List of abbreviations used in sanitation

Last updated March 14, 2025

This is a list of abbreviations and acronyms commonly used in the sanitation sector or more broadly in the WASH sector.

A

AA - Activated alumina
ADB - Asian Development Bank
ABR - Anaerobic baffled reactor - improved septic tank with baffles, see also Anaerobic digestion and DEWATS
ACP - Anaerobic contact process
AD - Anaerobic digestion
AF - Anaerobic filters, see also Anaerobic digestion
AfDB - African Development Bank
AfWA - African Water Association
AIT - Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand
aka or a.k.a. - "also known as"
AMCOW - African Ministers Council on Water
As - Arsenic
ATS - Aerobic treatment system
AusAID - Australian Agency for International Development
AWF - African Water Facility, an initiative of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), hosted and administered by African Development Bank (AfDB)

B

BCC - Behavioral change communication
BMGF - Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
BMZ - Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
BOD or BOD5 - Biological oxygen demand (measured for five days)
BOP or BoP - Bottom of the pyramid (or base of the pyramid)
BOT - Build-operate-transfer
BSF - Black soldier fly or Biosand filter
BSFL - Black soldier fly larvae

C

cap - capita, as per capita (or per person)
CAPEX - Capital expenditure
CATS - Community approaches to total sanitation, a term coined by UNICEF
CBO - Community-based organization
CBOD - Carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand
CBS - Container-based sanitation
CCT - Conditional cash transfer
CHC - Community Health Clubs
CHP - Combined heat and power
CLTS - Community-led total sanitation
CLUES - Community Led Urban Environmental Sanitation
CFU - Colony-forming unit
COD - Controlled open defecation
COD - Chemical oxygen demand
CoP - Community of practice
CP - Contact precipitation, see precipitation
CSO - Combined sewer overflow or Civil Society Organization (same as Non-governmental organization)
CSR - Corporate social responsibility
CW - Constructed wetland

D

DALY - Disability-adjusted life year
DEWATS - Decentralized wastewater treatment system
DFID - Department for International Development (United Kingdom)
DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid
DO - Dissolved oxygen
DRC - Democratic Republic of the Congo
DRR - Disaster risk reduction

E

Ecosan - Ecological sanitation
EC - Electrical conductivity
Eh - Redox potential
EIA - Environmental impact assessment
EM - Effective microorganisms
EN - European standards (the N stands for Normalisation in French), e.g. EN 12566
EPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency
EPS - Extracellular polymeric substances
EQND - Equality and nondiscrimination
ESARO - East and Southern Africa Region
EU - European Union

F

FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAQ - Frequently asked questions
FC - Fecal coliforms
FECR - Fecal egg count reduction; closest article is on anthelmintic
FFS (or F4S) - Fit for School
FGD - Focus group discussion; closest article may be Qualitative psychological research
FGM - Female genital mutilation
FOAM - Focus on Opportunity, Ability and Motivation
FS - Fecal (or faecal) sludge; closest article is septage
FSM - Fecal (or faecal) sludge management
FSSM - Fecal sludge and septage management
FSTP - Fecal sludge treatment plant
FTI - Faecally-transmitted infections; closest article is fecal–oral transmission

G

GAP - Good agricultural practices
GHG - Greenhouse gases
GIZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
GLAAS - UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water
GPS - Global positioning system
GSF - Global sanitation fund, closest page is Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council

H

HACCP - Hazard analysis and critical control points
hab. - inhabitant or user, used in design parameters of wastewater treatment, e.g. 60 g BOD/hab.
HAI - Hospital-acquired infection
HCF - Health care facility
HEDF - Human excreta derived fertiliser (see reuse of excreta)
HEW - Health Extension Worker
HH - Household
HIA - Health impact assessment
HQ - Headquarters
HRWS - Human right to water and sanitation
HWF - Handwashing facility

I

ICT - Information and communications technology
IDP - Internally displaced person, often used as "IDP camp"
IEC - Information, education, communication; closest article may be Behavior change (public health)
INR - Indian rupee, currency in India
IWRM - Integrated water resources management

J

JMP - Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation of WHO and UNICEF

K

KAP - Knowledge, attitude and practice
kL (or Kl) - Kilo liters (or 1000 liters, same as 1 cubic meter)
KM - Knowledge management
Ksh - Kenyan shilling, currency in Kenya
KVIP - Kumasi ventilated-improved pit, closest article is Pit latrine

L

L - Lakh, used for one hundred thousand in India
L - Liter (or litre in British English spelling)
LCC - Life-cycle cost, see Whole-life cost or Life-cycle cost analysis
LCCA - Life-cycle cost analysis
LGA - Local government area
LMICs - Low and middle income countries
LNOB - Leave no one behind
lpcd - Liters per capita per day (liters per person per day), e.g. for daily wastewater flowrate

M

MBBR - Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor
MBR - Membrane bioreactor
MCA - Multiple criteria analysis, see Multiple-criteria decision analysis
MCDA - Multiple-criteria decision analysis
MDA - Mass drug administration
MDG - Millennium Development Goal
M&E - Monitoring and evaluation
MENA - Middle East and North Africa
MFC - Microbial fuel cell
MFI - Microfinance institution
mg - Milligram
μg - Microgram
MHM - Menstrual hygiene management
ML - Megaliter or 1 million liter or 1000 cubic meters
MLD - Million liters per day
MOH - Ministry of health (see also List of health departments and ministries)
MOOC - Massive open online course
MOS - Manual of style
MoU - Memorandum of understanding
MoUD - Ministry of Urban Development
MSW - Municipal solid waste

N

NBA - Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan in India, formerly called "Total Sanitation Campaign" (TSC) - not to be confused with CLTS
NGO - Non-governmental organization
NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard
NRW - Non-revenue water
NSS - Non-sewered sanitation (similar term to fecal sludge management)
NTDs - Neglected tropical diseases

O

OBA - Output based aid
OD - Open defecation
ODA - Official development assistance
ODK - Open Data Kit
O&M - Operation and maintenance
ODF - Open defecation free, i.e. a community without open defecation taking place
OP - Omni Processor
OPEX - Operational expenditure (or operating expense)
ORP - Oxidation reduction potential
ORT - Oral rehydration therapy

P

PbR - Payment by results
PC - Preventive chemotherapy; closest article is helminthiasis
PFU - Plaque-forming unit
PHC - Primary health centre
PIM - Post implementation monitoring; no article yet, see WASH
PMU - Project management unit
PSP - Public sector participation, see also Public–private partnership
PVC - Polyvinyl chloride
PPP - Public private partnership
ppm - Parts per million
ppb - Parts per billion

Q

QA/QC - Quality assurance / quality control
Q&A - Question and answer, see also FAQ
QMRA - Quantitative Microbiological Risk Assessment

R

RBF - Results-based financing, see also Output based aid or Payment by Results
RCT - Randomized controlled trial
R&D - Research and development
RNA - Ribonucleic acid
RRR - Resource Recovery and Reuse
RTI - Reproductive tract infection
RTTC - Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, an R&D funding scheme by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
RVO - Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland [ nl ] (Netherlands Enterprise Agency)

S

SAR - Sodium adsorption ratio
SBA (or SBM) - Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Clean India Mission or Swachh Bharat Mission
SBR - Sequencing batch reactor
SDG - Sustainable Development Goal
SDG6 - Sustainable Development Goal Number 6: "Clean Water and Sanitation"
SFD - Shit Flow Diagram
SHG - Self-help group
SLA - Service-level agreement
SLB - Service-level benchmarking
SLTS - School-led total sanitation, see Community-led total sanitation
SME - Small and medium-sized enterprise
SMS - Short message service
SOP - Standard operating procedure
STP - Sewage treatment plant
SRHR - Sexual and reproductive health and rights
SRT - Solids retention time, see also Activated sludge
SS - Suspended solids
SSA - Sub-Saharan Africa
SSLA - Sanitation Service-level agreement
SSP - Sanitation safety planning; closest page might be Water safety plan
SuSanA - Sustainable Sanitation Alliance
SWASH - School Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, see Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

T

T90 - Time at which 90 percent reduction in pathogens is achieved
TAF - Technology Applicability Framework^[1]
ThOD - Theoretical oxygen demand
ToR - Terms of reference
TSC - Total sanitation campaign in India, now called Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan - not to be confused with CLTS
TSS - Total suspended solids (in sanitary engineering) or Toxic shock syndrome (medical field)
TSSM - Total Sanitation and Sanitation Marketing
TSU - Technical support unit

U

UASB - Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor
UCD - User-centered design
UDDT - Urine-diverting dry toilet
UDT - Urine diversion toilet
UDFT - Urine Diverting Flush Toilet
μg - Microgram
ULB - Urban local body
UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme
UNSGAB - United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation
USEPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency
UTI - Urinary tract infection

V

VIP - Ventilated improved pit latrine
VND - Vietnamese Dong (currency in Vietnam)

W

WASH or WaSH - Water, sanitation and hygiene
WASH2 - Water, sanitation, hygiene and health
WatSan - Water and sanitation, used in the same way as WASH
WC - Water closet
WEF - Water-Energy-Food nexus
WG - Working group
WinS - WASH in schools
WHO - World Health Organization
WPM - Water point mapping
WSP:
WSUP - Water and sanitation for the urban poor
WSH - Water, sanitation, hygiene
WSSCC - Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council
WTD - World Toilet Day
WTP:
- Water treatment plant
- Willingness to pay
WWD - World Water Day
WWTP - Wastewater treatment plant
WYSIWYG - What You See is What You Get

References

↑ "The Technology Applicability Framework (TAF) - a participatory tool to validate low-income urban WASH technologies - Google Scholar". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2017-03-21.

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[1] "The Technology Applicability Framework (TAF) - a participatory tool to validate low-income urban WASH technologies - Google Scholar". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2017-03-21.

[1]

List of abbreviations used in sanitation

Contents

Contents

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

See also

References