Sustainable Water Resource Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Water and wastewater managers, Environmental managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-NRM-026

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with water use, environmental management, facilities operations, engineering, utility services or natural-resource programmes.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Water managers must secure reliable supplies while protecting catchments, meeting quality obligations, controlling treatment costs and preparing for droughts, floods and competing users. Decisions on abstraction, demand, treatment and reuse are connected: a poorly defined water balance can lead to shortages; weak source protection can raise chemical use and residuals; an unplanned reuse scheme can create public-health or compliance risks. This course addresses those linked decisions through a resource-management and treatment-systems lens.

Participants build the technical and management judgement needed to assess water availability, quantify demand, interpret quality data and select proportionate controls. The syllabus covers catchment hydrology, groundwater, allocation, water accounting, demand reduction, drinking-water treatment, wastewater treatment, reuse, ecosystem protection, governance, economics and operational risk. Participants use Integrated Water Resources Management, Water Safety Plan principles, ISO 14046 and practical water-balance, risk-register and life-cycle cost methods to turn evidence into prioritised actions.

Instruction combines short technical briefings with worked cases from municipal utilities, food processing, mining, commercial facilities and irrigated agriculture. Groups interpret monitoring results, compare treatment trains, assess a drought allocation decision and prepare responses to a pollution incident. Each participant leaves with a water management plan pack containing a baseline water balance, risk register, treatment-selection criteria, monitoring dashboard specification and a 90-day implementation roadmap. The course is delivered instructor-led in classrooms in more than 50 cities or live online over five days, 08:30–16:30, with about 6.5 contact hours each day. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

It suits professionals responsible for water supply, treatment assets, environmental performance, facilities operations, compliance or natural-resource programmes.

What you will be able to do

  • Construct a catchment-to-site water balance identifying supply, demand, losses and deficits
  • Assess hydrological, groundwater and climate risks affecting water availability
  • Interpret water-quality data and develop risk-based sampling and monitoring plans
  • Select drinking-water and wastewater treatment trains against defined quality objectives
  • Develop demand-management and water-efficiency measures using consumption data
  • Evaluate water reuse options using treatment barriers and end-use risk controls
  • Prepare a water risk register, performance dashboard and drought response plan
  • Produce a costed water management implementation roadmap with accountable owners

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Make defensible water allocation and treatment decisions using documented evidence
  • Interpret water-quality results before escalating operational or compliance concerns
  • Specify practical demand-reduction and reuse measures for a site or programme
  • Discuss treatment options confidently with engineers, operators, regulators and suppliers
  • Build a credible water management plan for immediate workplace use

For your organisation

  • Reduced exposure to water shortages, quality failures and permit non-compliance
  • Better prioritisation of treatment upgrades, source protection and efficiency investments
  • Lower water losses, consumption, chemical use and avoidable operating expenditure
  • Clearer drought, flood and pollution-incident preparedness arrangements
  • Consistent water performance reporting for management, regulators and stakeholders

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define a water management system, its boundaries, stakeholders and priority pressures.

  • Integrated Water Resources Management principles, basin boundaries and stakeholder accountabilities
  • Catchment-to-tap system maps linking withdrawals, returns, losses and receiving waters
  • Water security dimensions: availability, quality, access, affordability and resilience
  • DPSIR causal chains for land use, pollution and ecosystem pressures
  • Rights holders, duty bearers and customary water-use arrangements
  • UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets and indicator interpretations
  • System boundaries selected for municipal, industrial and agricultural water decisions

Participants can assess the physical and climate factors that determine water availability.

  • Hydrological cycle processes affecting runoff, recharge, evapotranspiration and streamflow
  • Catchment delineation using contours, drainage networks and groundwater divides
  • Rainfall-runoff relationships and design rainfall assumptions for planning estimates
  • Groundwater aquifer properties: porosity, permeability, transmissivity, storage and recharge
  • Environmental flow requirements established from ecological, seasonal and social needs
  • Climate scenario inputs translated into drought, flood and supply risks
  • Water allocation priorities documented for normal, dry-year and emergency conditions

Participants can quantify water supply and demand, identify losses and prioritise efficiency measures.

  • Water balance equations reconciling inflows, outflows, storage change and uncertainty
  • Sectoral demand forecasts built from population, production and consumption drivers
  • Non-revenue water components separated into real losses, apparent losses and authorised use
  • Metering plans specify accuracy classes, locations, reading frequencies and data ownership
  • Demand management hierarchy: avoid, reduce, reuse, recycle and substitute
  • Water-efficient fixtures, process controls and irrigation scheduling compared by yield
  • 13-month supply-demand balance identifies deficits, restrictions and contingency triggers

Participants can design a risk-based approach to water-quality monitoring and pollution control.

  • Source-water characterisation covers physical, chemical, microbiological and emerging contaminants
  • Sampling plans define locations, preservation, chain of custody and laboratories
  • Water Quality Index calculations communicate parameter trends and compliance priorities
  • Drinking-water risk assessment follows WHO Water Safety Plan principles
  • Discharge consent limits interpreted against receiving-water assimilative capacity
  • Pollution source inventories distinguish point, diffuse and intermittent loads
  • Risk matrices rank hazards by likelihood, consequence, detectability and control strength

Participants can compare potable-water treatment options and define operating control requirements.

  • Treatment train selection matches raw-water variability, target quality and operating capacity
  • Coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation control turbidity and particle removal
  • Filtration options compare rapid sand, membrane and activated carbon performance
  • Disinfection design addresses chlorine residuals, ultraviolet dose and pathogen barriers
  • Jar-test results converted into coagulant dosing ranges and monitoring limits
  • Residuals management covers backwash water, sludge thickening and disposal routes
  • Preventive maintenance schedules protect pumps, clarifiers, filters and chemical systems

Participants can assess wastewater treatment and reuse arrangements against discharge and end-use requirements.

  • Influent characterisation uses flow, BOD, COD, nutrients, solids and toxicity
  • Primary, secondary and tertiary treatment stages matched to discharge objectives
  • Activated sludge controls use dissolved oxygen, sludge age and food-to-microorganism ratio
  • Constructed wetlands assessed for loading rates, land area and seasonal performance
  • Anaerobic digestion options recover biogas while reducing sludge volumes
  • Effluent reuse schemes match treatment barriers to irrigation and industrial uses
  • Reuse risk management applies multiple barriers, monitoring and end-user controls

Participants can identify source-protection measures that reduce pollution and protect aquatic ecosystems.

  • Environmental impact pathways connect abstraction, discharge, habitat condition and biodiversity
  • Ecological flow indicators track seasonal variability, connectivity and aquatic habitat
  • Nature-based solutions compare riparian buffers, wetlands and managed aquifer recharge
  • Erosion and sediment controls target construction, agriculture and unsealed roads
  • Nutrient management plans reduce nitrogen and phosphorus losses from catchments
  • Spill response procedures define containment, notification, sampling and remediation actions
  • ISO 14046 principles distinguish water footprint inventory, impact assessment and reporting

Participants can evaluate water decisions using governance duties, economic criteria and stakeholder needs.

  • Water governance maps mandates, permits, service providers and community institutions
  • Abstraction permits specify volumes, seasons, metering and reporting obligations
  • Polluter-pays and user-pays principles inform tariffs, charges and incentives
  • Life-cycle cost models include capital, energy, chemicals, labour and renewal
  • Cost-benefit analysis compares treatment upgrades, demand measures and source protection
  • Stakeholder engagement plans address affected communities, regulators and water users
  • Conflict-resolution protocols document allocation disputes, evidence and escalation routes

Participants can establish water risk controls, performance measures and emergency response arrangements.

  • Water risk registers connect hazards, assets, controls, owners and review dates
  • Key performance indicators track availability, pressure, quality, losses and energy
  • SCADA data quality checks identify sensor drift, gaps and implausible readings
  • Drought response plans define triggers, demand restrictions and alternative supplies
  • Flood preparedness protects intakes, treatment works, wells and chemical stores
  • Emergency communication templates assign messages, approvals, audiences and channels
  • Monitoring dashboards distinguish leading indicators from lagging compliance measures

Participants can turn water assessment findings into a costed, accountable implementation plan.

  • Water management plans convert baseline findings into objectives, actions and owners
  • SMART targets specify water intensity, reuse rate, loss reduction and deadlines
  • Project prioritisation matrices score risk reduction, cost, feasibility and co-benefits
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence permits, design, procurement, commissioning and review
  • Budget narratives link proposed measures to avoided costs and service outcomes
  • Audit-ready records organise monitoring data, permits, incidents and corrective actions
  • Personal application plans identify a workplace water decision and first actions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Catchment-to-site water balance template
  2. Water risk register and control matrix
  3. Treatment-train selection criteria
  4. Water-quality monitoring plan template
  5. Water performance dashboard specification
  6. 90-day water management implementation roadmap

Who should attend

  • Water and wastewater managers — responsible for supply reliability, treatment performance and compliance
  • Environmental managers — accountable for abstraction, discharge, pollution prevention and reporting
  • Facilities and utilities managers — managing site water demand, infrastructure and operating costs
  • Engineers and technical specialists — selecting treatment, reuse and monitoring solutions
  • Sustainability managers — setting water targets and coordinating reduction programmes
  • Natural resource and development officers — planning catchment, community and agricultural water interventions

Skills and tools covered

Water balance modellingTreatment train selectionWater quality monitoringReuse risk managementCatchment risk assessmentWater programme planning

Tools and standards

Integrated Water Resources Management, WHO Water Safety Plan, ISO 14046, Water Quality Index

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish core methods, followed by case work using utility, industrial, agricultural and public-sector scenarios. Participants work with water-balance data, quality results, treatment process information, abstraction constraints and operating-cost assumptions. Group exercises examine source-water risks, treatment-train choices, wastewater reuse and drought allocation. A pollution-incident simulation develops risk assessment and response decisions. Facilitated application planning helps participants adapt the course methods, templates and priorities to a current water challenge.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with water use, environmental management, facilities operations, engineering, utility services or natural-resource programmes. They should be comfortable reading simple tables, charts and operational data, and able to discuss a water-related decision from their workplace or sector. Prior experience operating a treatment plant is useful but not essential. The course does not require advanced hydrology, chemistry, process-design calculations, GIS expertise or prior knowledge of ISO 14046. Participants from management, compliance and programme roles can participate fully.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants need basic familiarity with water use, environmental management, facilities, utilities, engineering or natural-resource work. Advanced hydrology, chemistry and treatment-plant operating experience are not required.

Bring a laptop for online delivery and, where permitted, a recent water bill, meter data, quality report, site diagram or current water-management issue. Course materials and reusable templates are provided.

It is designed for water, wastewater, environmental, facilities, sustainability and technical professionals with responsibility for water decisions. It also suits programme staff managing catchment, agricultural or community water initiatives.

This course covers treatment systems, but places them within wider decisions on catchments, supply, demand, governance, costs, reuse and risk. It does not train participants to operate a specific plant or conduct detailed process design.

Participants can use the water-balance, risk-register, monitoring and project-prioritisation templates for a current site, utility or programme. The final module converts findings into a practical 90-day action roadmap.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided among technical briefings, cases, group analysis, simulations and structured application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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