AquaLinked Water Lectures
Legal Notice, Terms, Privacy and Payment Policy
This page explains who operates AquaLinked Water Lectures, the rules governing accounts and course access, the payment and non-refundable digital-content policy, privacy practices, official payment receipts, certificates and applicable legal protections.
1. Legal Notice
- Platform
- AquaLinked Water Lectures
- Operator
- AquaLinked / Water for Africa Experts
- Responsible person
- Mesfin Tewolde
- Location
- Geneva, Switzerland
- info@aqua-experts.org
- Telephone
- +41 79 392 2970
- Website
- aqua-experts.org
AquaLinked Water Lectures is a professional digital-learning service focused on water science, civil engineering, hydrology, hydraulics, irrigation, groundwater, dams, water supply, sanitation, environmental management, climate resilience, GIS and related technical disciplines.
Formal postal correspondence details may be supplied for verified administrative, contractual or legal correspondence. No visitor should send confidential information through an unprotected public channel.
2. Terms and Conditions
2.1 Acceptance
By registering, enrolling, purchasing access, uploading teaching material, using a demonstration or continuing to use the platform, the user agrees to these terms and to any policies expressly shown during registration or checkout.
Paid checkout will require explicit acceptance of the applicable terms, privacy policy, payment policy and immediate digital-access conditions. Acceptance records may include the account, course, policy version, date, time, IP address and relevant technical information.
2.2 Accounts
Users must provide accurate information, protect their passwords and use only accounts they are authorised to control. Course access is personal and may not be sold, transferred, publicly shared or used to provide unauthorised access to another person.
AquaLinked may restrict or suspend an account where there is credible evidence of fraud, payment misuse, unauthorised account sharing, abusive conduct, security interference or infringement of intellectual-property rights.
2.3 Course information
Course descriptions, learning outcomes, level, language, instructor information, price and access conditions are presented before purchase. Learners must review these details before completing an order.
Course completion does not itself create a university degree, professional licence, engineering authorisation or regulated academic qualification unless the course page expressly states otherwise.
2.4 Demonstrations and samples
A free demonstration or sample is not necessarily a complete academic course. Any demonstration participation certificate records participation only and must not be represented as a degree, licence or professional accreditation.
3. Payments and Digital Access
Payment creates an order for digital course access. After confirmed payment, AquaLinked may activate access immediately. Users must not complete payment unless they have reviewed the course, total amount, currency, access conditions and refund policy.
Course prices may be displayed in a reference currency or a supported local presentment currency. The final checkout must show the exact amount and currency to be charged before the payment is authorised.
A card issuer, bank, wallet provider or payment processor may apply its own currency conversion, international-payment, intermediary or service charges. These external charges are controlled by the relevant provider and may be separate from the AquaLinked course price.
Payment confirmation must come from AquaLinked's payment records or verified receipt of funds. Screenshots and uploaded bank documents are supporting evidence only and do not independently prove that settled funds were received.
For a manual bank transfer, access remains pending until an administrator verifies that the required funds reached the designated AquaLinked account.
4. Final and Non-Refundable Payment Policy
Once AquaLinked activates paid course access, or once the learner opens, streams, downloads, completes or otherwise accesses any paid lesson, video, document or digital learning material, the payment is final and non-refundable, except where a refund is required by mandatory applicable law or one of the limited exceptions below applies.
4.1 Limited exceptions
AquaLinked may consider a refund where:
- the same payment was processed more than once;
- AquaLinked cancelled the paid course before providing access;
- payment was confirmed but AquaLinked permanently failed to provide the purchased access and could not correct the failure within a reasonable period;
- an unauthorised transaction is established through the appropriate payment-provider investigation; or
- mandatory consumer law requires a refund.
4.2 Circumstances normally not refundable
A refund will not normally be provided merely because:
- the learner changed their mind after access began;
- the learner did not watch, complete or make sufficient use of the course;
- the learner failed to satisfy certificate or completion requirements;
- the learner selected the wrong course and then accessed its material;
- the learner's device, browser, internet connection or local network was unsuitable;
- a bank, wallet, card issuer or intermediary charged currency-conversion or transfer fees;
- a payment provider retained processing charges or delayed settlement;
- the account was suspended for a material breach of these terms; or
- the learner shared access or attempted unauthorised copying or distribution.
4.3 Immediate access acknowledgement
Where legally relevant, a learner will be asked to request immediate delivery of digital content and acknowledge that beginning digital access may end an applicable withdrawal right. The acknowledgement must be given expressly and must not be pre-selected.
4.4 Approved refunds
An approved refund will normally be returned through the original payment method where technically and legally possible. Processing time depends on the payment provider, card issuer and receiving bank. AquaLinked cannot guarantee the date on which the recipient's bank displays the returned amount.
4.5 Contact before a dispute
A learner who believes that a payment or access error occurred should contact AquaLinked promptly and provide the account email, course title, payment date and official order or receipt reference. AquaLinked will review verifiable records and attempt to correct genuine errors.
5. Official Payment Receipts
Every confirmed paid order may receive an official AquaLinked receipt with a permanent unique reference similar to the certificate-verification system.
A receipt may contain:
- the official receipt and order references;
- the learner's registered name and email;
- the course title and instructor;
- payment date, amount and charged currency;
- payment-provider and safe payment-method information;
- the date on which course access was activated;
- the terms and refund-policy version accepted;
- immediate digital-access consent where applicable; and
- a QR code or verification link.
Public receipt verification must disclose only limited information needed to confirm validity. It must not reveal a full card number, private payment-provider identifier, IP address, complete security record or other unnecessary personal information.
A bank-transfer upload is payment evidence, not the final AquaLinked receipt. The official receipt is issued only after funds are confirmed.
6. Instructor and Course-Material Rules
Instructors must have the legal right to upload, publish and teach all submitted videos, documents, graphics, software demonstrations and supporting materials. Material must not unlawfully reproduce another person's copyrighted work, confidential information, personal data or restricted content.
Instructors remain responsible for the accuracy, professional suitability and lawful use of their teaching content. AquaLinked may review, reject, unpublish or request correction of material that is misleading, unsafe, unlawful, technically defective or outside the platform's professional scope.
Instructor earnings, platform commission, applicable taxes, payment-provider costs, currency conversion and payout arrangements will be recorded separately according to the instructor agreement and transaction records.
7. Certificates and Verification
A completion certificate may be issued only when the learner satisfies the course-completion rules recorded by the platform. A certificate can be verified using its unique reference and verification page.
Certificates must not be altered, transferred or presented as evidence of a qualification that the course does not provide. AquaLinked may revoke or mark a certificate invalid where it resulted from fraud, account sharing, manipulated completion records or another material violation.
8. Privacy Policy
8.1 Information processed
Depending on the service used, AquaLinked may process names, email addresses, passwords in protected hashed form, account roles, instructor profiles, course records, enrolments, lesson progress, reviews, certificate records, receipt records, payment status, support communications, uploaded payment evidence, IP addresses, browser information and security logs.
8.2 Purposes
Information may be processed to create and protect accounts, review instructors and courses, deliver digital lessons, record progress, issue and verify certificates, confirm payments, create receipts, calculate instructor earnings, provide support, prevent fraud, respond to disputes, satisfy legal requirements and maintain platform security.
8.3 Payment information
Card and wallet payments may be processed by an independent payment provider. AquaLinked should not store complete card numbers or card-security codes. AquaLinked may retain provider references, payment status, amount, currency, payment-method category, receipt information and evidence reasonably required for accounting, support, fraud prevention and dispute handling.
8.4 Sharing and service providers
Information may be processed by hosting, email, security, file-storage, analytics, video, banking, payment and professional-support providers where reasonably necessary to operate the platform. AquaLinked does not sell personal information.
8.5 Retention
Account, contractual, payment, tax, receipt, certificate, security and dispute records may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary for service delivery, legal compliance, accounting, fraud prevention, certificate verification and the establishment or defence of legal claims.
8.6 User rights
Subject to applicable law and legitimate retention requirements, a person may request information about personal data relating to them and may request correction or deletion of inaccurate or unnecessary information. Identity verification may be required before a privacy request is processed.
8.7 Security
AquaLinked uses reasonable technical and administrative measures, including HTTPS, access controls and protected account processes. No internet-based service can guarantee absolute security, and users must also protect their passwords and devices.
8.8 Cookies and sessions
Essential cookies or similar session mechanisms may be used for login, security, saved preferences, checkout continuity and protection against abuse. Non-essential analytics or advertising technologies should be disclosed and managed according to applicable consent requirements.
9. Availability and Liability
AquaLinked works to provide a reliable service but does not guarantee uninterrupted availability. Maintenance, hosting failures, internet outages, third-party service interruptions, security events or circumstances beyond reasonable control may temporarily affect access.
Technical and educational information is provided for learning and professional development. Engineering designs, safety decisions, construction decisions and regulatory submissions must be reviewed and approved by appropriately qualified persons under the law applicable to the relevant project.
Nothing on the platform removes a user's duty to exercise professional judgement, follow applicable standards, verify calculations and obtain required licences, permits or expert review.
10. Applicable Law
These terms are governed primarily by applicable Swiss law, subject to any mandatory consumer, privacy or other legal protections that cannot lawfully be excluded in the user's country.
A contractual term will be interpreted only to the extent permitted by applicable law. If one provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to apply as far as legally possible.
11. Policy Changes
AquaLinked may update these policies when platform functions, payment methods, data practices or legal requirements change. The current version and effective date will be published on this page. Material changes affecting a paid transaction should be assessed using the policy version accepted for that transaction.
12. Contact
Questions concerning accounts, course access, payments, receipts, privacy or these terms may be sent to: