Creating sustainable water services through borehole banking

Borehole Banking is a concept borrowed from the Village Savings and Loans Model whose aim is to improve sustainability of boreholes by reducing rate of non-functional Handpumps. Borehole banking helps to increase a sense of ownership in the community as access to loans is open to those that contribute towards the water point monthly tariff fee. Community members get loans from the bank to pay for various bills and pay back at an agreed interest rate and agreed period. Borehole banking has improved the rate of functionality from 64 % in 2015 to 94% in 2017(FLOW results). Increased sense of ownership among communities is a good way to ensure that water systems are sustained. Water points have readily available funds to purchase spare parts and pay for any services rendered to them

Pro-poor concessions for sustainable water services

Most of the billions of people without drinking water or sanitation are very poor. While private-sector companies are becoming increasingly involved with infrastructure provision in developing countries, their contracts for water and sanitation services tend to forget the social aspects of providing services to poor people. As such, public—private partnerships in particularly poor countries are unlikely to be sustainable in the longer term and UN targets for improvements will fail to be met. Based on a four-year research project in Asia, Africa and Latin America, this paper explains how concession contracts need to be more suited to the needs, resources and aspirations of local impoverished communities—in other words, to be more pro-poor

Sustainable water services and interaction with water resources in Europe and in Brazil

International audienceThe increasing interaction between large cities and nature makes "urban water" an issue: water resources and water services - including public water supply, sewage collection and treatment, and in large cities, storm water control -, which had become separate issues thanks to the process of water transport and treatment technologies, are now increasingly interfering with each other. We cannot take nature for granted anymore, and we need to protect water resources, if only to reduce the long term cost of transporting and treating water. In this paper, we compare the historical development of water industry technologies in European and Brazilian metropolitan areas, in their socio-economic and political context, tracing it through three "ages" of water technology and services which developed under civil engineering, sanitary engineering, and environmental engineering perspectives: the "quantity of water" and civil engineering paradigm was developed on the assumption that water should be drawn from natural environments far from the cities; in the "water quality" and chemical/sanitation engineering paradigm, water treatment was invented and allowed cities to take water from rivers closer to them and treat it, but also to reduce sewer discharge impacts; finally, the environmental engineering paradigm proposes to overcome the supply side perspective, by introducing demand side management, water conservation, water allocation flexibilisation, and an integrated approach to water services, water resources management, and land use policies

Impact of key players in providing sustainable water services in Busega District Tanzania

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of key players in providing sustainable water services to rural women in Busega District, Tanzania. Triple-S (Sustainable Services at Scale) approach was adopted to analyse structures applied by key players/actors to deliver services and enable rural women to access water close to their households.Design/Methodology/Approach: The study was conducted through cross-sectional design to examine the existence of the situation at single visits. The sample size included 210 rural women who were visited in their households. A mixed research approach was applied to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. As such, primary data was collected by using household surveys, semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations and focus group discussions. Instruments used for collecting data were sets of questionnaire, interview guides or checklists and observations. In addition, documentaries were reviewed to collect secondary data. Content analysis was done to consolidate qualitative data. Quantitative data were analysed through One-Way ANOVA to compute a five-point Likert scale, descriptive statistics and Chi-square test.Findings: Results revealed that only 35% of the respondents received sufficient water supplies from key players/actors due to weak structures and poor management of their services.Research Limitation: The study involved rural women whereas during the household survey most of them were occupied by several duties that resulted in scheduling dialogues by considering their daily schedules.Practical Implication: The article recommends that to ensure sustainable access to and use of water services in rural areas, the Ministry of Water and Energy need to construct reliable sources and facilitate local key players/actors to improve their services and meet the required demands.Social Implication: The article provides knowledge to literature by creating awareness to water key players/actors to apprehend how their services were highly desired by rural women to reduce their workload of walking long distances.Originality/Value: The article revealed that key players/actors who provided water services failed to ensure sustained access to fundamental supplies in rural areas

Revealing Casual Pathways to Sustainable Water Service Delivering Using fsQCA

This study aimed to build on theory and practice regarding the combinations of conditions that influence water service sustainability when external partners are involved. The study investigates 26 well projects that have been implemented in developing countries with the assistance of Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA). Using past literature on sustainable water service delivery in developing communities, emergent coding techniques with project documents, and surveys with EWB-USA team members, this study identifies a set of project conditions to conduct fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). Findings show that the presence of a water committee cannot alone account for project sustainability. Additional conditions, such as technology and construction processes, project governance, and community engagement practices must also be considered for project sustainability. The relationship between construction quality and financial sustainability is also discussed. Overall, the findings from this research contribute to sector theory and reveal distinct pathways towards sustainable water services. These findings informed recommendations for EWB-USA well project implementation and management, and demonstrate the utility of fsQCA as a tool to navigate the complexities of water service delivery by external partners and improve understanding to increase water service sustainability

Management of Rural Water Services in Nicaragua: A Systematic Network Approach to Evaluating Stakeholder Alignment

Water sector literature attributes a substantial cause of rural water system failure in developing countries to poor alignment between water service stakeholders. This study aimed to investigate a means for assessing stakeholder alignment by comparing the systemic interaction of stakeholder values, where the term ‘stakeholder values’ refers to aspects stakeholders believe are necessary to ensure rural water services are sustainable. The research held focus groups with key stakeholder groups involved in the management of rural water infrastructure in Terrabona, Nicaragua, to identify stakeholder values, and then used cross-impact analysis to evaluate how these values interacted to form stakeholder value networks (SVNs). Using normalized betweenness centrality measures, the structures of SVNs were compared to determine alignment. Results from this study showed high levels of stakeholder alignment on the topics of water resources and technology for the sustainability of rural water systems, while there was marked nonalignment regarding the involvement of local government and organizations in the management of water infrastructure. This study offers compelling evidence for future studies to assess stakeholder alignment by identifying and structurally analyzing SVNs

Determinants of Household Participation in Water Source Management in Ethiopia

Access to safe drinking water supplies and sanitation services in Ethiopia are among the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa. While governmental and non- governmental organizations have been implementing water supply and sanitation projects in recent years, many fail shortly after construction due improper management. In this review I examine socio-economic, institutional and exogenous factors which affect households’ participation in the management of water sources. The results show that households’ demand for sustainable water services are positively affected by users’ participation during the project design and implementation, advocacy provided by the project and greater household income. Thus, for drinking water systems to be sustainable these factors should be included in planning water supply projects

Ghana Market Assessment: Market-Based Provision of Water at the Community Level

This market assessment evaluates the potential for decentralized market-based approaches to sustainable safe water service, focusing on the poor in rural communities and small towns in Ghana that are not supplied or connected by municipal schemes to safe water. Insights drawn from desktop analyses, field-based research, financial modeling, and engagement of water sector stakeholders are used to identify key barriers and propose solutions

Water Services Management and Governance

This book focuses on water services, including water supply and wastewater services and deals with the connections between these. It covers water supply mainly in urban communities, sanitation and pollution control and water resources and their linkages to water services. This book is divided in to four key sections relating to governance frameworks, technology and socio-ecological interactions, government and governance, and long terms policies. The chapters analyse the complexity of the water services sector based on a historical analysis of developments within the sector. The underlying conviction is that only by understanding past trends, processes and developments can the current situation in the water services be understood. Only through this understanding can policies for sustainable water services in the future be formulated. The four key sections relate to governance frameworks, technology and socio-ecological interactions, government and governance, and long terms policies