RWSN Country Information

GUIDELINES FOR COMMUNITY-DRIVEN WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
As initiated by the Integrated Water Resource Management Demonstration Projects in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia

SADC/Danida Regional Water Sector Programme. 2009. Guidelines for Community-driven Water Resource Management. Pretoria: Southern African Development Community/Danish
International Development Agency, in collaboration with the International Water Management Institute.

The 'Stop the Rot' initiative documents the scale and extent of rapid handpump corrosion and the use of poor-quality handpump components in sub-Saharan Africa and tries to bring about actions to address these problems. These two interlinked issues contribute to poor handpump performance, rapid handpump failure and poor water quality, all of which can ultimately lead to abandonment of the handpump sources, thus forcing users to return to contaminated or distant water supplies.

The first report estimates the reliance on handpumps in sub-Saharan Africa, reviews the literature on handpump functionality and performance, and synthesises information on handpump technical quality from various studies and assessments.

The second report examines handpump corrosion in detail, with an overview of what is known and what has been done to address the issue in specific SSA countries and by select organisations.

The third report reflects on the existing guidance on handpump quality assurance, collates examples of poor-quality components, and examines handpump supply chains through a case study of Zambia.

The climate crisis and global pandemic have accelerated the urgency of providing safe
drinking water services around the world. Global progress to safe drinking water is
off-track with uncertain and limited data on the extent and performance of rural water
service providers to inform policy and investment decisions. This report documents
a global diagnostic survey to evaluate the status and prospects of rural water service
providers from 68 countries. The service providers describe providing drinking water
services to a population of around 15 million people through over 3 million waterpoints.

The data provides information on the scale and sustainability of rural water services to
examine:
• The extent and type of professional water service provision in rural areas globally;
• Self-reported metrics of operational and financial performance; and,
• The size and scope of current rural service providers that could transition to resultsbased
funding.

Five major findings emerge. First, most service providers aim to repair broken
infrastructure in three days or less. Second, almost all service providers reported at least
one type of water safety activity. Third, most service providers collect payments for water
services. Fourth, about one third of service providers reported major negative shocks to
their operations from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifth, non-governmental service providers
in low income countries less often report receiving subsidies for operations, and more
often report paying part of user fees to government, including through taxes.
Most rural water service providers are working towards provision of affordable, safe and
reliable drinking water services. Key barriers to progress include sustainable funding
and delivery of services at scale. We propose four conditions to promote scale and
sustainability based on policy alignment, public finance, professional service delivery,
and verifiable data. To illustrate these conditions, we consider the differing context and
service delivery approaches in the Central African Republic and Bangladesh. We conclude
by identifying a group of 77 service providers delivering water services for about 5 million
people in 28 countries. These 77 service providers report operational metrics consistent
with a results-based contracting approach. Technical assistance might support many
more to progress. We argue that government support and investment is needed to
rapidly progress to the scale of 100 million people to provide evidence of pathways to
universal drinking water services for billions more.

Report and slides of the Strategic Workshop Rural Water Supply Network: Designing a regional presence in Southern Africa (SADC), 29 June 2021.

UNICEF and later Save the Children USA initiated the introduction of the PlayPump in Mozambique. The pump is designed to be mainly used by school children. The turning wheel is connected to a pumping mechanism, which enables to pump water into an overhead tank.

Till date, about 100 PlayPumps have been installed in various schools and communities in the Maputo and Gaza Province in Mozambique. Skat was asked to undertake a technical and social evaluation of the PlayPumps together with CFPAS and to provide an independent study on the technology.

The concept of using children's excess energy while playing for pumping water sounds very attractive. The concept appears to be a very appealing technical option for water supplies used in school sanitation.

However, it is not clear whether the energy is actually enough to make sure that the water pump constantly. The children who play with the pump need to maintain a power input for water pumping from the given depth to the overhead tank and in addition initially need to exceed the power input to turn the pump and create the inertia as the pump acts as a flywheel.

Therefore an in-depth study of its technical performance and the social acceptability was carried out, as well as a comprehensive financial analysis (initial investment and O&M cost), which is needed to review the financial feasibility of the pump.