SWS

Brief

Maintenance Approaches to Improve the Sustainability of Rural Water Supplies

Numerous studies have sought to understand the factors that most influence the sustainability of rural water supply services. This understanding has led to the development of maintenance approaches, both reactive and preventive, that seek to improve functionality rates and maintain reliable continuity of rural community water services. This document reviews literature about the factors influencing the sustainability of rural water services, and the emerging maintenance approaches seeking to address these factors and improve service reliability.

Research/Study

A Local Systems Analysis for Rural Water Services Delivery in South Ari and Mile, Ethiopia

This report provides a synthesis of various rural water studies and systems analyses undertaken in two rural woredas (districts) in Ethiopia: South Ari, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR), and Mile, in the Afar Region. The Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership conducted these assessments with representatives from local government and the USAID Lowland WASH Activity. The baseline studies include an asset inventory, service delivery assessment, life-cycle cost analysis, sustainability check, organizational network analysis, and factor mapping.

Report

Summary Report of Baseline IFML Analyses in Kamuli District, Uganda

Between April and October 2018, Whave conducted five factor mapping workshops in Kamuli District, Uganda to learn about factors that affect the functionality of rural water services in the area. Factor mapping is a stakeholder-driven activity that seeks to create understanding of local systems and system leverage points by sharing, challenging, and making explicit stakeholders’ assumptions of how issues arise from a complex interaction of unique factors. This SWS report presents a synopsis of findings and methodology from the factor mapping and learning (IFML) process.

Brief

Factor Mapping to Understand Water Source Functionality in Kamuli District, Uganda

Between April and October 2018, Whave conducted five factor mapping workshops in Kamuli District, Uganda to learn about factors that affect the functionality of rural water services in the area. Factor mapping is a stakeholder-driven activity that seeks to create understanding of local systems and system leverage points by sharing, challenging, and making explicit stakeholders’ assumptions of how issues arise from a complex interaction of unique factors.

Research/Study

Understanding Coordination in Kitui County's Water Sector: An Analysis of Stakeholder Interactions and Perspectives

The Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership undertook an organizational network analysis to study interactions across WASH sector actors in Kitui County, Kenya relating to information, skills, resources, and authority relationships. The study sought to identify the position of organizations in the network and understand network gaps, successes, challenges, and actors’ perspectives on possible solutions to achieve rural water sustainability.

Technical Brief

Factor Mapping for Rural Water and Small Town Sanitation Services

In Ethiopia and Uganda, the Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership (SWS) developed and piloted a novel Factor Mapping approach to better understand the complex relationships between factors that influence water, sanitation, and hygiene services. The Factor Mapping process is a stakeholder-driven decision support technique that generates systems-based insights into how factors interact as a complex and dynamic system to affect WASH service delivery outcomes.

Technical Brief

Sustaining Rural Water: A Comparative Study of Maintenance Models for Community-Managed Schemes

As rural water supply coverage rates rise across many countries, attention is increasingly being paid to finding and implementing cost-effective mechanisms to ensure this improved initial access is sustained over time. Conventional approaches to maintenance have largely been based on voluntary community-based management with communities taking on the burden of maintenance themselves, with limited, if any, support from external agencies or local government. Recently, there have been attempts to professionalize maintenance services and make these services affordable at the point of delivery.

Water Currents

Water Currents: WASH and the Systems Approach

Water Currents is produced biweekly by USAID’s E3 Water Office. Each issue contains recent news and articles on water sector issues, partner and donor updates, latest sector research, and a special focus on one topic. Please provide your feedback and suggestions by contacting the waterteam@usaid.gov.