The IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre has launched a six-year initiative to improve sustainability of rural water supply for some of the world’s poorest people, by reshaping the way that these services are provided.

Through the Sustainable Services at Scale (or Triple-S) initiative, IRC seeks to contribute to ending the cycle of failure that causes wells, pumps and piped systems in rural areas to require replacement every few years because they have not been maintained. Triple-S aims to end this by developing scalable business models that will ensure ongoing maintenance and repair of water systems. Triple-S will work with government, planners, donors and water service providers and promote joint development, joint funding and joint implementation of the models.

Backed by a US $22 million (€16.1 million) grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Triple-S will apply these models in rural districts and small towns in Ghana and Uganda.

Rural water supply continues to be a significant problem

Of the one billion people globally who live without reliable access to safe water, nine out of ten live in rural areas. While the UN Millennium Development Goals aim to halve that number by 2015, there is a growing concern that the drive to increase the number of new taps and pumps neglects the need to maintain water systems and to raise finances for replacement costs. In the last 20 years, 600,000-800,000 hand pumps have been installed in sub-Saharan Africa, of which some 30% are known to fail prematurely, representing a total failed investment of between $1.2 and $1.5 billion. Because different donors and government agencies promote different systems, there is no comprehensive approach to water supply coverage or equipment and no economies of scale for follow up to ensure that boreholes, pumps and wells survive for their designed life spans.

“From frustration to a positive driver for change”

Ton Schouten is leading Triple-S for IRC together with Harold Lockwood from the UK based firm Aguaconsult. Schouten says that both donor funding and community willingness to pay for their water services have often been wasted. “If you drive through rural Africa you often see signs proclaiming that the water supply in a village is a gift of one or other donor. Sometimes the signs last longer than the water supply, and the donor does not even know that their project has failed. Some areas have become a graveyard for pumps with repeated projects providing short-term solutions.”

“Communities put their trust and efforts into these projects, digging trenches and raising their own money. They become frustrated, as do local organisations and entrepreneurs who work with communities on the ground. Triple-S will channel that frustration to become a positive driver for change.”

A new focus on rural water service delivery

Triple-S will promote a move away from one-off ‘projects’ to delivery of water services for entire populations, especially the poorest, seeking to transform a situation where one village receives a gift of a water supply while the next village has to find its own. Triple-S will promote a strategy to meet the needs for a continuous flow of drinking water to all villages in a district, as well as for additional water that allows people to grow crops, keep animals and earn an income. The initiative seeks to pool resources from various service providers, including local government, donors, civil society and the private sector, to promote more effective planning, funding and maintenance of water services.

Piloting for change in districts in Ghana and Uganda

Ghana and Uganda have been chosen to pioneer this approach, because leading agencies in these countries have already expressed dissatisfaction with current practice and because IRC has a strong record of work in these countries. One pilot district in each country will be selected, with the intention to replicate in additional districts. However, the real test for this six-year project will be to show how the new approach can be embedded in the country, so that it is sustained when the project is over and can be replicated in other countries.

Service level in Ugandan squatter area, Photo: IRC/Jabu Masondo

Triple-S will seek to have a high impact but a low profile. The IRC team will work with local partners and will facilitate forums, known as learning alliances, which will drive the process and ensure that the lessons are shared and learned. In Ghana, Triple-S will cooperate with the WASHCost project, also run by IRC with financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. WASHCost is seeking to disaggregate the full life cycle costs of water and sanitation schemes including all the support and maintenance costs.

Expected outcomes

The expected outcomes will be an improvement in reliable and sustainable water supplies for rural communities, and the development and testing of models that can be copied and scaled up across Ghana and Uganda and into other countries.

Go for the full press release to http://www.irc.nl/page/48048.

Authors: Ton Schouten and Dick de Jong

Tags: africa, financing, governance, learning alliances, policies & legislation, sanitation, water supply