Achieving a lasting impact in rural water services: a case study from south-west Uganda

The achievement of lasting beneficial impacts through rural water supply services has been elusive. In too many cases significant effort and investment has been devoted to providing a service, but after a few years (or even a few months) the system breaks down and no longer provides a useful service to the community. Much thought has gone into the question of what is required to bring about sustainable services, but there remain missing dimensions in much of the existing literature and practice. This paper describes a small research project, focused on one long-term rural water and sanitation programme in south-west Uganda, which specifically addresses the question of sustainability. The paper outlines the research aims and methodology, and presents part of the conceptual thinking derived from literature and key-informant interviews. Field work is on-going at the time of writing, but will be completed in time for oral presentation at the conference

Towards appropriate sanitary inspection tools for self supply systems in developing countries

The assessment criteria in many of the available examples of standard sanitary inspection tools are scored on a two-way ‘yes or no’ answer. The possibility of variations between the set out criteria in the forms and the observed sanitary faults are not provided for within the two-way answer system. The use of this type of scoring system may therefore either exaggerate or underplay particular risk factors. Onsite sanitary inspection of urban self supply wells was conducted in Abeokuta, Nigeria. The survey included the inspection of system operations and maintenance, to evaluate systems adequacy for safe water supply. This paper captures the inspection process. It explains the need for moderation of standard sanitary inspection forms to suit the peculiarities of urban self supply wells. The paper introduced a new scoring method and suggests appropriate sanitary survey format for self supply hand dug wells

Self-help initiatives to improve water supplies in Eastern and Central Uganda

This paper sets out the background, approach, findings and conclusions of the first stage of a small study into rural water self-supply (locally initiated improvements to domestic water services) in Uganda. The work reported here consisted of a reconnaissance field trip to 9 districts in eastern and central Uganda. A total of 20 water sources were visited, and interviews held on site; about 20 key informant interviews were also held with Government, NGOs and private sector operators. Stages 2 and 3 of the work are in progress at the time of writing, and will be reported at the conference. The findings to date show that self-supply is alive and well in the Ugandan rural water sector, and that there may be possibilities for greater synergy between Government/NGO interventions in community water supply and self-supply initiatives. We propose a new conceptual framework for assessing existing water services and targeting external support

Strengthening the W in WASH: community based water resource management for water security

This briefing paper describes the early experiences of a community-based water resources management (CBWRM) initiative carried out by WaterAid in Burkina Faso. Water supply services established as part of WASH programmes in Sudano Sahelian countries like Burkina Faso are frequently used for both domestic and livelihood purposes. The water resources upon which these services depend are subject to pressures and threats which change over time, making livelihoods and wellbeing vulnerable to shocks. An approach piloted in three rural communities has enabled villagers to monitor changing water availability in their environment, helping to inform collective action they take to mitigate pressures threatening their water resources. Working with local government authorities, the communities have been able to make well informed decisions to safeguard access for both domestic and productive usage, helping to ensure water supply systems deliver lasting benefits. The hydrological information they gather can compliment and support national water security plans

A hidden crisis: strengthening the evidence base on the current failures of rural groundwater supplies

New ambitious international goals for universal access to safe drinking water depend critically on the ability of development partners to accelerate and sustain access to groundwater. However, available evidence (albeit fragmented and methodologically unclear) indicates >30% of new groundwater-based supplies are non-functional within a few years of construction. Critically, in the absence of a significant systematic evidence base or analysis on supply failures, there is little opportunity to learn from past mistakes, to ensure more sustainable services can be developed in the future. This work presents a new and robust methodology for investigating the causes of non-functionality, developed by an interdisciplinary team as part of an UPGro catalyst grant. The approach was successfully piloted within a test study in NE Uganda, and forms a basis for future research to develop a statistically significant systematic evidence base to unravel the underlying causes of failure