Introduction

 -46% of public improved waterpoints in rural areas of Tanzania are NOT functioning
 - Just 2 years after installation, 25% of public improved waterpoints are non-functional

Factors for a Sustainable Future

- Technology factors (durability of hardware, reliability of water source)
- Maintenance (Who will maintain it, funds, availability of spare parts, tech. skills)

Key Lessons for Sustainability

 - Balance community participation and ownership with good decision making
- Proper management is essential to a successful project
-Legal water rights need to be acquired
-Monitoring and regulation of projects by village government and district water departments
- Ongoing support

Case Study 1

The village has a piped scheme with a submersible pump. There are about 270 households being served by the system. Villagers pay 20 Tshs per bucket collected. This should result in a sustainable system because the money can be put back into maintaining the water pump and system but when the bank account balance was checked it was 16 million Tsh short of what it should have been. This could be a major factor as to why sustainability of water projects have failed in the past. Funds could have been stolen or simply used for other projects such as building a school. It is important to consider how to create a safeguard for any funds such as needing several signatures to gain access to the money or withdraw it from a joint bank account.

Why This is Important

This again speaks to the importance of creating a sustainable solution in Longido. 46% of past water projects currently don’t work and we don’t want to add another one to this list. It’s important to involve the community and ensure the project has proper management after it is implemented.

Source:
Taylor, B. (n.d.). Addressing the Sustainbility Crisis. Water Aid. Retrieved October 9, 2014, from http://www.wateraid.org/~/media/Publications/sustainability-crisis-rural-water-management-tanzania.pdf