeal infection linked to water and sanitation, with epidemic potential.
References and recommended reading
The official texts and sector reference works on which the course is based.
- Sphere Association (2018). The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. spherestandards.org/fr/manuel-2018
- WHO (2022). Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (4th edition). www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240045064
- Eawag / GWC (2018). Compendium of Sanitation Technologies in Emergencies. www.eawag.ch
- Global WASH Cluster (UNICEF) (2024). Global WASH Cluster resources. washcluster.net