RWSN Country Information

A large number of experiments and observations have been undertaken on the B type Zimbabwe Bush Pump over the years both in the field and in my back yard at my home. The B type Bush Pump is the national standard hand pump in Zimbabwe (since 1989}. Most of these have been placed on my website. The standard Bush Pump uses a combination of 16mm mild steel pump rods, a 50mm GI pipe as rising main, a 60cm long 75mm diameter brass cylinder which includes a check valve, a matching brass piston fitted with 2 quality leather piston seals and a heavy duty brass foot valve. These standard remain until the present day. Close observations have been made on wear and tear on the Bush Pump, which includes loosening of the main rear pivot pin which becomes loose if not kept tight, and the rusting up of the pump rods with the existing methods. Both these problems have been solved in back yard trials. Experiments have also been undertaken with restoring worn pump heads and other parts of the pump. Another series of experiments involved the use of PVC rising main, mainly using 63mm PVC, steel or stainless steel pump rods and 63mm and 64mm stainless steel cylinders. In this experiment, the question was asked – if you use PVC as rising main by not PVC as pump rod? This report/paper described a brief experiment in which strong heavy duty PVC was used as pump rod.

For several decades, my backyard in Marlborough, Harare, has been used as a testing ground for the development of ideas related to technical aspects which might support rural water supplies and sanitation in Zimbabwe. My work in WASH began in 1973.

The range of toilets includes the Blair VIP, the Arborloo, the ventilated Arborloo (light and portable structure), the ventilated Arborloo (with brick structure), the Skyloo (a version of the urine diverting system, a variety of pedestals, tubular PVC vent pipes using 20% shade cloth as fly screen, hand washing facilities and demonstrations of various slabs and ring beams. Most of these have already been described in details elsewhere on the website. Special features include the use of thick walled 110mm PVC pipe as the vent pipe fitted with 20% shade cloth material which is cheap and resistant to solar radiation. This is currently on trial, as stainless steel and aluminium screens are either expensive or difficult to find as fly screen material. Another feature is the use of pedestals in Blair VIP and ventilated Arborloo toilets. We can now go through the range of toilet systems being demonstrated.

ACP EU Water Facility Project 2006-2011
Addressing water and sanitation needs of the rural poor in the context of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe

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.