Oxford University

LiteratureReview

System Approaches to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene: A Systematic Literature Review

Endemic issues of sustainability in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector have led to the rapid expansion of ‘system approaches’ for assessing the multitude of interconnected factors that affect WASH outcomes. However, the sector lacks a systematic analysis and characterization of the knowledge base for systems approaches, in particular how and where they are being implemented and what outcomes have resulted from their application.

Report

A Water Infrastructure Audit of Kitui County

In Kitui County, Kenya, an information gap exists on water coverage and quality of water service delivery for a large segment of the county population. To fill this gap, the Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership (SWS) supported the University of Oxford to undertake a water audit in seven sub-counties from November to December 2017. The water audit located major rural water infrastructure and collected information on installation and operational performance to inform county planning, investment, institutional development, and dialogue on sustainability.

Brief

An Examination of the Causal Conditions to Successful Revenue Collection for Preventive Maintenance Services to Sustain Rural Water Systems

This research brief presents findings from a comparative analysis by University of Colorado Boulder of the conditions that influence whether rural water users pay for preventive maintenance of water services. Whave, a partner of the USAID-funded Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership (SWS), uses a preventive maintenance model to support sustainable water services in Uganda’s Kamuli District.

Case Studies

Presentation: Using Network Analysis to Understand Alignment Toward Collective Action

At University of North Carolina’s 2018 Water and Health Conference, University of Colorado Boulder's Kimberly Pugel presented two case studies to highlight a method SWS is using to visualize the priorities of each actor within a network by combining standard network analysis with qualitative interviews. SWS partners are seeking to strengthen these networks of agencies, organizations, service providers, and users by increasing collaboration and consensus toward a common agenda. 

Fact Sheet

Adopting a Risk-Based Approach to Rural Water Supply Sustainability in Kenya

This fact sheet highlights SWS’s work in Kitui County, Kenya, where Oxford and UNICEF are developing, scaling-up, and testing the FundiFix model as one response to Kitui County’s rural water challenge. The goal is to provide a model for universal, rural water service delivery. FundiFix provides a performance-based approach to maintaining water infrastructure, using ‘smart handpumps’ that collect real-time information on abstraction volumes and breakdown incidents.

Fact Sheet

Develop and Scale District Public-Private Partnerships that Sustain Reliable Rural Water Supply

This fact sheet highlights SWS’s work in Uganda, where Whave is working to cultivate a sustainable model for rural water service delivery by testing a preventive maintenance approach in three pilot districts. Operating as a Ugandan regional service provider, Whave is signing multi-year preventive maintenance service agreements with communities that require community leaders to charge operation and maintenance tariffs, manage the collected funds in supervised bank accounts, and pay an annual service fee.

Fact Sheet

Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership Fact Sheet

Sustainable services remain a daunting challenge in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. Traditionally, national and local governments, WASH service providers, and development partners have focused on the construction of WASH facilities and the expansion of service coverage. Less emphasis has been placed on sustaining and maintaining existing WASH services. As a result, failure rates of water supply and sanitation systems continue to be high.