Rural Evidence and Learning for Water (REAL-Water)
REAL-Water will support policymakers, development partners, and service providers to make strategic decisions and implement best practices for water management through implementation research. It will also ensure coordination with USAID programs contributing to the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and Water Resources Management (WRM) knowledge base, in alignment with the USAID Water for the World Implementation Research Agenda.
REAL-Water is an initiative of the Center for Water Security, Sanitation and Hygiene in USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security with support from the Office for Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition in USAID’s Bureau for Global Health.
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Overview
USAID cooperative agreement with Aquaya (2021-2026):
- Implementation research that applies scientific methods, international collaboration, and rigorous analyses.
- Evidence for decision-making by national policymakers and government officials, development partners, and public and private sector service providers.
- Coordination and collaboration with related programs that are contributing to the WASH knowledge base.
REAL-Water Research Questions
REAL-Water is an implementation research program dedicated to three important and interrelated aspects of rural water supply development:
- Professionalizing rural water service delivery
- What systemic factors support the professionalization of Community-Based Management (CBM) atscale?
- What factors – including systemic factors – support the development of alternatives to CBM at scale?
- Which local conditions and operational practices drive the performance of both CBM and alternative management approaches for rural water supplies?
- Strengthening water quality monitoring
- How can existing professional water quality laboratories expand their services to include water testing for rural water supplies?
- How can water quality data trigger improvements in water treatment, consumer satisfaction, and sustainable water safety management practices?
- Are Water Safety Plans (WSPs) effective forms of risk mitigation for rural water supplies in low-resource settings?
- Improved planning for water resources
- Where and how are rural water supply systems under threat due to problematic water resources management?
- How is holistic water resources planning – at scales relevant to rural water service authorities–implemented in practice?
- What are the barriers, enablers, costs, and benefits of successful holistic water resource planning approaches, with specific application to rural water supply?
Blog
Podcast
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Resources
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REAL-Water Project Brief Brief This project brief contains a short overview of the Rural Evidence and Learning for Water (REAL-Water) program, discussing intentions, research questions, and collaborators at the outset of the activity in early 2022. This brief is also… |
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Keeping it REAL for the Future of Rural Water Services Delivery Global Waters Article Providing safe, reliable water supply to rural populations is among the most difficult challenges of international development. Water represents a fundamental human health need as well as a critical factor for maintaining household hygiene, enabling… |
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Water Quality Testing Assurance Fund Video For small rural water systems, centralizing water quality testing at a professional laboratory is more effective and economical than onsite testing. In this example the Water Quality Testing Assurance Fund encourages Ghana Water Company Limited’s (… |
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A New Law, a Billion Dollar Loan Fund, and the Path to Better-run Water Utilities Blog As of 2020, Vietnam had the highest levels of rural water coverage among any country of comparable economic level, with coverage equivalent to countries with two to three times its per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We were curious: what was… |
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An Audacious Plan to Deliver Safe, Reliable Water to All of Rural Benin… Profitably Blog Can an ambitious public-private partnership lead to the successful delegation of rural water supply management to small businesses for an entire country in sub-Saharan Africa? Benin offers a test case. In a 2020 article, Dr. Rob Hope and… |
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Technological Innovations for Rural Water Supply in Low-Resource Settings Technical Brief CHALLENGE Rural areas pose special challenges for water supply, as homes may be too few or too dispersed to justify the cost of installing underground pipes from a high-quality water supply source or a centralized drinking water treatment facility… |
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Uncovering the Value of WASH Research through Partnership Blog Most of us are familiar with the pattern of doing research, disseminating findings, and hoping for uptake into policy and practice. If the research partners don’t involve potential evidence users early on in the process, however, most outputs end up… |
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Tanzania Institutional Framework For Water Supply Strategy and Guidance The United Republic of Tanzania is located east of Africa’s Great Lakes. Tanzania’s sustained growth from a low-income to lower-middle income country mirrors its positive progress towards access to safe water and sanitation for all. Access to basic… |
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Kenya Institutional Framework For Water Supply Strategy and Guidance Over the past decade, the Republic of Kenya in East Africa has made significant political and economic reforms that have contributed to sustained economic growth, social development, and political stability gains. Despite this progress, however,… |
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Financial Innovations for Rural Water Supply in Low-Resource Settings Technical Report Millions of people in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries still lack access to basic water services. In fact, as of 2020, the majority of people without basic water services lived in rural areas. The United States Agency for… |
Partners
Aquaya is an independent, nonprofit research organization dedicated to building the evidence base that guides WASH decision-making for international development. Founded in 2005, Aquaya conducts implementation research across an array of rural and urban WASH priorities.
Aguaconsult is a UK-based consulting company founded in 2003 to support public and private sector organizations to improve water, sanitation, and environmental services globally. It is recognized as a global thought-leader in the field of rural water service delivery.
The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), established in 1996 in Bangalore, India, fosters environmental conservation and socially just development. ATREE works to strengthen India’s capacity to confront its urgent environmental challenges in biodiversity, water, and climate change.
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has a strategic mandate to provide higher education, undertake research,disseminate knowledge, and foster relationships with external individuals and institutions in Ghana. Its Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Center Kumasi (RWESCK) is one of the university’s centers of excellence.
The Skat Foundation is based in Switzerland and hosts the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN), a global network of more than 13,000 water professionals in 168 countries. Since 1992, the network has been a trusted knowledge hub and expertise platform on practical planning, implementation, research, and innovation.
Safe Water Network is a nonprofit organization seeking to advance the scale and impact of decentralized local market-based solutions as a safe water solution for low-income populations in emerging economies. Since 2006, it has provided expertise to governments, partners, and local communities in Ghana and Indiato demonstrate successful small water enterprise approaches.
Water Mission is a Christian engineering nonprofit organization that builds safe WASH solutions in developing countries and disaster areas. Since 2001, Water Mission has served more than seven million people in 57 countries through 2,800 rural safe water and sanitation projects.