RWSN Country Information

The United Republic of Tanzania is located east of Africa’s Great Lakes. Tanzania’s sustained growth from a low-income to lower-middle income country mirrors its positive progress towards access to safe water and sanitation for all. Access to basic water sources has increased from 28 percent in 2000 to 61 percent in 2020. 38 percent of Tanzanians rely on piped water, while 34 percent use non-piped improved sources. In terms of drinking water service levels, a total of 13 percent of the population relies on surface water, 15 percent on unimproved sources, 11 percent on limited sources, and 61 percent on basic sources.

In urban areas, piped sources are most common (60 percent), with three in ten households (31 percent) having piped water into their dwelling or yard, a further two in ten (21 percent) getting their drinking water from a neighbor’s piped supply, and one in ten (9 percent) from a public tap. In rural areas, 7 percent of households have piped water into their dwelling or yard, with a further 4 percent who get their drinking water from a neighbor’s piped supply and 17 percent from a public tap (totaling 28 percent). Meanwhile, progress has also been made in safely managed sanitation services, increasing coverage from 5 percent in 2015 to 26 percent in 2020 (WHO/UNICEF 2020).

Despite Tanzania’s abundant water resources, its varied climate and geological formations contribute to seasonal, interannual, and geographical variations in water quality and availability. According to the Falkenmark Water Stress Index (Falkenmark 1989), the country has a moderate stress level since its yearly renewable water is about 1,680 m3 per person, and key economic sectors abstract only 13 percent of the total water resources (USAID 2021).

This document is produced by USAID’s REAL-Water activity.

The Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BZ) Netherlands commissioned IRC to determine the potential of the SMART approach in reaching SDG6, and other related SDGs. Thus, an assessment was realised in eight African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Niger, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia).

The SMART approach comprises three pillars: 1) The use of innovative technologies, the SMARTechs; 2) Training of the private sector and 3) Promoting Self-supply. The use of SMARTechs (including manually drilled boreholes, various lifting devices including rope pumps and solar pumps, rain water harvesting systems and household water treatment) is considered as a way of reducing costs and scaling up the options for community and household investments at family level

The report is based upon review of documents, primary data collection (in late 2021) in Tanzania and Zambia including water point surveys and focus group discussions, key informant interviews and water quality testing.

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.