Sustainable Rural Water Supplies

Over the past three decades a progressive effort has been made to make rural water supplies operational over longer periods of time. Many new and effective approaches have been developed to achieve this aim, though in reality the ultimate goal of 100% sustainable rural water supply remains elusive. The handpump, which supplies nearly half of all rural African’s protected water supplies, has an estimated functionality rate of approximately 66% (click here for more details). Data for other types of protected rural water supply are not as readily available, although it might be reasonable to estimate that spring sources would be slightly more sustainable, and motorized pump arrangements would be much less sustainable. Until more reliable estimates appear it will be assumed under this flagship (based upon the handpump data), that only two out of three water points in rural areas on the continent are functional at any given time.

Several reasons for this unacceptably high failure rate have been identified, including: inappropriate technology; poor construction; lack of community involvement and subsequent sense of ownership; poor community organization or cohesion; lack of follow-up support and/or training; the unavailability or high cost of spare parts, energy, and professional support services; and the drying-up of source water. For many years the failure rate had been attributed to technological reasons alone. It has now become clear that social and institutional factors play equally important roles. The critical question to ask is no longer solely, “Why do water supplies fail?”, but “Why do they fail and why haven’t communities and/or service providers kept them running?”

The objective of this flagship is to increase the percentage of functioning community water supplies in rural areas through the application of improved policies and practices.  Functionality is defined along a continuum of parameters that includes at a minimum the following: system working lifespan; frequency of rehabilitation; continuity of functioning; down time for repairs; water yield; water quality; and waiting times or number of users.