Editorial: Important news about this journal

Abstract

With immediate effect, new articles in this journal will be published Open Access with no publication charges. Every researcher and practitioner in every country around the world will be able to read them. This is possible because we are moving to an innovative new model called Subscribe To Open (S2O). University libraries will continue subscribing to the journal and articles from the most recent five years will be freely accessible to all. Older articles will be available at subscribing institutions and for IWA members.Why does this matter? The world is changing rapidly. Factors such as global warming, the global COVID-19 pandemic, rapid urbanisation, industrial and agricultural advances and population growth are placing unprecedented stress on our most valuable resource: water. Today, 4 billion people use sanitation facilities that are not safely managed, at home 680 million having no sanitation facilities at all, and 2.1 billion no access to safely managed drinking water. A third of schools have inadequate water supplies (UNICEF & WHO ). Actions to mediate the increasing risks of floods, droughts and windstorms mean many more people may lose access to safe drinking water temporarily or permanently, and may be forced to migrate away from their home areas, placing additional stress on water and sanitation systems in other cities, towns and villages As Editors of IWA Publishing journals, we recognise the essential role that researchand the availability of the very latest researchplays in understanding the problems the world faces, and providing real-world solutions to those problems. IWA Publishing's mission is to spread knowledge about clean drinking water, safe sanitation, water resources management policies and the latest innovations in water technology and sustainability. The best way to do this is to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to the content published in IWA Publishing journals. Equally important is that all authors have the same potential to publish their work Open Access regardless of their geographic location or their funding situation. For this reason, we are proud to announce that all IWA Publishing journals are now Open Access and that Open Access to the following 10 journals has been made possible through the S2O model: