Community Based Water Supply Management: News

News

Keep up with worldwide news on community management!
Feel free to send your articles for publication on this page.

80% of revisited water points in Nepal still functioning
Small systems: community-managed decentralized strategies for water treatment
Taking Sustainable Rural Water Supply Planning Approaches to Scale

80% of revisited water points in Nepal still functioning

Over 80% of the water points constructed in 49 projects by WaterAid and its partner Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH) between 1987-1998 are still functioning. Half are functioning to design specification, a third are functioning but require maintenance, and around a sixth are not functioning at all. These are some of the results from a Looking Back Study, which both organizations started in 2001. There was a marked difference between handpump systems in the terai plains - fewer functioning systems, project management committees (PMCs) are inactive - and the tap stands in the hills where nearly half of the PMCs still hold regular meetings. Based on these findings NEWAH is designing a new approach to community management in the terai, while it is planning refresher training for the PMCs in the hills. One ongoing success story is the hill village of Sulikhola. The local PMC has been able to collect enough revenue to employ a caretaker for their tap stand, issue small loans to community members and make a contribution to the construction of the local school.

Contact: NEWAH, newah@mos.com.np, http://www.newah.org.np ; WaterAid, wateraid@wateraid.org.uk, http://www.wateraid.org.uk/

Source: WaterAid, 23 Apr 2003, http://www.wateraid.org.uk/site/what_we_do/case_studies/752.asp)

Small systems: community-managed decentralized strategies for water treatment

Two-tier water systems that include the use of point-of-use (POU) or point-of-entry (POE) devices or possibly even bottled water provide a feasible and cost-effective means of delivering safe water to small communities in the United States where less than 1% of treated water is actually ingested. Numerous POU and POE technologies have been certified for the removal of contaminants such as arsenic, fluoride, radium, fluoride, uranium and organics. Nitrate removal is also feasible, but not recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Costs per household in the range of US$ 15-20 (EUR 14-18) per month for POU arsenic removal using reverse osmosis or activated alumina and US$ 16-19 (EUR 14.50-17) per month for bottled water costs have been estimated. More cost data will become available in late 2003 from ongoing field tests. Contracting out for services such as installation, maintenance and monitoring seems to be the most successful and sustainable approach in most cases. Small communities will still require extensive support and training if they choose a decentralized option.

Web address: NSF Consumer Information: Home Water Treatment Devices, http://www.nsfconsumer.org/water/dw_treatment.asp
Cotruvo, J.A. and Cotruvo, J.A. (Jr.) (2002). Nontraditional approaches for providing potable water in small systems. Pt 1. Journal American Water Works Association, vol. 95, no. 3 ; p. 69-76. http://www.awwa.org/communications/journal/ExecSumm/ES3Cotruvo0303.cfm#TopOfPage
Cotruvo, J.A. (2002). Two-tier systems. Pt 2 : nontraditional compliance strategies and preliminary cost estimates for small water systems. Journal American Water Works Association, vol. 95, no. 4. http://www.awwa.org/communications/journal/ExecSumm/ES2COTRUVO0403.cfm#TopOfPage
Cotruvo, J.A. (2002). Approaches for providing potable water in small systems. (Rural water partnership white paper). Duncan, OK, USA, National Rural Water Association. 48 p. http://www.nrwa.org/whitepapers/Cotruvo%20potable%20water%20delivery%20final.doc (Word document!).

Contact: Joe Cotruvo, J. Cotruvo Associates, joseph.cotruvo@verizon.net; National Rural Water Association (NRWA), info@nrwa.org, http://www.nrwa.org/

Taking Sustainable Rural Water Supply Planning Approaches to Scale

Over the past decade, a growing number of countries have engaged in rural water supply (RWS) initiatives aimed at improving the quality and sustainability of service delivery. Whereas many successes have been documented, they are often limited in scope and divorced from RWS planning at a serious scale. Thus, despite continued gains over the past several decades, roughly a third of rural households in developing countries remain unserved (WHO, 2000). Why are successful initiatives not replicated at a larger scale, or institutionalized such that RWS planning reflects these more sustainable, effective approaches?

A WSP-led initiative, co-financed by the Bank Netherlands Water Partnership Program (BNWPP), is investigating this question. The principal objective of Phase 1 (to be completed by June 2002) is to develop hypotheses regarding a set of 'core factors' that enable or inhibit scaling up of effective RWS strategies. In a follow up Phase II of the study, the hypotheses will be tested and refined against a larger and more diverse set of RWS cases, and the results will be disseminated as guidelines to assist practitioners in designing projects with improved prospects for scaling up.
Source: Access e-newsletter, February 2002.

For further information, please contact Param Iyer, Senior Water and Sanitation Specialist at piyer@worldbank.org or Nicholas Pilgrim at npilgrim@worldbank.org.