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| Piped Supplies for Small Communities in Malawi
Malawi is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, covering and area of 118,400 km2 of which 80% is land and the rest is lakes. Malawi is still in an early stage of urbanization with 11% of the total population living in the urban centers. It is estimated that up to 60% of the urban population live in the fringes of the urban centers. Lake Malawi is the third largest lake in Africa and provides a large reservoir of water for development of hydropower, fisheries, communications, irrigation and domestic water supply. Some low income communities, living in the peri urban areas used to get water from various unreliable, contaminated open water sources; others from vendors at very high costs. They often lack the most basic facilities, normally provided to urban communities. There was no regular water supply service in the peri urban areas of Malwai. In order to ensure that the people were adequately supplied with potable water at an affordable price, the government launched the Urban Communal Water Point Project in 1981, with financial and technical assistance from the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and WHO. The objective of this initial project was to construct 600 communal water points in 50 urban centers in Malawi, in order to provide affordable and safe drinking water to over 24,000 low income fringe-urban families. This aim was achieved in 1985, but over time problems with water-point management began to surface and people stopped paying tariffs to the local committees. The Piped Supplies for Small Communities (PSSC) Project started in 1988, targeting the peri urban community, with a view of stimulating the development of more appropriate, sustainable and successful methods to plan, implement and manage piped water supplies. Among the main activities were the development of a methodology for improving planning and implementing piped supplies with communities through demonstration schemes; training; hygiene education and sanitation. As a result, operational demonstration of piped water supply schemes were successfully developed in 9 peri-urban neighbourhoods of cities. The community managed and maintained communal water points established. Reference: Best practices and Lessons Learnt Unit –UNCHS (Habitat) Transitory Regime Water Supply in Conakry, Guinea. Claude Menard and George Clarke. In 1989, Guinea introduced a lease contract for the provision of water services in the capital, Conakry, and other cities. Despite a weak institutional environment, the reform resulted in clear improvements in sector performance. This paper assesses the benefits of reform and looks at the factors that constrained the extent of these gains. Semi-Pressure System with Ground Tank. Durban Metro Water, South Africa. May 2001. Detailed explanation of system used in Durban. Includes technical description and supply and charging information. Financing the Urban Poor: SODECI's Experience in Cote d'Ivoire. Nobila Traore, Director for Special Duties,SODECI. Nairobi 19-22 June 2000. |
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