Alberto Galvis Castaño was born on March 31, 1955 in Sevilla, Department of ‘Valle del Cauca’, Colombia. He grew up in Cali and graduated in Sanitary Engineering in 1979 and a Master of Science in System and Industrial Engineering in 1988. Between 1979 and 1985 he worked in engineering consultancy companies. He is currently a staff member of the Cinara Institute in the Faculty of Engineering at the Universidad del Valle since 1986. He was a member of the founding group of the Cinara Institute (1989) and a member of the team that led the creation of the research group in ‘Integrated Water Resources Management’ (2003). He has been a director of international cooperation programs with institutions in Europe and Latin America and a director of research and development projects with the participation of Colombian institutions in the water resources management sector. He was made a full professor (2001) and Distinguished Professor (2010). Alberto Galvis is currently Director of the research group in ‘Integrated Water Resource Management’, as well as Senior Researcher in the national science and technology system (Colciencias). He is a lecturer in different academic programs and researcher in the topics of technology selection in water and sanitation, and mathematical modelling applied to planning and water resources management.

• General introduction, Literature review, Evaluation of pollution prevention options in the municipal water cycle, Conceptual framework to select urban drainage system technology based on the Three-Step Strategic Approach, Financial aspects of reclaimed wastewater irrigation in three sugarcane production areas in the Upper Cauca river basin, Colombia, Comparing dynamic and steady-state modelling to study the impact of pollution on the Cauca river, Validation of the Three-Step Strategic approach for improving urban water management and water resource quality improvement , Conclusions and recommendations.