This paper illustrates the importance of community involvement in rural water supply projects by examples taken from the authors work in Zimbabwe and South
Africa. It further examines the options of commercially produced handpumps against pumps manufactured at village level, and the broader choices of borehole development, spring supply, and photovoltaic pumping (PVP). The principal objective of the Zimbabwe work is to
assist rural farmers to become self sufficient in food production, and to improve nutrition levels through dry
season vegetable production. However, the technology developed was also applied by the local communities to water supply.
The projects in Southern KwaZulu Natal are concerned with village water supply. The Crisis Intervention Program (CIP) aimed to provide primary water supply to communities suffering from drought and lack of infrastructure

Antony Lenehan (7223960)

Richard D. Faulkner (7182812)

English

Loughborough University Institutional Repository

G   WATER SUPPLY: FAULKNER and LENEHAN28023rd WEDC Conference Durban, South Africa, 1997Options for rural water supplyRichard Faulkner, Australia and Antony Lenehan, South AfricaWATER AND SANITATION FOR ALL: PARTNERSHIPS AND INNOVATIONSTHIS PAPER ILLUSTRATES the importance of communityinvolvement in rural water supply projects by examplestaken from the authors work in Zimbabwe and SouthAfrica. It further examines the options of commerciallyproduced handpumps against pumps manufactured atvillage level, and the broader choices of borehole develop-ment, spring supply, and photovoltaic pumping (PVP).The principal objective of the Zimbabwe work is toassist rural farmers to become self sufficient in foodproduction, and to improve nutrition levels through dryseason vegetable production. However, the technologydeveloped was also applied by the local communities towater supply.The projects in Southern KwaZulu Natal are concernedwith village water supply. The Crisis Intervention Program(CIP) aimed to provide primary water supply to communi-ties suffering from drought and lack of infrastructure.Development and disseminationConventional large scale irrigation schemes have not beena success in Africa (Moris and Thom 1990). An importantunderlying problem is the attempted imposition of newtechnologies and management practices, that are alien tothe indigenous culture, and not involving the local commu-nity at an early stage.The focus of the work in Zimbabwe is on micro-scaleirrigation, that is, irrigation by single farmers or familygroups on very small plots each with their own watersource. While such irrigation may be carried out anywherethat groundwater is accessible, it is widespread on dambos(vleis) in Zimbabwe. During the dry season wells drawgroundwater stored in shallow quifers. In order to make this activity attractive to more farmershuman powered pumps are necessary to replace the water-ing can. This work was undertaken because the localcommunities identified it as a need, a good start!Initially, environmental and socio-economic studies werecarried out which established the feasibility of micro-scaleirrigation on dambos. Subsequently, simple pumping andirrigation technology for the exploitation of these shallowgroundwater resources was developed (Faulkner, 1991)The development and dissemination of this technologywas paramount to the success of the work. Central to theprocess was a strategy based on close interaction betweenfarmers, fabricators, researchers and extension agents.Farmers were involved in the initial development andfabrication of the pumps, so that they considered them tobe ‘their own’. This contrasts with the conventional ap-proach of presenting farmers with a pump that is producedin a factory, and for which they feel little or no responsi-bility. The technologists concentrate on research anddevelopment and leave diffusion of the results to others.This leaves the local community with little sense of own-ership. Against this background direct and early involve-ment of farmers and artisans in the work reported here wasconsidered vital. It was more important to get the technol-ogy into farmers’ fields early on in the project than toperfect the design under controlled scientific conditions.Because of this, dissemination took place concurrentlywith research, and problems associated with the dissemi-nation process could be identified and addressed. Thusmany useful farmer modifications were identified andincorporated in the design. The project fieldwork wasbased at the University of Zimbabwe, in Harare, and linkswere developed with Agritex.Local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) werealso approached. Agritex (government agricultural exten-sion service) is capable of reaching large numbers offarmers in a fairly conventional centralised diffusion sys-tem, while NGOs can work very flexibly with new ideas.Detailed description of the development of the humanpowered pumps is given elsewhere (Faulkner, 1991). Therewere four types tested in the field, the key criteria being thatof local manufacture and village level maintenance (VLOM).The most successful pump, which has continued wideadoption, is the rope-washer pump, shown in Figure 1.The cost of making the rope-washer pump is as little asR150 due to the availability of the materials used. InZimbabwe many hand pumps are produced in the com-mercial factory sector. For example, the Bush pump,developed and produced in Zimbabwe and with an esti-mated 15,000 units in service, is used for community watersupply and is a model for many other developing countries.However, it is not suitable for use by individual farmers forirrigation, due to its high capital cost and its restriction tovertical wells.The rope-washer pump is more a collection of compo-nent parts than a single unit. Thus the nature of thematerials, and the simple manufacturing techniques re-quired, make the rope-washer pump eminently suitable formanufacture at village level. Thus by training artisans atregional workshops, the technology becomes widely dis-seminated. Indeed, many farmers could make their ownpumps.However, it became apparent that local producers expe-rienced constraints in producing pumps for sale in theirG   WATER SUPPLY: FAULKNER and LENEHAN281immediate locality. Many of their friends and neighboursare relatives, and it can be quite difficult to get them to paycash for goods or services. It seems easier to sell to non-relatives outside the home area where there are no pre-existing obligations. A further constraint on productionfor sale to other farmers is the availability of credit topurchase the materials required.In one of the project areas, Chihota, a credit club wasstarted to address this problem, which enjoyed somesuccess. It was later incorporated into a pioneering creditscheme initiated by Zimbabwe’s Agricultural FinanceCorporation.Dissemination of the technology through the regionalAgritex training centres, and by extension staff in manycommunal areas, has been a success. Several NGOs havebeen actively promoting the use of the technology. Atpresent, the most notable of these is World Vision whooffer training and some materials to farmers, who mustthen make their own pumps.Two videos were produced for training purposes. One isa 20 minute programme which shows the detailed con-struction of a rope-washer pump, and is aimed at extensionworkers, artisans and farmers. An important feature ofthis video is that it does not rely on a narrative, and henceis accessible to audiences irrespective of their language.The second is a 10 minute programme with an Englishnarrative and dealing on a more general level. Both wereused successfully in several training courses run during theproject, particularly at the Agritex regional training cen-tres, and were shown on the national TV network. Animportant aspect of using video is that it raises the statusof simple technology, which may not have the instantappeal of more modern high-technology gadgets.Toy pumps were also made and used for training pur-poses. There are a number of ways in which the results ofthe dissemination process can be gauged. The most obvi-ous is the measurement of the number of pumps in use.However, this is difficult with technology that is producedand distributed by a dispersed informal sector. Followinginformal contacts with NGOs and Agritex staff, it is clearthat the number of rope-washer pumps in operation inZimbabwe is of the order of several hundred units, andincreasing steadily.Water supply in NatalSouthern KwaZulu Natal (SKZN) is situated in the southeast of South Africa, and covers an area of some 5,500 km2.Formal settlements are concentrated along the coastalstrip and the hinterland. These are dominated by under-developed rural communities. These consist of familyhousehold uits, or “imizi”, scattered along the ridge lines.The economy is based on subsistence agriculture. There isa direct parallel with communities living in the HighVeldzone of Zimbabwe.A number of boreholes existed in the area, fitted withcommercial type handpumps which required servicing andmaintenance by a private contractor. Those installed un-der the CIP were of the same type. The people thus had nosense of ownership for these. The depths of the boreholesare up to 100m. Community liaison is critical to anydevelopment, but with the CIP this was limited to theconfirmation of the site of each borehole with the localheadman (induna). The level of technology used in theborehole construction militated against further commu-nity involvement.In contrast, the level of technology used in spring protec-tion and development is more applicable to VLOM. Springsare a traditional source of water in SKZN, and theirdevelopment is a means of improving an existing andknown methodology. The process involves constructing abox around the spring and piping the water collected to astorage tank. A tap or standpipe is connected to the tank.People from the local community undertook the con-struction of each spring protection. The contractor sup-plied the materials, trained the local labour force, andsupervised the work. This gave a strong sense of ownershipto the community on completion, and ensured that futuremaintenance can be undertaken at the community level.This is both cheaper and more efficient than having to callin private contractors. The capital cost of a spring protec-tion at about R8,000 is less than a quarter of the cost of aborehole installation. The maintenance cost of eachhandpump is about R1,500 per year, whereas that for thesprings is negligible. It might be expected that boreholeswill yield a more reliable water supply. However, boreholesare less numerous than sustainable springs in the area, andthe maintenance of the handpump is critical to the reliabil-ity of a borehole.Photovoltaic pumpingThere are many advantages from using solar energy as asource of power. The energy itself is free, and there are noFigure 1. Rope-washer pumpPumpPipesWellG   WATER SUPPLY: FAULKNER and LENEHAN282problems with the supply of fuels such as diesel. Therehave been a number of studies of PVP (Davis et al, 1994).The complete system consists of an array of PV cells, whichconvert solar radiation into electricity which drives amotor connected to the pump.PVP for rural water supply has been utilised with varyingdegrees of technical and institutional success in SouthernAfrica, particularly Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Zim-babwe. PVP has also been used extensively in FrancophoneWest Africa, South-East Asia and South America. TheGerman company GTZ have tested PVP in seven develop-ing countries. Despite this, PVP in South Africa in mostlylimited to private farms, game reserves and a few ruralwater supply applications in KwaZulu and the formerTranskei. About 3,000 installations are operating in SouthAfrica, in the lower output range of 25 to 300 m3.m. Thisunit is the total volume lifted in a day multiplied by the lift,for example 10 m3 lifted through 30 m.The components of the system may be manufacturedwithin South Africa, although there is only one assemblerof the PV modules. The Rural Technology Unit (RTU),located in the lower Mpako of the former Transkei, hasbeen operating as a rural development service organisa-tion since 1989 (Davis, 1994). Several PVP systems wereinstalled by RTU . The service provided included technicaladvice, credit facilities, and installation service and main-tenance backup. Installations were financed by a combina-tion of government subsidies, development grants andcommunity contributions. The relative contributions var-ied with each installation.The high initial cost remains a significant drawback. Forexample, the total cost of a PVP system (including borehole)for a 200 m3.m per day application is R25,000. Much ofthis cost is the PV panel, but these costs are reducing as thedevelopment of solar power continues. However, this isoffset over time by the minimal running costs, and over thelife of a scheme (20 years) would be cheaper than a dieselpowered system. Naturally, factors such as geographiclocation and access, fuel availability and interest rates, alsoaffect viability.In Lesotho, work undertaken by the Village WaterSupply Section found that for heads up to 50 m, PVPsystems are viable when the daily duty is less than 1,300m3.m per day. For applications of less than 200 m3.m perday, handpumps become a more economically viableoption.Using the above criteria, there are about 4,000 commu-nities in KwaZulu Natal where PVP is a viable option,assuming that each community is less than 1,000 peoplewith an average demand of 25 L per person per day.Practical problems which must be overcome are the vul-nerability of the panels to damage and theft. The inexpe-rience of local people and installers with PVP systems maybe tackled through local training programs. The highestlevel of community involvement, from planning throughinstallation to maintenance, is necessary for success.The renewable energy source with no waste productsmakes PVP an environmentally sustainable development.The low maintenance requirements further mean thatthis may become much more attractive and widespread forvillage water supply in the future.ConclusionsThe success of water supply to rural communities dependsvery much on maximum community involvement. This inturn is greatly enhanced where the local people are familiarwith the technology, and can then manufacture, install andmaintain the system.Despite problems of cost and present unfamiliarity, PVPsystems are applicable to some cases for rural watersupply, and their use is likely to increase in the future.ReferencesDAVIS, M., BURCHERS, M., DICKSON, B., GEERDTS,P., 1994, Institutions and financing for effective dissemi-nation of PV systems for rural development. Energy forDevelopment Research Centre, Cape Town.FAULKNER, R.D., 1991, Manual recovery of shallowgroundwater for irrigation by African farmers. Proceed-ings of Institution of Civil Engineers, part 1, vol 90, pp1011-1020.MORIS, J.R., THOM D.J., 1990, Irrigation developmentin Africa, lessons of experience. Westview Press, Lon-don.RICHARD FAULKNER, Head of the School ofEngineering, University of New England.ANTONY LENEHAN, Department of Water Affairs andForestry.

Options for rural water supply

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Options for rural water supply

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