Rural water supply projects have often proven unsustainable because they were just that – projects. Water supply has typically been considered a matter of engineering and suffered from the ‘design and build’ approach, which has failed to understand that supplying water is about much more than providing physical infrastructure. Sustainably improving water services requires a shift from projects to programmes that have clear long-term implementation strategies.

A book from the Water, Engineering and Development Centre in the UK draws on lessons from extensive research into water supply provision in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past two decades handpumps have become the principal technology for supplying water to many millions of people in rural areas in developing countries. Many, however, are not functioning. Of Africa’s quarter million handpumps, as few as half are estimated to be operational. An evaluation in Mali found 90 percent of pumps did not work, just one year after they were installed.

Water projects have often turned out to be unsustainable because:

• It is naively assumed that once a community has been ‘sensitised’, ‘mobilised’ and ‘harmonised’ that it can then be left to manage its own water supply.
• When implementers fail to introduce the idea of paying for water or determine willingness to pay, it is unlikely that communities will subsequently finance and manage operation and maintenance systems.
• Communities are rarely provided with enough information to make informed decisions regarding technology choice.
• Water committees set up by projects are not officially recognised and are thus unable to take legal ownership of systems and facilities.
• Expecting the private sector to automatically step in to provide spare parts for water pumps as a stand-alone activity has proved unrealistic.

When national governments rely on external financial support for most water sector investment, they may become overly-dependent on donors. Government staff may be unwilling to disagree with major donors’ policy initiatives for fear of losing external funding. If governments are to initiate policies, they must develop the capacity to say ‘no’ to donors and seek ways to generate revenue internally for water supply provision.

Policies and strategies need to be developed in a way that recognises that supplying water supply is a service, and that government should play an important role in providing support, co-ordination and regulation.

The researchers maintain that Africa will not be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to adequate and affordable safe drinking unless:

• users are granted true decision-making authority, given comprehensive information needed to make informed decisions and not pressured to follow advice
• innovative maintenance systems are developed that encourage local private sector participation: linking the supply of spare parts to private sector activities such as technical services for construction, operation, maintenance, provision of pumps and equipment, is much more likely to be sustainable
• communities are supported by an overseeing institution equipped to provide encouragement and motivation, monitoring, participatory planning, skills development and specialist technical assistance
• financing mechanisms are developed to help maintain services and manage assets: expecting user communities to do this on their own is unrealistic
• legislation enables community-based organisations to legally own the systems they manage
• water sector professionals become more open to recognising mistakes and inappropriate strategies and overcome their fear of change.

Source(s):
‘Rural water supply in Africa: building blocks for handpump sustainability’ by Peter Harvey and Bob Reed, Water, Engineering and Development Centre, Loughborough University, 2004 Full document.

Funded by: Department for International Development, UK

id21 Research Highlight: 6 June 2005

Further Information:
Peter Harvey and Bob Reed
Water, Engineering and Development Centre
Loughborough University
Leicestershire
LE11 3TU
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1509 222885
Fax: +44 (0) 1509 211079
Contact the contributor: p.a.harvey@lboro.ac.uk

Water Engineering Development Centre, Loughborough University, UK

Contact the contributor: r.a.reed@lboro.ac.uk

Contact the contributor: WEDC@lboro.ac.uk

Other related links:
Working together: a ‘best practice’ in rural water supply and sanitation in Africa

People not projects – the low-technology approach to improving rural water supply

Tackling India’s rural water crisis: new developments in managing water supplies

WEDC's water and sanitation site

Rural water supply in Zambia: local solutions are best