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at the University of Zimbabwe,

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mîaedited by Cotton and John Pickford

Water and waste engineeringfor developing countries

published by the WEDC Group

Department of Civil EngineeringUniversity of TechnologyLOUGHBOROUGHLeicestershire LE11 3TUEngland

December 1983

ISBN 0 906055 14 8 softback

Printed by the University Printing Unit

Loughbomugh University ofTechndogyLeicestershire England

Water and waste engineeringfor developing countries

9th WEDC Conference12-15 April 1983

sanitationand water fordevelopmentin Africaat the University of Zimbabwe,Harare, Zimbabwe

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Proceedings•ditod by Andrew Cotton and John Pickford

contents

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 1

Inaugural AddressComrade Minister Msipa, Minister of Water Resources and Development 2

Keynote AddressJohn Pickford, WEDC Group Leader 6

SESSION 1

Water supply for Gedaref; are infiltration galleries the answer? 7A Cotton and M A Sanousi

Rural water supply in Ayangba District, Nigeria nG Smethurst, C J A Binnie and R E Ashford

Organisation and implementation of a dug wells programme 15P Te Velde

Water leakage in Addis Ababa 18G A Bridger

Discussion 22

SESSION 2

Phoredox activated sludge unit at the Firle sewage disposal works, Harare 25F Cox

Water and sewerage in housing development 27J D Milne

Urban solid waste: appropriate technology 31K J Nath, P K Chatterjee, S K Dasgupta and D M De

Disposal of toxic and industrial liquid waste in the city of Harare, Zimbabwe 35J B Keeling

Fish production in waste stabilization ponds 39B S Meadows

Discussion 43

SESSION 3

The implementation of urban and rural sanitation programs -in Botswana 46J G Wilson

Waste management in urban slums 50S A Amoaning-Yankson

Low cost sanitation in Nigeria 54P A Oluwande and A Onibokun

Community participation in water and sanitation 59Sister P Walsh

Communication support in sanitation development 63E P W Cross

Community participation in rural water supplies in Kenya 67S I Kabuage

Discussion 70

SESSION 4

Household water supply - a user's or a supplier's problem? 11P A and R U M Lindskog

Participation in rural water supply - the Malawi, experience 81L A H Msukwa

Low cost rural groundwater projects in Malawi 85A Smith-Carington

Water supplies for resettled populations 89B H Kinsey

Urban low eost sanitation 93J de B Ashworth

Discussion 96

SESSION 5

Institution building for the decade: the role of consultants 100P A Batchelor, K Starkey and D Parish

Project implementation management and community participation 103E M Chimbunde

Training of treatment plant operatives 105J McKendrick

Training through work experience 109

W K Tayler

Discussion 1 3

Valedictory address ^ 16Dr Pswarayi, Deputy Minister of Health

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participants

Dr S T ADEYEMI, Dept of Civil Engineering, Ilorin University, NigeriaD ALAGIAH, WHO, HarareDr M ALVARINHO, UNDP, MozambiqueDr T M ALUKO, Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick, NigeriaS A AMOANING-YANKSON, District Engineer, GhanaJ BALL, Agritex, BulawayoK BASAAKO, Ministry of Local Government and Lands, BotswanaM BEEVERS, Wallace & Ternam, UKC J A BINNIE, W S Atkins & Partners, UKP L BISON, Aquater, ItalyR A BOCARRO, Brunei University, UKB A BRIDGER, AESL International Ltd, EthiopiaS CAIRNCROSS, UNDP, MozambiqueMs S CAVANNA, VSO, ZambiaBROTHER CHARLES, St Theresa's Hospital, ZimbabweW CHARLET, Gauff Ingenieure, ZambiaA CHAZOBACHii, st Theresa's Hospital, ZimbabweM R CHIBANDA, PMOH, MashonalandA CHIGUMBU, Ministry of Health, ZimbabweR CHIKWANHA, Ministry of Water Resources and Development, ZimbabweJ CHINYANGA, Save The Children Fund, UKDr A COAD, WEDC, UKDr A COTTON, WEDC, UKMrs F COX, Dept of Works, HarareE P CROSS, UNDP/World Bank, HarareDr D B CUBAJEE, WHO, GhanaE DIPATE, District Sanitation Officer, BotswanaM DLAMINI, Rural Water Supply, SwazilandM DLANGAMAMDIA, First Urban Project, LesothoA DUNETS, Ministry of Water Resources and Development, HarareMr DYER, Dept of Works, HarareR FAULKNER, WEDC, UKM FITZGERALD, Sir M MacDonald & Partners, HarareDr E B GLENNIE, WRC Engineering Centre, UKJ GORASIA, VSO, ZambiaN GREENACRE, AMREF, KenyaDr A GWADA, Ministry of Health, HarareMrs J HAMPTON, St Augustine's Mission, ZimbabweR B HARRIS, Howard Humphrey & Partners, UKR W HICKS, Brian Colguhoun, Hugh O'Donnell & Partners, HarareA H HIMAMBILE, VSO, ZambiaA D HINWOOD, Ministry of Water Resources and Development, HarareN HOODA, Hudson Merami Assoc.Inc, Ontario, CanadaM HYVARINEN, Embassy of Finland, HarareS JOGI, Dept of Physical Planning, ZimbabweW JORDAN, WLPU, HarareJ KANDWE, Ministry of Health, ManicalandG KASEKE, Ministry of Health, ZimbabweT KATKO, UNDP, MalawiT E KATSANDE, Ministry of Health, ManicalandEng KEELING, Dept of Works, HarareD KNIGHT, Associated Consultants, HarareM KUYATHEH, Water & Sanitation Project, The GambiaDr R LAING, Bindura Hospital, Bindura, ZimbabweN B LEGGE, Student, Cardiff UniversityP A LINSKOG, Centre for Social Research, Malawi

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R J LIVERTON, Ministry of Health, GweruD LOCK, Crown Agents, UKR LOCK, Stewart Scott & Partners, HarareG W LONGLEY, Stewart Scott & Partners, HarareEng McKENDRICK, Dept of Works, HarareN D MAGARIRA, Ministry of Health, GweruC MAHACHI, Ministry of Health, MashonalandS MAKHETHA, First Urban Project, LesothoH J MANN, WRC, Engineering Centre, UKMr MARAMAH, Apostolic Church, Chinoyi, ZimbabweJ D MILNE, City of Bulawayo, ZimbabweCol.MLAMBO, Zimbabwe National ArmyN S MTAKWA, Ministry of Health, ZimbabweA S MPALA, Ministry of Water Resources and Development, HarareW MTOMBA, Ministry of Water Resources & Development, HarareD C MULLINS, John Burrows & Partners, HarareS S MUSINGARABWI, Ministry of Health, MashonalandC MWANYANGUBA, VSO, ZambiaC NAIR, Rural Water Supply, SwazilandProf K J NATH, All India Inst.of Hygiene & Public Health, IndiaS NGCOZANA, Ministry of Health, ManicalandN NGWERUME, Ministry of Health, BulawayoP NURESTEN, Proderite, ZimbabweT R NYASONGO, Ministry of Health, ManicalandDr I NYUMBU, University of ZambiaR D NYENYA, Zimbabwe Association of Church Related Hospitals, Harare0 A OBADINA, Proten Consultants, NigeriaProf P A OLUWANDE, Dept of Civil Engineering, Ibadan University, NigeriaD PARISH, Coopers & Lybrand Associates, UKJ PICKFORD, WEDC, UKJ PRINSLOO, National Inst.Water ResearchD A PROUDFOOT, Ministry of Health, MasvingoM RAMOMAHENG, First Urban Project, LesothoLt Col ROSEVEARE, Zimbabwe National ArmyK RUNGANGA, Ministry of Health, HarareA G M RUWENDE, Health Inspector, MasvingoS SHAMBA, Ministry of Health, MashonalandD S SITHOLE, Ministry of Health, HarareA SMITH-CARINGTON, ODA Hydrogeologist, Dept Lands Valuation and Water, MalawiB SPENCER, Ministry of Health, MashonalandR H G SPILSBURY, Wallace & Tiernan, UKDr J SWAFPIELD, Brunei University, UKDr R P TARUVINGA, AGRITEX, ZimbabweW K TAYLER, VSO, Juba, SudanN TEMBO, Health Inspector, MasvingoB TOWINDO, Ministry of Health, HarareS TRACE, VSO, ZambiaM J TUMBARE, Ministry of Water Resources & Development, HarareG C UNDERWOOD, Dept of Physical Planning, MasvingoP TE VELDE, Lutheran World Federation, Bulawayo, ZimbabweH D VOLLET, Turnall AC, HarareDr R WAKELOW, Brunei University, UKG J WALPOLE, Stewart & Lloyds Training Division, HarareDr C WANA-ETYEM, Makerere University, Kampala, UgandaA WATERKEYN, HarareD E WEST, A I Davis & Co, HarareJ W H WHITE, Ministry of Health,GweruD F WILLIAMS, UNICEF, HarareJ G WILSON, Ministry of Local Government & Lands, BotswanaA ZIMBODZA, Ministry of Health, BulawayoC M ZOBOGO, Ministry of Water Resources & Development, Harare

OPENING ADDRESSCde.Minister MSIPAMinister of Water Resources & Development

Professor Mackechnie, Mr Pickford, Mr Hall,distinguished delegates, ladies andgentlemen, on behalf of the Government ofZimbabwe and on my own behalf I would liketo offer a warm welcome to everyoneattending this Conference, particularlythose who have joined us from outside ourborders. This is an occasion which Iregard as having particular importance forthose of us working in the fields of waterand sanitation. For no matter how diligentlywe may apply ourselves to the problems ofour countries, possibly thinking that wehave found the best solutions, there isalways more that we can learn from others.I am very pleased that the Water and WasteEngineering for Developing Countries Groupin the United Kingdom and the Departmentof Civil Engineering at the University ofZimbabwe have decided to hold this ninthWEDC Conference here in Harare.

Amongst developing countries, Zimbabwe hasa unique position. It has a relativelyhighly developed industrial and commercialinfrastructure. Therefore many of thematerials and skills required for theimplementation of water supply andsanitation programmes are available locally.On the other hand, we have achieved ourindependence only recently, following a|protracted liberation war. We then facedthe massive tasks of reconstruction anddevelopment which were essential for thetransformation of our society.

In the urban areas, water and sanitationfacilities had been well developed.However, for the majority of the populationliving in the rural areas, the situationwas quite different, with perhaps less thanten per cent having access to adequatesupplies of clean water.

The rural areas naturally became a focalpoint of the liberation war, with the resultthat many water points were deliberatelysabotaged. At Independence over half theboreholes in the rural areas were out oforder. The previous governments did notsupply traditional villages with pipedwater - the only government schemes inoperation being those installed during thewar to supply the so-called "protectedvillages".

Over the last three years, 6 250unserviceable boreholes, 280 dams and 20piped schemes have been rehabilitated andover 1 000 new boreholes have been drilledby the Government. We have installed 60piped water schemes in rural villages, witha further 27 at various stages ofdevelopment. Plans are also under way toconstruct piped supplies to 70 RuralService Centres and 6 Growth Points.

Despite the unique aspects of Zimbabwe'ssituation, we face many of the sameproblems as other developing countries.Probably 75 per cent of the ruralpopulation are still without access toadequate supplies of clean water, and ahigher proportion do not yet haveacceptable sanitation facilities.Traditional sources of water such asrivers, sand-beds, ponds and waterholesare the normal source for most people.These sources are inevitably contaminatedand a hazard to health and are unreliableparticularly during a period of droughtsuch as one we are experiencing.

The consequences of poor water supply andsanitation are well known. These includepoor health, high infant mortality, highmorbidity, reduced life expectancy and alack of time and energy for productivework and education. It is estimated that80 per cent of illness in developingcountries is related to deficiencies inwater and sanitaton. Standards of livingthus remain low and development of allkinds is constrained.

women and children are the people mostaffected. They are the ones whotraditionally have the task of carryingheavy loads of water over long distances,sometimes several times a day. Women haveto prepare the food in unsanitaryconditions and then nurse the sick. Thehours and energy that will be releasedby the provision of proper facilitiescould be spent on more productive,educational or income-earning activities.Women will thus be the ones to benefitmost from this Decade and should bedirectly involved. Without their supportand participation the programme willachieve little.

What then is to be done? A major initiativehas been taken with the declaration of theperiod 1981 to 1990 as the InternationalDrinking Water Supply and SanitationDecade. More important than thedeclaration itself are the ideas behind it,and the actions resulting from it. Theslogan of the Decade is clean water andadequate sanitation for all by the year 1990.The approach that must be adopted by eachcountry will obviously depend very much ontheir specific conditions, and cannot bedictated from outside. However, at thesame time I would argue that there areideas that do have wide relevance to solvingthese common problems.

Fundamental to the Decade is the need forstructural and institutional changes toensure more equitable distribution ofresources and wider population participation.Programmes must be people-orientated andpeople-based, rather than seeing solutionssimply in terms of finance and technology(although these of course are also required).Programmes must therefore involve people,rather than being carried out in a paternal-istic fashion; hence the communitiesconcerned must be involved at every stageof projects.

Without necessarily neglecting the better-served sectors of society, the Decade is atime to emphasise the development of thosesectors which have been most neglectedpreviously. A fundamental aspect is thatdevelopment must have an integral approach.It is not a matter of simply providingdrinking water. The title of the Decadeitself includes sanitation. This isbecause health impact of clean water aloneis small. Clean water may easily becomecontaminated before drinking if hygiene ispoor - and experience shows that thegreatest health impact results from acomprehensive programme of clean water,improved sanitation (including refusedisposal), and health education.

In Zimbabwe we formed a National ActionCommittee for the International DrinkingWater Supply and Sanitation Decade inNovember last year. It consists of 16ministries and para-statal bodies concernedwith achieving the Decade's goals. Themajor roles in the Decade as far asGovernment is concerned will continue tobe undertaken by the Ministry of WaterResources and Development as far as watersupplies are concerned, and by the Ministryof Health as far as sanitation and healthare concerned. However, it is clear thatif the objectives of the Decade are to beachieved, the actions of individualministries or even the Government as a whole

will not be sufficient. What is required isto mobilise the resources of the Governmentand the communities concerned, as well asother sectors of the society, includingnon-governmental organisations, industryand agriculture and also take advantageof overseas sources of aid.

The Committee is encouraging the formationof grass-roots development committees toorganise local water and sanitationprojects in co-ordination with otherdevelopment activities. Such projectscould include well-digging, well-protection,digging of trenches, laying of pipes,installation of rainwater collection tanksand construction of Blair ventilatedimproved pit latrines. Such projectshave been undertaken in many parts of thecountry already with the assistance ofextension workers of various ministries.However, by taking an over-view of thesituation it is planned to improve theeffectiveness of these activities throughimproved training of extension workers,provision of more technical back-up andthe supply of essential materials such ascement, hand-pumps and ventilation pipesfor pit latrines.

There are many reasons for encouragingcommunity participation. On the one hand,Government resources are limited in termsof finance, manpower, equipment andmaterials. The greater the communitycontribution, the further these resourceswill reach, and the more the people whowill benefit. Even with generous amountsof overseas aid the results that can beachieved will be very limited unless thepeople become directly involved.

Secondly, community participation is anessential part of people's politicaldevelopment. We need to destroy thepaternalistic attitude of previousgovernments which led people to believethey were not capable of doing things forthemselves.

Schemes that are undertaken withoutcommunity involvement may suffer manyproblems. They may not suit therequirements of the people and thereforebe ignored, mis-used or vandalised. Peoplewill have little sense of responsibilityfor something which is installed withoutconsultation, or else they will believethat if it breaks down then it is onlythe Government that can fit it up again.

Technological problems also arise. Theequipment that is installed needs to beappropriate for community operation andalso, if possible, community maintenance.

The costs of having mobile repair crewsattending to breakdowns of handpumps atisolated boreholes is very high. This isthe system we use in Zimbabwe now, and itworks well. However if the same system isto be used when the whole population hasproper facilities, the cost may becomeprohibitive, resulting in prolongedperiods with equipment out of order.

One of the essential requirements for thesuccess of the Decade is information. Weneed to collect information on the existingsituation in order to plan appropriateprogrammes. The National Action Committeeis organising a Baseline Evaluation which isbeing carried out by extension workers ofthe ministries of Health, Local Governmentand Town Planning, Agriculture, andCommunity Development and Women's Affairs.This is to provide basic data on the numberand condition of existing water supply andsanitation facilities in the rural areas.This will be incorporated into a NationalRural Water Supply and Sanitation MasterPlan.

There is also a strong emphasis on the flowof information to the community. TheNational Action Committee is preparing aprogramme of publicity and dissemination ofinformation about Decade activities, with anemphasis on the Youth of Zimbabwe via schoolsand Youth Brigades. It aims to create anawareness of the need for clean water andsanitation as well as giving information onthe ways in which people may participate inthe provision of these facilities.

Let us now look at ways in which we canprovide clean water supplies in the ruralareas. Groundwater is the preferred source,from properly protected wells, springs orboreholes. If properly designed andlocated, then in most cases no treatment willbe required and costs are then kept to aminimum. Construction of wells and theprotection of springs can be undertaken bycommunity groups. However, there are manyplaces in Zimbabwe where the groundwater isat such depths that boreholes are required.

A major constraint here is the availabilityof sufficient drilling rigs and suitablytrained personnel to operate them. Most ofour drilling is still done using cable-toolrigs which, although slow, have proved theirreliability and durability over many years.We are also using some light-weight down-the hole hammer drills ourselves. Most ofZimbabwe's rural population is in scatteredsettlements, making the cost of piped watersupplies prohibitive. Hence the emphasis ison providing many primary water supplieswithin reasonable distances of the settle-ments. The preferred method of pumping is

by means of hand-pumps where the dailyrequirement is a few cubic metres. Wherequantities in excess of say ten cubicmetres a day are required from one sourcethen diesel-powered pumps are normallyused. Consideration is being given to theuse of solar powered pumps and, insuitable locations, to the use of wind-mills.

Where groundwater supplies are inadequate,then other methods, such as sandabstraction from river beds and theconstruction of dams, are used, wheretreatment is required this is normallycarried out by sedimentation, filtrationand chlorination. However, work has beendone on the development of slow sandfilters and these may find an increasingrole in small community water suppliesfrom surface sources.

Zimbabwe is fortunate in being able tomanufacture the hand-pumps it needs. Forboreholes we use a very old but well-proven design known as the Bush Pump.While being somewhat crude in appearanceperhaps, its ruggedness and reliabilityare well-known. Its main drawback is thegreat weight of the below groundcomponents that have to be lifted out tocarry out repairs to the valves or cupwashers. This design feature will haveto be changed if it is to be suitable forvillage-level maintenance.

For shallow wells, we have designed theBlair pump which uses mainly plasticcomponents below ground. This is designedfor installation and maintenance with theminimum of hand tools.

Zimbabwe has a well-developed PrimaryHealth Care Programme, which is theresponsibility of the Ministry of Health.Its extension workers are involved in theprevention of disease, especially thoseassociated with lack of adequate water andsanitation facilities, with the ultimateaim of improving the quality of life ofthe whole population.

The main elements of the Primary HealthCare Programme are:-

- promotion of personal and communityhygiene

- provision of safe drinking water supplies- protection of water sources and

surveillance of drinking water quality- provision of safe excreta disposal- linkage with other related sectors.

By being prepared to challenge theestablished wisdom, Zimbabwe has developedthe Blair ventilated Improved Pit Latrine

which represents a significant advance overthe normal pit latrine. By incorporating avent with an insect screen, problems ofodour and fly-breeding are eliminated. Theconcept is very flexible, and Blair latrinescan be built for an outlay of as little as$7 for essential materials. So far, morethan 60 000 have been installed in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has had a late start in the task ofproviding water and sanitation facilities,having been independent for only three years.However, we do have the advantage of beingable to look at the mistakes of others whohave gone before us and learn from them.Expensive water supply schemes have falleninto disuse or dis-repair within a shortperiod of completion. We know of caseswhere millions of dollars worth of machineryare sLanding idle. The reasons may be lackof spare parts, of fuel or of qualifiedtechnicians. In some cases new watersupplies that do not suit the requirementsof the people are ignored in favour oftraditional but polluted sources.

Persuasive salesmen of sophisticatedequipment and consultants who do notunderstand the concept of appropriate designare other hazards that have to be avoided.Even grant aid can cause more problems thanit solves. At a recent conference onedelegate referred to these as "Poisonedgifts". However, a judicious combination oflocal and international resources willundoubtedly be an essential element ofachieving success in this Decade.

This conference will be a useful forum forthe exchange of ideas and discussions ofproblems, both within and outside the formalsessions. I am pleased to see the widerepresentation that has been achieved(although it is unfortunate that there arestill so few women participating). I wouldlike to thank the organisers for the workthey have put in, and wish the participantssuccess in this most vital area ofdevelopment. It is my sincere hope thatparticipants from other countries will findtime to see a bit of our country so that youmay have first hand knowledge of Zimbabwe.

I now declare this conference open, with afinal reminder that this InternationalDrinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decadeis not for technocrats, or even politicians,but for the people. It is only by workingwith such an attitude that the Decade can bemade to succeed.

KEYNOTE ADDRESSJOHN PICKFORDWEDC Group Leader

Comrade Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen, Imust firstly say that I consider myself tobe extremely fortunate in being in Harare.I am fortunate to be involved with the WaterSupply and Sanitation Decade, and I amfortunate to be involved with Africa.

Our subject area of water supply andsanitation provides such a tremendous varietyof interesting ideas; for example, ProfessorOluwande suggests some interesting types oflatrine; Engr Milne proposes sewered )sanitation in Bulawayo; Engr Keeling isdealing with toxic industrial wastes,- andMrs Cox is going to tell us about a waste-water treatment plant which is sosophisticated that I cannot understand it!In the water supply sector, Mr Bridger hasbeen working with a fully metered supply withrelatively little unaccounted-for water,whereas other authors are used to dealingwith simple pumps such as the Blair pump, andwith donkey water carriers,

Part of this variety is the unexpectednessof the ideas and solutions resulting frompeople's varied experiences. Mr Ashworthadvocates the use of private contractors foran urban sanitation scheme; Mr Binnie quotesthe use of direct labour in Nigeria; MrWilson has produced some interesting costfigures for latrine construction in Botswana.

Another fascination with our work is thefact that it is on-going. Compare this withstructural engineering, which I find boring;once the structure is built, that is it! Withwater supply and sanitation schemes, we areonly just beginning once the scheme has beenconstructed. Treatment plants and equipmentmust be kept working, latrines must be usedregularly; these factors are the real testof the success of a scheme. Mr Chimbundeemphasizes the fact that people's motivationcan be short lived, and so we must beprepared to move quickly to make the most oftheir enthusiasm.

We must never forget that projects involvingwater supply and sanitation must beimplemented WITH people, and FOR people.Several papers cover the health aspects ofprogrammes; there are most interestingpapers by Sister Walsh and Mr Msukwa onaspects of community involvement with projects.

We must take account both of the habits ofpeople, as Mr Wilson illustrates, and theideas of the people themselves. Women oftenhold the key to the success of water supplyand sanitation projects; it is mostinteresting to hear from Mr Te Velde that inthe area of Zimbabwe in which he works, the.local water committee consists of two womenand one man!

We must never forget that we have to workwith people; as engineers, scientists orsociologists we are not up on a pedestal;we have to appreciate, and be sensitive tothe real needs of those for whom we areworking. We have to be flexible in ourapproach, use what is most appropriate, andmotivate people, not impose that which theydo not want.

Conference: Sanitation and water for development in Africa: HARARE: 1983

WATER SUPPLY FOR GEDAREF; ARE INFILTRATION GALLERIES THE ANSWER?

by A COTTON and M A SANOUSI

Summary

A number of technical alternatives forimproving the water supply to Gedaref,Sudan, are investigated. Of the short termimprovements proposed, none is likely toimprove upon the present system of continualdigging of a channel to convey river waterto the silted intakes. In the long term,construction of a radial collector wellinfiltration gallery system appears to offeradvantages over a new surface intake andimprovements to the existing treatmentplant.

1. Introduction

This paper investigates some of the problemsassociated with the water supply for Gedarefin South Eastern Sudan. The aim is toreview some of the technical solutions andprovide a basis from which a more detailedtechnical and economic analysis could becarried out. Due largely to the lack offield data, the calculations are by no meansexhaustive, and economic analysis has notbeen attempted.

The present population of Gedaref is about150 000; improvements to the traditionalwater supplies from shallow wells and rainwater storage tanks were made in 1960 whena number of boreholes were sunk to thesouth west of the town (8,13) .The supplywas further increased in 1970 when a riverintake and treatment works were constructedon the Atbara river at El Showak, 70 kmnorth east of the town. The treatmentcomprises coagulation using alum and lime,rapid sand filtration and chlorination.Treated water is pumped through a 500 mmspun iron pipeline to Gedaref. The worksprovides about 8200 m3/day, although thedesign capacity is about 12 500 m3/day (13).

2. Problems at El Showak

Major problems have arisen due to the highsuspended solids load in the Atbara riverin the wet season. Deposition causedradical changes in the river channelgeometry, with the result that after lessthan two years the intake works had siltedand ceased to be used; over 6 metres of silthad accumulated. Two pumps were then sitedon the river bank, and a channel dug fromthe low flow channel across to the pumps,

figure 1; maintaining this channel requiresfifty men for eight months of the year, atconsiderable cost. The high suspendedsolids load causes problems in the clarifier,and the rapid gravity sand filters clog upvery rapidly. The treated water stillcontains some silt, and to add to theproblems, the transmission main to Gedarefwas not provided with washouts. Due to lackof spares, pumping and mechanical equipmentdoes not function adequately. There is noshortage of raw water; in 1980 thedischarge ranged from about 15 m3/s to3100 m 3/s.

3. Remedies for the problems

A number of remedies have been proposed bydifferent organizations; to overcome shortterm problems they include:(a) construction of a causeway across the

river to carry the pumps to the low flowchannel;

(b) continuous dredging by excavator,-(c) construction of a low diversion wall In

the river;and for long term problems:(d) construction of sedimentation tanks and

additional filters;(e) a new intake works;(f) rehabilitation and expansion of the

borehole system;(g) construction of an infiltration gallery.

4. Assessment of short term remedies

4.1 Causeway and excavator

A causeway to carry the pumps to the low flowchannel could suffer serious damage duringthe wet season. The proposal to sink tworows of piles across the river, along whichan excavator would run is frought withpractical difficulties. Neither proposal isconsidered realistic.

4.2 Diversion wall

The object of constructing a low diversionwall out of gabions is to divert water fromthe low flow channel to the intakes. Theeffects of such training works on unstablerivers in alluvium are unpredictable, andthe proposal was investigated using ahydraulic model. A distorted scale Froudenumber model having horizontal and vertical

scale ratios of 200 and 50 respectively wasused (1). The prototype hydrauliccharacteristics and sediment loads, table 1,were estimated from Lacey's regime equations/and Petersons universal flow charts (6); thecross section of the main river channel isshown in fig lb. The model was run usingthe minimum 1980 discharge of 15 m 3/s, andan intermediate flow of 300 m 3/s, at whichit was estimated that the diversion channelwould flow bank-full. The resulting crosssections and longitudinal section are shownon figs 2 and 3. The main problems foundwere:

(a) severe scour around the intake house,with holes up to 7m below original bedlevel, and possible collapse;

(b) severe recession of the river bank wherethe abstraction pumps are placed;

(c) scour in front of the gabion wall whichmay lead to its collapse, even atminimum flow;

(d) the system is highly unstable at a flowof 300 m»/s;

(e) the gabion wall is unlikely to surviveat 3100 m 3/s.

The gabion diversion wall seems to createmore problems than it solves, and is notrecommended.

5. Assessment of long term remedies

5.1 New intake works

The Atbara river is clearly unstable, andthere is no guarantee that a new intakefurther upstream would not suffer the samefate as the existing one.

5.2 Improving the treatment works

During and after high river flows, sedimentloads in excess of 1000 ppm may well becommon, and values as high as 16 000 ppmhave been known. If sedimentation tanksproviding up to 2 days retention are provided,sludge may accumulate at rates between 200and 2500 m3 per day, assuming 80% solidsremoval (4). At! least three tanks of 15 000m3 capacity, and further pumping, would berequired. If smaller horizontal flow tankshaving a retention time of about 4 hourswere used sludge would accumulate rapidly,requiring either mechanical cleaning or alarge number of tanks in parallel. Whilstreducing the sediment load, operation andmaintenance requirements would be increased.The benefits from these proposals cannot berealized until the basic problem of theintake works has been solved, given that thegabion wall is unlikely to survive the wetseason.

5.3 Borehole rehabilitation and extension

Eight boreholes south west of Gedaref couldbe rehabilitated to provide about 10% ofthe demand (8). Unconfirmed pump tests inthe region of the El Showak works indicatethat a further 18 boreholes may be requiredto supplement them. The running costs ofsuch a large number of pump sets could proveprohibitive.

5.4 infiltration galleries

Infiltration galleries are horizontalpermeable conduits which intercept andcollect groundwater which is oftenprincipally derived from infiltration ofnearby surface water; they have beenwidely used in India and USA (10).Galleries can be constructed within a river,or along the banks, with open jointed orperforated pipes projecting under the riverbed, fig 4. If the river bed is coarsesand or gravel the potential yield may behigh; the 'rule of thumb1 used in SouthIndia is 20 m3/day per metre of gallery.The advantages offered include (9,10) :

(a) the recharging river water is effectivelyfiltered by sand or gravel, reducingturbidity, colour, organic andbacterial pollutants;

(b) comparatively little skilled supervisionis required during operation;

(c) running costs involving chemicals andmechanical and electrical plant are low;

(d) disinfection is usually the onlytreatment required.

Preliminary calculations indicated that agallery may need to be 15 m to 20 m belowthe Atbara river bed level. Indianpractice (12) is to lay open jointed pipesin a manually excavated trench up to depthsof 8 or 10 metres below bed level. Whenthe depth has to be greater, perforatedsteel pipes are jacked out radially from aconcrete caisson sunk into the river bed,fig 4. This radial collector well systemis also known as a Ranney well. A gradedgravel pack is usually placed around thegallery pipes; this is not usuallyfeasible with pipe jacking, but as thepipe is jacked into position, fine materialsare removed from the vicinity of the pipe,and a natural pack tends to develop. (9,11,14) .

The following calculations are based onthe design procedure used in South India (12).The system is designed to provide 12 500m3/day (the capacity of the treatment works)which should be sufficient to provide theexisting population with 50 litres perperson per day.

If the entrance velocity of the water throughthe perforations is limited to 6 mm/s (2,12) ,the required open area of pipe is 24.1 m*;if the pipes have an open area of 18%, andoperate with 40% blocked, the requiredlength of 300 mm diameter pipe is

24.1/(0.18 x 0.60 x'TT x 0.3) = 237 metres.

Thus 4 N° 60 metre lengths would be required;for optimum yield, the angle between pipecentrelines should be greater than 20°; inthis case, 30° would be adequate, as shownin fig 4.

In order to fix the invert level of theradial collector pipes, the lowest watertable level in the dry season, and thedrawdown resulting from abstraction fromthe aquifer must be known. Estimation ofthe drawdown is extremely complicated, butin practice a reasonable result can beobtained empirically from using the Theissequation for unsteady flow in an unconfinedaquifer, assuming that the system behavesas a vertical well with an effective radius0.75 times the length of the radialcollector pipes (12). The unconfirmed pumptests and preliminary geophysical surveyindicate that the sand and gravel aquiferhas a transmissivity of about 2880 mVday,and a minimum dry season water table 14 mbelow existing bed level. The maximumdrawdown will occur if there is little or norecharge from the river in the dry season.Data on recharge are not available, and so a90 day period without recharge is assumed.

Thus y =4TTT

W(u) where u4Tt

and Q = abstracted flow (12 500 m 3/day),T = transmissivity, r = effective radius (45m),t = pumping time (90 days) S = aquifer specificyield (assumed to be 0.2) and y is thedrawdown estimated for the effective radius r.Thus:

u = 4 x 10" 4 and w(u) = 7.25, obtained fromstandard tables (5) ,- the drawdown is henceabout 2 t5 metres. Allowing for the pipethickness of 0.3 m, and a "safety" allowanceof 0.5 metres (12), the invert level of theradial collector pipes should be 17.3m belowriver bed level (fig 4 ) . It must be stressedthat these calculations are based oninadequate data, and only serve to indicatea possible design method.

A problem with infiltration galleries andradial collector wells is the possiblereduction in yield over a period of timedue to clogging, and organic growths andinorganic encrustations around theperforations. However, such systems haveoperated satisfactorily for many years (10).

6. Conclusions

(a) None of the short term proposalsappear to offer advantages over thepresent system of digging a channelthrough to the pumps.

(b) There is no obvious solution regardingimprovements to the silted intakehouse. There is no point in improvingthe treatment works unless thisproblem can be satisfactorily resolved.Cleaning out new sedimentation tanksand overloading of the clarifiersand filters is likely to continue tocause operational problems when thesediment load in the raw water ishigh.

(c) Boreholes could satisfy the waterdemand, but initial indications arethat the number required may beprohibitively large.

(d) A radial collector well consisting of4 No. 60 metre lengths of 300 mm pipejacked into the aquifer beneath theAtbara river bed would appear tosatisfy the present water demand. Theonly treatment required is likely tobe disinfection; equipment isavailable at the El Showak treatmentplant. Other units in the plant areunlikely to be necessary. A detailedsite investigation of the aquifer isrequired to enable more accuratecalculations to be performed.

(e) There is ample scope for increasingthe supply by installing more radialcollector pipes to the well. In amore detailed design, the populationprojections and per capita waterconsumption for the design life of theproject must be carefully considered.

7. References

1. ALLEN J. 'Scale Models in HydraulicEngineering1. Longmans, 1947.

2. BENNETT J W. 'On the design andconstruction of infiltration galleries'.Groundwater, 8_, 1970, 16.

3. FEHLMANN H & FEHLMANN J H. 'Subterraneanwater collector'. Water and SewageWorks, 106, No.2, Feb 1959, 60.

[m]

10 86

44. FAIR G M, GEYER J C, OKUN D A. 'Water &

Wastewater Engineering'. Vol 2 1968, 2Wiley.

r intakeJ

5. JOHNSON inc. 'Groundwater and Wells'.Johnson Division UOP, 1966.

6. PETERSON A. 'Universal flow diagramsfor mobile boundary channels'. CanadianJ.of Civ.Eng. 2_No.4, 1975, 549.

7. RAUDKIVI A J & CALLANDER R A. 'Analysisof Groundwater Flow'. Arnold 1976.

8. SANOUSI M A. 'Gedaref Water Supply'.Unpublished thesis in part fulfilmentfor MSc degree, Loughborough Universityof Technology UK.

9. SPIRIDONOFF S v. 'Design and use ofradial collector wells'. J.AWWA 56,1964, 689.

10. STONE R. 'Infiltration galleries'. Part472, ASCE, 80, 1954.

11. STRAMMEL G J. 'Maintenance of wellefficiency1. J.AWWA 5J, 1965, 996.

12. Tamil Nadu Water Supply and DrainageBoard. 'Public Health EngineersHandbook' 1977, Madras, India.

13. WEST C. 'Water for Gedaref. AngliaConsultants, Essex, UK, 1981.

14. YALE R A. 'Use of radial collector well

in Skagit County'. J.AWWA _50_, 1958, 125.

Table 1: Hydraulic characteristics

Q=15mVs

0 40 80FIG 1b SECTION A A

120 160 200 240 280 320

initial

20 10 0FIG 2 SECTION BB

- Q=15 mVsd=300mVs

20

tm]2

3

4 initial

600 400 200 0 200 400 600upstream [m] downstream [m]

FIG 3 L0N6T- SECTION OF DIVERSION CHANNEL

800

banks river channel

Discharge(mVs)

Flow depth(m)

Mean width(m)

Sedimentload (kg/s)

Diversionchannel

15

2.3

20

0

300*

4.5

75

30

Mainchannel

3100

6.8

280

3100

•Estimated bank full discharge

1 low flow channel2 existing intake channel3 proposed diversion channel

collectorwell

_sgnd/clay lensessand/gravel

~~~°- mjn.water table

radialcollectorpipe

FIG 4 INFILTRATION GALLERY: SECTION

L-A PLAM

FIG 1 EL SH0WAK INTAKE WORKS

11

RURAL

• b y G

X 3 W Conference:

WATER SUPPLY IN

SMETHURST, C J A

Sanitation

AYANGBA

BINNIE

and water for development

AREA, NIGERIA

and R E ASHFORD

in Africa: HARARE: 1983

1 . GENERAL

1.1 Introduction

In the development process one of the firstaims is the establishment of reliable watersupplies in rural areas. With this in mintthe Ministry of Agriculture in Benue State,Nigeria, commissioned us as consultants toundertake a survey for the AyangbaAgricultural Development Project in thewestern part of the state. The aim of thesurvey (1980/81) was to examine the waterresources and requirements for improvingwater supplies in the project area. Thefollowing conditions were given:-

- The survey to be of short duration andbased as far as possible on existing inform-ation.

- An effort should be made to implement anyproposals within three years.

- The conflicting interests of settled andnomadic population should be considered.

- Local resources and materials should beused.

- The use of the limited funds availableshould be confined to rural communities andurban centres should be excluded.

- The cost effectiveness of existing struc-tures and supply systems should be investi-gated and their future usefulness assessed.1.2 General Description of Area

The project area covers approximately 3000sq. kilometres in which it is estimatedthat there is a rural population of about 1million people. There are about 1800 com-munities. The settled populations arecultivators, but there are significantnumbers of Fulani cattle folk who are noma-dic. The country is fairly well watered butthe need to protect the interests of bothtypes of inhabitant is an added factor.

The area is bounded on the west by the RiverNiger and on the north by the River Benue, amajor tributory of the Niger.

1.3 Method of Investigation

The study comprised three overlapping

phases:

- orientation and data collection.- field surveys.- report production.

Existing mapping was used. Aneroid surveyswere made. Stream gauging and well levelswere recorded. Field appreciation ofvillages and their existing water supplieswas made.All data published by Government andProvincial agencies was collected.

2. WATER RESOURCES GEOGRAPHICALCLASSIFICATION

2.1 Geological Study

Examination revealed that the area fallsnaturally into five water resource units,some of which could be further sub-divided:-

i) River Alluviumii) South-west Lowlandsiii) High Plateauiv) Cretaceous Piedmontv) Crystalline Lowlands

i) River alluvium. These consisted of sandsyielding small supplies of clean water fromshallow wells.

ii) Lowlands. These were mainly on clay andwere crossed by streams draining from thePlateau, which had become polluted in tran-sit.

iii) High Plateau. This covered a highproportion of the area and contained plenti-ful supplies of water at depth in the under-lying sandstone. From the escarpmentsprings emerge which carry away water spiltfrom the sandstone and these form thestreams which traverse the lowlands.

iv) Cretaceous Piedmont. These sandstonesand sills lie to the north and west of thePlateau. Small springs can be used locally,but most communities use the surface streamsoriginating from the escarpment of thePlateau.

v) Crystalline Lowlands. These are of late-rite and contain ITTCTe" underground water.As in the case of the Piedmont local sup-plies are taken from surface streams.

12

3. EXISTING WATER SOURCES AND USAGE

3.1 Sources

Although not immediately apparent, the areais fairly well off for water.

In the Plateau area the Ajali sandstones canbe tapped by boreholes of up to 70 metresdepth to yield water of good quality.

The springs of the escarpment form streamsflowing radially away towards the greatrivers. These streams become polluted asthey get further from source but are widelyused by villagers and tanker lorries.

Peculiar to this part of Africa are exca-vated holes of large size called taphiswhich drain water from the silt in whichthey are dug to form stock-watering points.

The total amount of water used is small inrelation to the large quantities available.The problems therefore are of distribution,quality and cost.

3.2 Cost

Most of the water used is abstracted fromsurface springs and streams and head-carriedby village women, often for quite consider-able distances, although the average wouldrarely exceed 2 kilometres. This is a choreoften performed by elder daughters beforegoing to school, and after their return.

A smaller, but still significant, amount isdistributed by tanker lorry to outlyingvillages who store it in old oil drumsplaced on the roadside convenient to theirhouses.

In some of the bigger villages on thePlateau water is pumped from boreholes topublic standpipes, and distributed free.

To the extent that head-carrying might beregarded as a household duty, water obtainedthis way is also free, but the cost of lorryborne supplies is extremely expensive and atthe time of the survey was estimated to costanything up to Naira 300 per annum perfamily according to their needs and loca-tion.

3.3 Social Usage and Quality

Head-carrying and the washing of clothes atthe sources provide a daily opportunity forthe exchange of views on village affairs,but it is noticeable that as progress ismade, first to communal taps, and later toindividual services, village women are

pleased to be relieved of head-carryingduties.

Both villages and tankers take water fromunprotected sources, the latter generallyfrom the larger, more accessible sites.

Little effort was made to protect or organ-ise abstraction although at any given point,as a matter of common sense, clothes werewashed below the point where drinking waterwas abstracted.

However, villages in the lower reaches ofthe stream were bound to accept water pol-luted by those nearest to the spring.

Water from boreholes, and initially fromsprings, was of high quality. There werefew dug-wells in the area but where thesewere to be found they were often polluted.

4. POPULATION AND PROJECTED REQUIREMENTS

No exact figure for the population wasavailable but it is believed that upwards of1 million people inhabit the area. Thescattered nature and small size of many ofthe communities precluded the possibilitythat all could be served. The basic minimumsupply envisaged was 25 litres per capitaper day. The funds available were to beexpended to give the maximum betterment ofsupply to as many people as possible.

5. GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Scope of Timing

It should be accepted this scheme is a firststep only towards improvement of the generalwater position, and is limited by the prac-tical use of the funds available. Thenatural sequence of events is expected tobe:

Present. Improvement of existing facilitiesfor head-carrying and distribution bytanker.

Near Future. Supply by public tap to centralpoints.

More Distant Future. Supply of treated waterby individual service pipe.

At all times the need to look ahead shouldbe observed. Any new boreholes should beconstructed so as to remain effective at alater stage. Sectional steel plate reser-voirs should be used. At some future timethey can be pulled down and used elsewhere.In these days of mounting inflation it isoften the case that a sectional steel tank

13

can be purchased, serve ten or more years insome village, and when at last it becomestoo small it can generally be sold to asmaller place for more than it originallycost!

As living standards rise and there is demandfor full treatment of the raw water, theaccompanying rising prosperity will takecare of the costs.

5.2 Present Improvements - General

The immediate objective was to improvepresent arrangements. An initial step wasto reduce the distance villagers had to walkby increasing the number of watering points,and this in turn would reduce the number ofthose being forced to use expensive tankeredsupplies. A further consideration of utmostimportance was that of quality. Where newboreholes were a practical possiblity highnatural quality could easily be achieved.Simple protective measures could be intro-duced at springs. Lower down the river,treatment being out of the question, con-crete troughs and hard standings were pro-vided, and areas for various usage weredefined and railed off.

It had been noted that in parts of thePlateau, women had to walk as much as 8kilometres for water. New watering pointswere to be established to ensure novillagers would have to walk more than 2kilometres.

5.3 Types of Improvement

Boreholes - storage tank - common taps,where possible, in areas of favourablehydrogeology and larger communities, wereideal. It produced pure water in centres ofpopulation and it was the type of schemethat could be expanded. The problem wascost. In 1979 it was expected that eachinstallation would cost Naira 67,000, andthat as many as 120 might be needed.(March 1980 1 Naira = £0.81)

Spring protectionT pumping and improvementof existing supply. There were many springsat the foot of the escarpement and it wasalready possible to fence these off andinstal a diesel driven pump which would liftwater by pipe to a row of common taps in thevillage.

Spring and stream improvement of localbucket filling facilities. A large number ofbucket filling points existed. Water isused sequentially for drinking, bathing andlaundry purposes. The weaknesses are thatthe water slope is flat and soap suds may beprojected upstream, and the sandy bottoms

get churned up by users and silt is throwninto suspension. The action proposed was tocreate concrete lined channels with concreteaprons for the villagers to stand on. Thecost per installation was estimated to beNaira 8500.

These installations have a life limited bythe future provision of any form of pipedsupply.

Flowing borehole and bucket dipping pointin parts of the alluvium deep artesianboreholes from which hot water flows. Therewould be no running costs but the capitalcost of Naira 1300 was too high.

Repairs of existing pumps and bore-holes. There were many existing boreholeinstallations and a high percentage of thesewere not operational. A quick survey indi-cated that most of the problems were due tominor mechanical deficiencies.

Piped extensions. Certain big villages withrudimentary pipe systems had outlying appen-dages which could be served by minor exten-sions to the pipe system. Twenty such caseswere located and the average cost of thepipework and common taps amounted in eachcase to about Naira 15000.

5.4 Pumping Plant

Power. Power is not available and any formof electrically driven pump would have to beaccompanied by a diesel engine driven alter-nator.

5.4.2 Alternative pumping methods.

Hand pumps could be used, but the cost wouldbe high. No cheap form of boring can beused and the cost of individual boreholeswould be high per unit of water raised. Thewater lies at considerable depth and muchphysical effort would go into filling abucket.

Hydraulic rams and air lifts are not suitedto local groundwater conditions. The groundis too flat for the former, and the lattercannot operate with the high lift/immersionratios in the local boreholes.

Windmills are not popular in Nigeria for tworeasons :

- They are bolted structures and the nutsand bolts tend to get stolen. This could becured by welding.- The water is far below surface so the pumprods are long and heavy. Therefore much ofthe energy generated by the windmill isemployed in lifting the rods.

5.5 Cost of Water

The cost of water varies according to thesophistication of the methods proposed.Each cost quoted was calculated in 1979 andincludes both capital and running costs.

Types of Cost per Yearly cost perInstallation m^ head

Borehole &filling points 30 kobo Naira 2.72

Improved springfilling points 21 kobo Naira 1.90

Bucket dippingpoint onstream 11 kobo Naira 1.00

Flowing bore-hole withfilling points 41 kobo Naira 3

(1 Naira = 100 kobos = US$ 1.25)

The costs per unit of water delivered appearto be high because they are related to thevery small quantities used. The cost ofgiving one person a year's supply of waterat a dipping point would only amount toNaira 1 per annum.

All the above should be compared with theaverage cost of buying tanker-truck deliver-ed water (Naira 2.75 per nw.)

6. CATTLE REQUIREMENTS

Eight cattle reserves were proposed. Eachreserve was divided into four quadrants,watering points being provided in eachquadrant. Stock were rotated between quad-rants for grazing purposes. Dipping pointswere also provided in each quadrant. It isexpected that up to 3000 cattle could beaccommodated in each reserve.

In every case surface water sources wereused.

The dipping points were of 20 m^ capacity.

Flumes and drinking troughs sited away fromthe stream and fed by a shadoof were pro-posed. The object was to keep the cattleaway from fouling the stream, and this

cannot be done without extensive fencing.The cost of the concrete facilities wasNaira 6600. There were no running costs.

Keeping the cattle away from the streamsdepends mostly on the herdsman. It isclearly easier for him to let the cattle gointo the stream and relieve him from operat-ing the shadoof.

6.1 Organisation

The main problem of water supply in develop-ing countries is of maintenance. There areinnumerable examples of competently con-structed works falling into disrepair anddisuse.

In considering how to implement the projectthe Ayangba Agricultural Development Projectstaff chose to proceed by direct labour notonly because of the greater flexibility thiswould permit in meeting the needs of hun-dreds of local circumstances but because thepresence of skilled permanent employeeswould ensure constant back-up maintenance,and provide training for local personnel.

It was decided to use two drilling rigs andplanned to sink 15 boreholes per rig perannum.

Quite apart from the merit of having staffand equipment available, it could be shownto be cheaper than employing a contractor.

6.2 Rate Collection

Water is given free throughout the supplyarea but in some of the bigger towns, notincluded in the survey, more standard sup-plies have been established and charges aremade. Working on the assumption that runn-ing costs will be incurred on the boreholeinstallations for power and for attendance,thought was given to the need for some formof annual levy to be made. It was suggestedthat any form of control and book-keepingwould be uneconomic and where no annualrunning charges would arise it would becheaper to continue to give the water awayfreely.

Where running costs indicated the need forwater charge collection it was recommendedthat a levy should be made on each communityon an annual basis, and that its collectionshould be a local responsibility.

15


ORGANISATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A DUG WELLS PROGRAMME

by PIET Te VELDE

INTRODUCTION

This paper is based on experience gained inthe Water programme of the Lutheran WorldFederation (L.W.F.), initiated 2 years agoat the request of the Lutheran Church ofZimbabwe and presently covering 5 districtsin Southern Zimbabwe, namely Gwanda,Beitbridge, Mberengwa, Zrishavane andMwanezi.

The dual aims of the project are:

1. To assist in improving the watersupplies for domestic use, both inquantity and quality.

2. To assist in improving, expanding andestablishing vegetable gardens andsmall irrigation projects, which alsoinclude the construction of small dams.

The scope of this paper is limited to thefirst aim, i.e. water supplies for domesticuse.

ORGANISATION

In the organisational structure of the L.W.P.Water Programme which gradually evolvedduring the first year of operation,Community Organisms (C.O.'s) have come toplay an important role.

Sixteen C.O.'s are employed in the Projectpresently, who are local residentsrecruited through the recommendations ofpastors and councillors. Each C O . coversan area that varies from 800 to more than2 000 km2, by using a bicycle provided bythe Project. Most C.O.'s hold no specialqualifications, but have been trained onthe job. Their educational standards varyfrom Grade 6 to Form IV. It was consideredmore essential that they be resident intheir area of duty, where they are well knownand respected. Their duties include:

1. To carry out a water sources andpopulation survey.

2. To organise and address local meetingsat various levels.

3. To identify possible projects.

4. To encourage and organise theparticipation of the communities in theimplementation of the projects.

The technical implementation of the projectsis supervised by District Supervisors(and/or Assistant Supervisors) who have amotor vehicle at their disposal. TheSupervisors and C.O.'s are both directlyresponsible to an expatriate Water Engineer.The Supervisors oversee the digging ofwells, and the technical staff such aspump-fitters and wellsinking foreman. Theactual digging of wells is done by localwellsinkers, who have been trained underthe project, on the basis of a simplecontract agreement. Wellsinking equipment,tools and materials are provided by theL.W.F.

The wellsinker is usually paid once a monthfor the number of metres he has dug. Thelabourer, 3 or 4, are employed by thewellsinker and therefore paid by him, andnot by the L.W.F.

Wellsinker-trainees are assisted by theL.W.F. to obtain a blasting licence afterthey have worked for at least 2 months underthe direct supervision of a qualifiedwellsinker. A blasting licence is a pre-requisite before a wellsinker is consideredqualified. Approximately 120 wellsinkinggangs are working under the projectpresently.

SURVEY AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

The Community Organisers carry out a "watersources and population survey" to obtaininformation about the names and locationsof the communities, the number of familiesper community and about the existing watersources. At the same time, meetings areorganised with Community leaders at wardlevel to explain and introduce the Waterprogramme. After the introduction of theproject to the Community leaders, the C O .starts organising meetings with thecommunities usually in consultation withthe councillor and the representative ofthe church.

At these meetings the following points arediscussed and explained:

- Wells are to be spaced approximately 2 Kmapart (up to 1 Km apart in denselypopulated areas) and each well is toserve about 10 families.

The community is advised to elect a Watercommittee comprising of two female

16

members and one male member, which willliaise with the project officials andlook after the well when completed andhanded over to the community.

The community is invited to select awell site/s which is to be inspectedand approved at a later stage by anemployee of L.w.F. usually the wellsinking foreman. Mapping of approvedwellsites is usually done by theSupervisor.

The required contribution by thecommunity consists of:

(a) Provision of accommodation andmealiemeal for two wellsinkers.

(b) Supply of river sand and aggregatefor lining the well.

(c) Erection of a fence aiound thewellsite.

In addition, the community may be requestedto carry the wellsinking equipment to thewellsite.

A higher priority is given for theimplementation of certain wells where thepeople are prepared to start diggingvoluntarily.

WELL CONSTRUCTION

The method of well digging is largely basedon a technique developed by the thenRhodesian Government about 25 years ago. Acircular hole with a diameter of 1.5m isdug manually, with pick and shovel and ifnecessary a miner's bar. When the hole is2-3m deep further digging is done with theaid of a 50 1. mining bucket and a simplewindlass. The bucket serves to lower andlift the wellsinker in or out of the welland also takes out earth, stones and water.The windlass is operated by one man oneither side.

In rocky formations the diameter of thewell is reduced to 1.20 m thus providing afoundation for the concrete lining. Thereis usually no need to line a well all theway up from the bottom. The wells are linedby casting concrete rings in situ, with theaid of a circular steel mould of lm height,consisting of four pieces. While pouringconcrete behind the shuttering, the well-sinker stands on a wooden platform that issuspended in the well and kept in positionby four long sisal ropes. The liningprotrudes 30 cm above the surface to preventdirt or surface water leaking into the well.

When the material is too hard to use withpick and shovel, usually after 2-5m,explosives are used. The charge holes, whichvary from 3 to 10 in number, depending on

the hardness of the formations, are drilledmanually to a depth of about 60 cm, using60 and 90 cm long mild drill steel and41b hammers. For hard stone, it ispreferred to use tungstan tip reinforcedsteel, although these cannot be sharpenedby the local blacksmiths. All well sinkershave been provided with portable explosivesboxes to store a small stock of explosives,enough to last for a month. After reachingwater, digging or blasting continues untilabout 4m below the water table. Water isbailed out with the mining bucket everymorning. When the amount of water to betaken out every day is at least 100 bucketsi.e. approximately 5 m3 the depth isconsidered to be sufficient. Two compressorteams are available to increase the depthof wells wherever necessary.

In certain areas, wells sometimes cave inbefore they are lined. Prefabricatedconcrete rings, (diam. 1.20, height lm,wall thickness 6 cm, reinforced withchicken wire) are then lowered into thewell. Several rings are placed on top ofeach other, while digging inside the ringscontinues until the amount of water issufficient.

The well-cover consists of two semi circularslabs of 8 cm thick reinforced concrete.

If the well is shallow and to be equippedwith a Blair pump, a small concrete blockis cast on one side of the slab with ahole to fit the internally threaded PVCsocket of the Blair pump. The wall top isthen sealed and an apron is made slopingtowards a drain, when pumping, the bucketis placed on top of the well while the personpumping stands beside the well.

However, wells that are to be equipped withdeep well handpumps, require a slightlydifferent well-cover and a different layout.The pumpstand is concreted-in beside thewell, while the pipe assembly is bolted onto the side of the well cover, thus makingit possible to open the wall by removingthe other half of the well cover withouthaving to pull out the pump. This eliminatesthe need for a special manhole. The welldoes not need to be sealed as the water ispumped through a 2m long delivery pipe intoa trough.

EPILOGUE

The L.W.F. well-digging project is scheduledto be phased out after 4-5 years of operationin any given area. To encourage thecontinuation of well sinking activities,whether for private individuals or forcommunities, after the L.w.P. has withdrawn,the well sinking equipment will be madeavailable to well sinkers who want to set up

17

their private well sinking business. On theother hand it is hoped that the Government(D.D.F.) will also continue to use the hand-dug wells technique.

As indicated above, the well-diggingtechnique was borrowed from the formerRhodesian Government, although it was moreor less abandoned years ago in favour ofmechanically drilled boreholes. However,wells appear to have a number of importantadvantages compared to boreholes:-

- A well can be maintained and deepened,if necessary by the users themselves.

- Water can be drawn from a well, evenwhen the pump is out of order.

- Well-digging is a labour intensive methodthat provides much needed employment inthe rural areas.

- The equipment and materials used inwell-digging are almost entirely locallymade.

- Wells are considerably cheaper thanboreholes.

Community participation is relativelyeasy in a well sinking project.

- Rural people are thus provided withskills and tools that enable them toimprove their own situation with theirown means if necessary.

A disadvantage of a hand dug well is thatits yield is usually, but not always, lessthan that of a borehole. However, if awell can yield 4-5 m3 daily, then thewater requirements of 10 families and theirlivestock can be met adequately. Onlywhere yields of over 5 m3 per day arerequired, a borehole might be moreappropriate than a hand dug well. Buteven then one could consider digging twowells instead of drilling one borehole.

18


WATER LEAKAGE IN ADDIS ABABAby G A B r l dge r

INTRODUCTION

A water leakage study was carried out inEthiopia, between October 1980 and June 1982,by Associated Engineering Services Ltd (AESL)of Canada under a contract for consultancy ser-vices with the Addis Ababa Water and SewerageAuthority (AAWSA). Principal funding was byAfrican Development Fund loan.

The objectives of the study were to evaluatelosses due to leakage and billing errors andto make recommendations on the most cost-ef-fective methods of minimizing these losses.

Addis Ababa,the capital city of Ethiopia, hasa population of approximately 1.3 million.Average water production is 69,500 m3/d, com-pared with a potential demand of about 95,000m3/d. A substantial water shortage thereforeexists and there is great incentive to locateand reduce unaccounted-for water, which pastrecords indicated to be in the order of 40%to 50% of water produced. Unaccounted-forwater is defined here as the difference bet-ween the volume of treated water produced andthe volume of water sold to customers.

The Addis Ababa distribution system is unusu-ally complex for its size, having some 15 se-parate pressure zones,or subsystems. Servicedelevations range from 2730 m to 2220 m. Thesystem comprises nearly 300 km of pipelineover 100mm diameter,18 service reservoirs and17 pumping stations. There are currently80,000 connections, all metered.

Implementation of the study was divided intofour phases'.appraisal, on-site investigation,final report and follow-up. Canadian staffincluded an engineer, assisted by up to twosenior technicians. Ethiopian counterpartstaff, supplied by AAWSA, included an engi-neer, two engineering aides, and up to eighttechnicians of various grades. Training ofthe counterpart staff was an important aspectof the work program.

The overall approach to the study was as fol-lows :

(a) To assess and measure the various formsof unaccounted-for water.

(b) To assess the unit costs of water,(c) To assess possible loss control programs,(d) To assess the costs and select optimum

programs to reduce losses.

The following sections describe the procedureand results under each of the above steps:

UNACCOUNTED-FOR WATER

Statistics

From updated AAWSA statistics of monthly wa-ter production it was apparent that unaccou-nted-for water had been declining considera-bly over the past few years, from 46.5% ofproduction in 1975/76 to 30.3% of productionin 1980/81. Some reasons for such a markedimprovement were evident: there had beenchanges in management and organization, tech-nician training and regrading, improved com-puter billing, and a program to replace oldermeters. In addition, the commencement of theleakage study had given management and tech-nicians a greater awareness of the problemof losses, and a greater priority was beingassigned to leakage repair work.

However, the records of treated water produc-tion were suspect, since the three mainventuri meters had never been checked foraccuracy.

Measurement of production

One of the primary tasks, therefore, was toaccurately measure treated water production.This was done using pitometers, insertedthrough 25ram corporation stops installed inthe pipelines by under-pressure tapping ma-chine. It was found that all three meterswere over-registering by up to 32.5%. Pro-duction had therefore been substantiallyoverestimated and overall losses in 1980/81were not 30.3% of production but actuallyonly 22.0%. This value was considerablyless than had been expected at the commen-cement of the study.

Forms of unaccounted-for water

The 22% of production unaccounted-for wasconsidered under two main sub-headings,namely system losses, and metering and bill-ing losses. Both categories of loss havedifferent costs associated with them and re-quire entirely separate measures to reducethem.

System losses consist of:

- supply main leakage,- service reservoir leakage,- pumping station leakage,- distribution main leakage,- service connection leakage, and- unmetered use of water.

19

Metering and billing losses are due to:

- meter inaccuracy,- incorrect sizing of meters,- meter reading errors,- incorrect assessment of consumption wheremeters are not working, and

- consumption through unauthorized connections,

The steps taken to estimate the contributionof each of these forms of loss to the overalltotal of unaccounted-for water are brieflydescribed as follows:

Supply main leakage, from pipelines of 150mmdiameter and over, was found to be relativelysmall. A survey was conducted,during the dryseason, by a small team of technicians walkingall supply main routes, inspecting the surfacefor signs of leakage and, where possible, sou-nding the main at regular intervals.

The main causes of loss were found to be leak-age from air valves, washouts, and valve spin-dles, leaking joints, corrosion, and trafficdamage. Loss reduction requires regular sur-veys, prompt repairs, improved security atvalve chambers, improved access to pipe routes,regular maintenance and exercising of valves,and attention to pH control at the treatmentplants.

Service reservoir leakage. A survey of reser-voir leakage was carried out on only 14 out of37 tanks in the system, limited firstly due toproblems with valves (i.e.siezed or not clos-ing tight), and secondly due to time constr-aints, since testing had to be carried outduring the rainy season owing to supply diffi-culties. Leakage tests on reservoirs were car-ried out over 12 or 24 hours, with the tankfull and all inlet and outlet valves shut tight.Where leakage was significant, as it was in 4of the tanks tested, the tanks were drained,cleaned out, carefully inspected, and repairsmade if possible. Problems found includedcracked floor slabs and porous foundation con-crete.

Loss reduction requires replacement of faultyvalves, thereby allowing all reservoirs to betested, annual maintenance of valves and floatvalves, and periodic testing, cleaning and in-spection every 5 years.

Pumping station leakage was limited to exces-sive pump gland leakage at a number of pumpingstations. Regular pump maintenance would re-duce these losses.

Distribution main and service connection leak-age". Various surveys and investigations wereundertaken to locate leakage in distributionmains and service connections, and to estimatethe total volume of system leakage.

The main source of data was from leak detectionareas set up in 15 representative sections ofthe system. The areas varied in size from 22

to more than 500 properties and were selectedso that they could be isolated from the ad-joining system, with total flow to each areametered. Several problems were encounteredwith these surveys, the most serious beingthe difficulty of isolating some areas. Dis-tribution plans were often incomplete and insome areas daytime pressures were almost zero,thereby making it impossible to check forleakage or non-registering meters.

Other surveys consisted of inspections throu-ghout the system of visible leakage and ana-lysis of leak repair records.

The main causes of leakage were corrosion ofsmall diameter steel pipe, insufficient lay-ing depth and, in some areas, unnecessarilyhigh service pressures. Reduction of leakagerequires regular sounding surveys to locateleakage, prompt repairs, reduction in corro-siveness of the water, improvements in pipe-laying practices, greater use of pvc andcement-lined ductile pipe, proper recordingof leak repairs and planned replacement ofold lines.

Unmetered use of water in Addis Ababa is es-sentially zero due to the fact that fire hy-drants, public fountains and park supplies,which usually contribute to unmetered use,are all metered.

Losses due to meter inaccuracy. During theinvestigation phase study staff assisted withthe reorganization and rehabilitation of theAAWSA meter repair shop, and carried outtraining in meter repairs and testing. Fol-lowing this, records were kept of the accur-acy of meters coming into the shop. Averageaccuracy was very close to 100%, indicatingthat meter inaccuracy did not contribute tounaccounted-for water.

Losses due to incorrect sizing of meters oc-cur when meters are installed that are toolarge for a customer's water demand. It wasfound during surveys of large meters(over 25mm) that as many as 55% may be oversized.The remedy lies in instituting a program ofregular reassessment of large meter size,based on each customer's water usage.

Losses due to meter reading errors. Particu-larly with the older style clock-dial meters,reading errors are common in Addis Ababa.However, since there is no reason to supposethat under-readings are any more prevalentthan over-readings it was considered thatsuch errors would ultimately cancel out andhave little effect on unaccounted-for water.

In common with meter inaccuracy, however,this problem does affect individual consu-mers and should therefore be tackled by ameter maintenance and replacement programand by continued training and supervision ofmeter readers.

20

Losses due to incorrect assessment of consum-ption. Whenever a meter is not read for anyreason, or is stuck, consumption is in theoryassessed as the average of several past month'sconsumption. From the results of surveys ofmeter condition, and from computer print-outsof monthly billings, it was evident that 10%of meters in the system are unreadable, forone reason or another, and it was also clearthat many of these connections are consisten-tly under-billed, or billed at zero consump-tion. The solution to this problem is againone of meter maintenance and repair, since ifmeters are working and legible, assessmentswill not be required.

Consumption through unauthorized connectionsis a problem which does exist in Addis Abababut, according to surveys carried out, is ofvery minor proportions.

Summary of unaccounted-for water

Table 1 summarizes the losses under the vari-ous forms of unaccounted-for water describedabove.

Table 1

System losses from:Supply mainsService reservoirsPumping stationsDistribution mainsService connectionsUntnetered use

Total system losses

Loss as %Existing

0.500.400.105.608.400

15.00%

Metering/billing losses:Meter inaccuracy 0Incorrect meter sizing 2.0Meter reading errorsAssessment losses

04.50

Unauthorized connections 0.50

of productionTarget value

0.250.200.052.804.200

7.50%

00.5001.500.50

Total metering/billing

losses 7.00% 2.50% •

Total losses 22.00% 10.00%

UNIT COSTS OF WATER

The unit cost of system losses is the margi-nal cost of producing one additional unit vo-lume of water. The unit cost is made up offirstly, operational costs for production anddistribution and secondly, the value of defer-ring future demand-related water schemes.These were calculated, for Addis Ababa, asfollows:

Unit operational cost:Unit capital cost:Total unit cost of leakage:

Birr O.O9O/m30.323/m3

Birr 0.413/m^(The Ethiopian Birr is presently 3.00 to the£ Sterling).

For metering and billing losses, the unitcost of unbilled consumption is simply equalto the water tariff,which at present is Birr

0.5/m3 (regular rate). A proposed new tariffwould raise the average cost to Birr 0,87/m3.

LOSS CONTROL PROGRAMS

Following the assessments of unaccounted-forwater and unit costs, it was then necessaryto establish what loss control programs arecalled for and estimate what effect theywould have on reducing losses. Two programsare required, a leakage control program totackle system leakage, and a separate programto tackle metering and billing losses.

Leakage control

There are various established methods of leak-age control which have been adequately descri-bed in the literature (see Bibliography) andmay be summarized as follows:

Regular or intensive sounding surveys, involv-ing systematic sounding and inspection, byspecial crews of technicians, of all mains,valves, hydrants, consumer services and meters.The method is flexible and effort may be inten-sified or reduced as the need of a particulararea requires. Instruments are required tolocate pipelines so that they can be closelyfollowed, and leak detection is based on elec-tronic or mechanical amplification of thenoise of the leak.

District or subsystem metering, consists ofmetering flows into districts, usually of 2000to 5000 properties. By reading district me-ters weekly or monthly it is possible to noteany increases in flow which may be due toleakage, and to intensify the sounding surveysin those districts. In Addis Ababa the systemis conveniently divided into 15 sub-systemswhich form a very suitable basis for districtmetering.

A number of subsystem meters already existedin the system and during the study considerableeffort was put into repairing meters, install-ing new ones and isolating subsystems in orderto upgrade the level of subsystem metering,A monthly meter reading program was commencedand by the end of the study some useful statis-tics were being produced on the monthly supp-lies to all subsystems. It was also possible,using the monthly computer billing statistics,to compare total supply with total consumptionin each subsystem, thereby obtaining a monthlyrecord of unaccounted-for water, by subsystem.

Waste metering involves the division of thecity into a number of small metered areas,consisting of from 1000 to 3000 properties,which can be isolated from the adjoining dis-tribution, with flow into the areas measuredby a recording waste meter. This techniqueis not suitable for use in Addis Ababa at thepresent time owing to the extreme difficultyof isolating areas to be fed through onemeter. Other disadvantages are the necessityfor extensive night work and the high cost of

21

providing meter installations for each wastemeter area.

Summary of leakage control programs considered

(a) Regular sounding: comprising a small cen-tral loss control data and advisory section,with annual surveys of all consumer connec-tions and main pipelines conducted by crewsfrom the AAWSA small and large lines sections.(Estimated leakage reduction from 15% to 12.5%over 3-year period).

(b) Intensive sounding:as program (a) but with6 monthly surveys. (Estimated leakage reduc-tion from 15% to 10% over 3-year period).

(c) Intensive sounding and subsystem metering:comprising a larger loss control data and ad-visory section,with surveys as program(b) com-bined with a full subsystem metering and effi-ciency assessment program. (Estimated leakagereduction from 15% to 7.5% over 3-year period).

Meter maintenance program

Since unaccounted-for water due to meteringand billing losses is largely due to inadequatemeter maintenance, a program is required whichinvolves increased staffing and effort, direc-ted towards recalling and replacing old and de-fective meters. Assistance and support wouldbe required from the loss control section. Inthe program, costs are included for replacementmeters and spare parts, and for regular compu-ter listings of meters requiring servicing.Costs of operating the meter shop would conti-nue as before and are therefore not included.It is estimated that the program could reducebilling losses from 7.0% to 2.5% over a 3-yearperiod.

SELECTION OF OPTIMUM PROGRAM

The costs of the various leakage control pro-grams are given in Table 2, together with anestimate of the longer term annual water sav-ings.

Table 2Program Annual cost Annual water Unit cost

(Birr) saved (m-3) of waters aved(Birr/m3)

(a)(b)(c)

101,000154,000182,000

634,0001,269,0001,903,000

0.1590.1210.096

It may be seen that the greatest benefit (orsaving in leakage costs) is obtained by the im-plementation of program (c)—intensive sound-ing and subsystem metering. The unit cost ofwater saved must be compared with the unitcost of leakage of Birr 0.413/m3 to illustratethe benefits of the programs.

The important effect of the capital cost por-tion of the unit cost of leakage can be seenby the fact that on the basis of operationalcosts alone, none of the programs would beworthwhile economically.

Costs and benefits associated with the propo-sed meter maintenance program are as follows:

Annual cost: Birr 293,000Annual increased billings: 1,142,000/m3Unit cost of increased billing: BirrO.257/m3

This unit cost must be compared with the watertariff of Birr 0,50/m3 (average) to illustratethe benefit of this program.

It was therefore concluded that the introduc-tion of both the leakage control program (c)and the meter maintenance program is fullyjustified on economic grounds, and would re-sult in reduction of losses to the target va-lues shown in Table 1. In addition, thereare numerous other benefits which would acc-rue from the successful implementation of theprograms such as improved public relations,knowledge of the water system and distribu-tion operation, and reduced disruption of uti-lities and damage to roads from leakage.

In future, if the recommended programs arecarried out successfully, it should be possi-ble to reduce unaccounted-for water in AddisAbaba to a level of 10% of production. A ma-jor portion of the losses remaining would beleakage, undetectable by normal methods.

The study Final Report included recommenda-tions regarding the organization of the losscontrol programs, other AAWSA management andorganization problems, stores practices andprocedures, maintenance practices, and opera-tion of the distribution system.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank the General Managerof Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authorityfor assistance and cooperation extended dur-ing the study, and for permission to presentthis paper.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. I.W.E., Proceedings of Symposium on WasteControl, 1974.

2. D.O.E./N.W.C., Leakage Control Policy andPractice, Standing Technical Committee ReportNo.26, 1980.

3. I.W.E.S., Proceedings of Symposium on AnUnderstanding of Water Losses, 1981.

22

Session 1

Chairman: Professor R MackechnieUniversity of Zimbabwe

Discussion

A P Cotton and M A Sanousi

Water supply for Gedaref, Sudan1. Dr COTTON highlighted the problemsassociated with a conventional river intakestructure on the Atbara river, Sudan, andsuggested that infiltration galleries offeredthe best technical solution to the problem.

2. Mr FAULKNER asked whether the hydraulicmodel tests described truly represented theriver's behaviour, and if prototype tomodel similarity was achieved.

3. Dr COTTON replied that a distortedFroude number scale model was constructed,and that the results were essentiallyqualitative, but could neverthelesshighlight problem areas in terms of scouringand silting.

4. Professor OLUWANDE suggested that afloating intake may work; he asked what wasresponsible for the high silt load, whetherit could be reduced by reforestation, andcommented that clogging of the gallery pipesmay make the infiltration gallery inefficient.

5. Dr COTTON felt that deforestation may beresponsible for the high silt loads, butthat the problem was outside the scope ofthis paper. A floating intake may well helpin the short term, but is susceptible todamage during flash floods. As to theproblem of clogging, the yield of somegalleries may reduce in time, due toclogging of the natural gravel pack aroundthe collector pipes by fine material; thiswould be more common if the gallery wereoverpumped. It was assumed in the designthat the gallery would operate with ablockage ratio of 40%, and providing thatthe gallery is correctly installed with agood natural gravel pack developed, it islikely to perform well for a long period.

6. Dr NYUMBO requested further comment onthe location of the collector well on thealluvial berm, and suggested that it waspotentially unstable.

7. Dr COTTON felt that although the concretecaisson which formed the collector well maysuffer slight erosion during high flows, itis unlikely to be a serious problem. Theerosion problems with the causeway proposalwere due to physical restriction of the riverchannel width.

8. Engr LOCK thought that pipe jacking wasa specialized technique not available inZimbabwe and enquired whether the authorswere aware of systems which did not requirespecialist contractors and plant.

9. Dr COTTON thought that this was thesingle most important factor relating tothe adoption of the scheme. In this case,open trench construction would beimpractical because of the large depthinvolved; it would thus depend upon thepriority given to the scheme, becausescarce foreign exchange would be required.However, the great advantage of thisscheme is that once capital costs have beenmet, the operational and maintenance costsshould be very low, in terms of both moneyand manpower.

G Smethurst, C J A Blnnle andR E AshfordRural water supply in Ayangba Area,Nigeria10. Mr BINNIE presented the paper, whichcovered aspects concerning the geology andexisting water resources of the area, andmade recommendations on improvements towater supplies, and on costings and revenuecollection.

11. Dr ADEYEMI wished to know whether theauthors had considered a plan for regionalwater supply, as a long term solution,rather than purely local supply.

12. Mr BINNIE replied that discussions withthe client had revealed that regional watersupply was not appropriate, and that theyrequired supplies for scattered ruralcommunities which involved minimum capitalinvestment and could be implemented within3 years of submission of the report.

13. Dr ALUKO asked whether the 3 yearimplementation period was imposed by theclient, and commented that problems couldarise through the failure of the client tomake decisions during the period of thework, and through failure to pay theconsultant at a particular stage of theproject.

14. Mr BINNIE stated that the terms ofreference specified the 3 year period. Hethought that obtaining the necessarydecisions from the client was often aproblem, and had to be approached with tactand judgement. Clients now seemed to be

23

slower at paying, which placed an addedfinancial burden on the consultant. Asolution would be for the client to berequired to pay interest charges, andultimately for consultants to boycott badpaying clients; however, it was hard toforesee this occurring.

P Te Velde

Organization and implementation of adug wells programme15. Mr TE VELDE outlined the experiencegained by the Water program of the LutheranWorld Federation (L.W.F.) with reference toorganization, community participation, andconstruction of dug wells.

16. Miss SMITH-CARINGTON offered thefollowing comments: the author had pointedout several advantages of dug well programmesbut had not brought attention to some oftheir disadvantages. These included reduceddrought resistance because of the low aquiferpenetration, less protection from pollution,and generally lower yields than from bore-holes. There was often much argument overthe relative merits of boreholes and dugwells; in Malawi, the "IntegratedGroundwater Projects" were attempting tocombine the advantages of both by placingboth types of water-point in the same area,and if possible the same village. The depthto the water table was the criterion used todetermine the type of water-point.

17. Engr QBADINA thought that the use ofexplosives for sinking wells would behazardous to property.

18. Mr TE VELDE replied that extensiveinformation on blasting technique wasprovided by the L.W.P.

19. Mr TUMBARE asked three questions: howwas the well sited, was it dug to a depththat would provide water throughout the year,and were geological conditions carefullyconsidered; what problems had beenencountered using the Blair pump; and wouldit not be cheaper for well sinkers to betrained to fit pumps?

20. Mr TE VELDE replied that the communityselected the site, sometimes with the adviceof a diviner; geophysical techniques werenot used due to their cost. The main problemswith the Blair pump included the connectionbetween the steel head and PVC pipe; footvalves jammed, and some PVC parts wore veryrapidly. Although well sinkers couldinstall Blair pumps, but not deep well pumps,the pump fitter's role included repair, and

was thus a full-time occupation.

21. Ms HAMPTON wished to know how the L.w.F.program overcame the problem of theprovision of wells encouraging localinhabitants to increase their number oflivestock, leading to over-grazing, andsoil erosion.

22. Mr T E VELDE stated that the yieldswere so low that it was hardly likely toresult in an explosion of the livestockpopulation, and that available grazing wasthe limiting factor in this case.

23. Mr KUYATEH asked how continuity in themaintenance of supplies was provided for,and commented that contamination waspossible between a safe water source andthe time and place of consumption.

24. Mr TE VELDE answered that after L.W.P.involvement, trained well sinking gangswere encouraged to continue on a commercialbasis. A local committee selected five mento help with pump installation; in addition,the local district development group wouldbuy the pump, which gave a more positivefeeling of involvement.

Contamination away from the source waslargely an educational problem, for whichthere were unfortunately very few fieldworkers.

6 A BrldgerWater leakage in Addis Ababa25. Mr BRIDGER described the quantity ofunaccounted-for water from a variety ofsources, and described the loss controlprograms carried out in Addis Ababa.

26. Mr BINNIE raised five points forconsideration; the author had mentionedthat he had tried to carry out wastemetering but had not had time to describethe system. Atkins had recently carriedout a waste survey in UK, and had used themethod of successively isolating thesystem at known times in the night andnoting the change in waste meter flow foreach step, was this the method tried?

27. Having identified the general area ofleakage it was then necessary to locate theleak itself. In the past, methods hadbeen too inaccurate and resulted in excessivelengths of trench excavation. This had beenovercome in the UK by the development and useof the leak noise correlator. This measuredthe time difference of the leak noise to getto two different geophones attached to thepipe. By taking two or more readings itwas possible to predict the location of the

leak. Success on excavating a single holewas about 90%. The system had proved veryeffective.

28. Concern was expressed that the authormay have implied that household meters weregenerally accurate. During a study atPalembong in Indonesia it was found that onethird were not recording, one third wereoutside 15% accuracy, and one third werewithin 15% accuracy. This was not good.

29. Regarding water fittings, were thetoilet fittings of the British syphon typeor the French rubber cone type? Whilstthe French type were cheaper they wore andleaked badly. A test was done on an officeblock in Cairo where it was found thatconsumption on a public holiday was 95% ofthat on a working day. This was dueprimarily to leaking fittings of the Frenchtype.

30. The author's figure of 15% mainsleakage for Addis Ababa was reasonably low.Atkins had just completed a study forAlgiers, a similar town, where the mainsleakage was assessed at 36%. Many othermajor towns were similar.

31. Mr BRIDGER replied that the method ofwaste metering as described by Mr Binniewas well known to him and he had used itsuccessfully both in UK and Zambia. Thismethod was considered for Addis Ababa butwas found unsuitable for a variety ofreasons, as stated in the paper. It shouldalso be noted that the method was ideallysuited to detecting waste on consumer'spremises which could be a major factor inunaccounted-for water in cities withoutcustomer metering. In Addis Ababa, allconnections were metered and generallyconsumers would attempt to minimise wastewhich they were paying for. In thissituation it was more advantageous to directeffort towards maintaining the meters andensuring they were read regularly.

32. Mr BRIDGER stated that he had not hadthe opportunity to use the leak noisecorrelator but it would undoubtedly assistin locating leaks more accurately in thepaved downtown core of Addis Ababa. However,it was also more sophisticated in design,more expensive and more complicated inoperation than ordinary electronic ormechanical leak detectors, and localservicing would not be available. For thesereasons the instrument was not suitable foruse in Addis Ababa at the present time.

33. The author was surprised by the accuracyof meters in Addis Ababa. Followingrehabilitation of the meter shop andtraining of the meter technicians, analysisof the test records of meters coming into the

shop showed that 73% of all working meterstested were within the prescribed errorlimits of ± 5%; there were more high-reading than low-reading meters and averageaccuracy was 101.4%. For large meters(over 50mm) tested only one out of 23 hadgreater error than ± 5%, average accuracybeing 98.5%; there were twice as manyhigh reading as low reading meters. Therewere, however, an estimated 10% of metersin the system not working.

34. In Addis Ababa toilet fittings werenormally of the rubber cone type. Aspreviously noted though, such losses wouldbe minimised by the consumer, providinghis meter was working and he was beingbilled for consumption.

35. It was agreed that 22% unaccounted-forwater (15% of it leakage), was a relativelylow figure for a large city but that didnot imply that it could not be reduced, orthat it was uneconomic to attempt to reduceit. It was interesting to note that theloss in Harare was reported to be only 9.1%which would suggest that the 10% targetvalue for Addis Ababa was not an impossibleobjective.

25


PHOREDOX ACTIVATED SLUDGE UNIT ATWORKS HARAREby Mrs F C COX

THE FIRLE SEWAGE DISPOSAL

INTRODUCTION

A modified activated sludge unit designed onthe Phoredox principle of Barnard (ref.No.1)was installed at the Firle Sewage DisposalWorks, Harare, especially to produce an eff-luent which would satisfy discharge standards(ref.No.2). Several similar plants areoperating in other countries but, from re-sults seen so far, not all of them are pro-ducing an effluent which would meet the highZimbabwean standards, particularly withregard to phosphate and ammonia.

Because uncertainty still exists over theexact mechanism involved in biological phos-phate removal, definite operating parametersfor efficient removal have not been deter-mined, though basic guidelines have beenestablished*

Siebritz ot al (ref.No.3) have stated thatfailure of the Phoredox process to removephosphate is due to the TKN:COD of the feedbeing rfO,OB; this means that denitrifica-tion is incomplete and the return sludge con-tains nitrate which causes a reduction ineffectiveness of the anaerobic zone. TheTKN:COD ratio at Firle is normally <0,08 and,furthermore, at no time was any nitrate foundin the return sludge; yet in the first fewmonths of operation the P. removal was vari-able, unpredictable and usually insufficient.

However, after considerable trial and error,a pattern emerged and an operating procedurehas been established which consistently pro-duces the desired standard of effluent.

OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS

The following controls may be employed in theoperation of the works:

FeedThe volume and ratio of raw to settled sewageof the feed, depending on the strength of thesewage*

Sludge Recycle RateA sludge recycle rate of 1:1 has been foundto be satisfactory. It has been suggested(ref.No.3) that a higher recycle rate is con-ducive to better P removal but this wouldreduce the effective retention time in theanaerobic zone. Lower recycle rates werefound to cause blocking of the clarifiertelescopic valves.

Dissolved Oxygen LevelIt was recommended that the DO level be keptat about 1 mg/fin the centre of the mainaeration basin, tapering off to<.0,5 mg/^ atthe entrances to the two anoxic zones, inorder to assist denitrification. Becauseof poor performance of the aerators and thefully-mixed aspect of the basin, this DO pro-file was unobtainable. In addition, therecording DO meters installed were so un-reliable that control of the system by DOlevels was impossible.

Solids Retention TimeInitially a SRT of 29 days was maintainedbut this has had to be dropped gradually to20 days in order to keep the FILSS at a rea-sonable IBVBI. This short SRT does notproduce a truly stable sludge, suitable fordrying beds.

nixed Liquor Suspended SolidsBy keeping a constant SRT, the F1LSS is sup-posed to vary automatically to suit thestrength of the feed sewage. In fact at aSRT of 25 days the MLSS increased to over6 000 mg/# and the aerators could not copewith this mass of sludge. With improvedaeration and a SRT of 20 days the MLSS re-mains fairly constant at 4 500 mg/^ •

nixed Liauor RecycleThe average internal recycle rate is 2,8:1.Denitrification in the first anoxic basin isgood regardless of the recycle rate, whichcan be as high as 4:1 if all the pumps areoperable at one time.

RESULTS

Typical analysis results of the raw sewageand final effluent are given in Table 1, to-gether with relevant discharge standards.

Nitrification-DenltrificationNitrification began on the 20th day aftercommissioning and was complete by the 25thday; the final effluent having a total am-monia content of 0,24 mg/f N. temperature ofthe ML at this time was 19-20°G.Considerable denitrification occurs simulta-neously with nitrification, mini-anoxic zona3forming between the aerators. Nitrates aredetected only occasionally in the main aera-tion basin.Nitrification has always been good, providedthe loading is kept within the capacity ofthe aerators. Denitrification is total onleaving the anoxic basins, sven at times

26

whan nitrate in the aeration basin rose to6

TABLE 1: TYPICAL ANALYSIS RESULTS

Parameter

4 Hour O.A.C.O.D.Suspended Solids

PHTotal Ammonia as NFree Ammonia as l\lNitrite as NNitratB as NKjeldahl NitrogenTotal NitrogenSoluble D-Phosphate

Total Phosphate as PDetergent LAS

RawSewage

708003507,032---4242

594,5

FinalEffluent

845187,62,40,060,04

<0,58

<8,5

0,10,60,1

DischargeStandard

1D60256-9—0,2

--10

_

1.01.0

Phosphate RemovalSoluble phosphate dropped to between 1 and 2mg/£ P within a few days of start-up. Afterthree weeks it was down to 0,2 mg/^ P whereit stayed for another two weeks. Then be-cause of problems with rags, the feed waschanged to settled sewage alone(COD 370 mg/g , TKN:COD 0,07) and the phos-phate slowly rose over the next two weeks toa peak of 7 mg/^ P.

As the Siebritz theory did not apply, itseemBd to be the total COD loading that wasimportant. In retrospect, the initial goodP removal was probably due to the addition of900 m3 raw sludge ovBr the start-up period.

It became apparent that peaks in soluble Poccurred simultaneously or about a day afterpeaks in DO and nitrate in the main aerationbasin. P removal was found to improve ondays after there had been a power cut orshut-down for repair work. The feed wastherefore changed back to raw sewage aloneand certain aerators were switched off, someonly at night, some constantly; the numberin use bBing determined by the ammonia levelat various points. By adjusting the aera-tion in the main basin to get a total ammoniabetween 1 and 4 mg/£ and nitrate<1 mg/^ N,it was found possible to attain consistentlyhigh P removal rates. Soluble P is now fre-quently <Q,1 mg/£ P. The ammonia dischargestandard is still reached as long as the peektotal ammonia in the main aeration basin iskept below 7 mg/-£ N, this ammonia being fur-ther nitrified and largely denitrified in there-aeration basin. The large clarifiers

havB a buffering effect on ammonia peaks. Ifthe ammonia peak is allowed to rise above7 mg/^ N, not only is the free ammonia in thefinal effluent too high but phoephate uptakeis reduced due to lack of oxygen.

Another useful parameter for phosphate con-trol is the soluble P level in the anaerobicbasin; if this drops below 20 mg/^ , trouble

ahead is indicated. Unfortunately it issometimes too late by thBn to avert the im-pBnding rise in P in the effluent.

COD RemovalBecause it is nBcessary for good P removalto run the plant in a slightly overloadedmode, the COD of the final effluent is some-times over the limit of 60 mg/-£ but on ave- -rage is less than 50 mg/^ .

CONCLUSIONS

Very good results can be achieved with aPhoredox type nutrient removal plant provi-ding oxygen input is carefully balancedagainst oxygen demand. Sludge must be keptsomewhat under-oxidized to obtain good anae-robic conditions on recycling. Satisfac-tory DO concentrations are barely over zeroand very difficult to monitor. Recordingammonia meters would probably be morB suit-able than DO meters for control purposes.

REFERENCES

1. BARNARD, J.L. A Review of BiologicalPhosphorus Removal in the ActivatedSludge Process. Water S.A.2.3.136-144.

2. Water Pollution Control (Waste andEffluent Standards) Regulations, 1971, andas Amended 1977 and 1982.

3. SIEBRITZ, EKANA AND MARIAS. Aspects ofExcess Biological Phosphorus Removal inthe Activated Sludge Process.ImJBsa, 1982. March. 37-45.

4. KERDACHI and ROBERTS. Full Scale Phos-phate Removal Experisncss in theUmhlatuzana Works at Different SludgeAges. I.A.W.P.R. Post-ConferenceSeminar, Pretoria, 1982, April.

27

9th dffl^QQ Conference •. Sanitation and water for development in Africa: HARARE: 7983

WATER AND SEWERAGE IN HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

by J D MILNE

INTRODUCTION

Water borne sewage disposal was initiatedin Bulawayo in 1931. Prior to that datesanitary facilities had consisted of earthclosets or a bucket system.

However it was not until 1956 that therewas instituted a policy of providing allnew high density housing with individualwater connections and flush toilets. Atthat date there were 12 000 high densityhouses with communal water supplies andcommunal toilet blocks or individual aquaprivies. In 1959 a programme was begun toprovide all existing houses with individualwater connections and flush toilets andthis was virtually complete in 1982.

Between 1956 and 1975 an additional 17 000high density houses or flats were builtbut with an estimated back log of housingin excess of 10 000 units it was decidedin 1975 to speed up the housing programmeand between 1975 and 1982 a further24 000 houses have been built.

WATER SUPPLY

All individual water connections aremetered as this is considered necessary toavoid excessive use of water. Eachhousehold is entitled to either 9 or 14 mper month depending on whether theoccupier is a Council tenant or privateowner and the cost of this allowance isincluded in the monthly rent or servicecharge respectively.

Additional consumption as recorded on themeter is charged for at the standardtariff.

Actual domestic consumptions range between

8 and 16 m per month but mains are-,designed for an average use of 1 m /day.

per house per(Total use averages 22 m:

month).

To limit the cost of meter installationwater meters are fitted to an outside walland general use is made of the Kent PSMwater meter which has proved least liableto wit'Kil damage1.-

WATER MAINS

Water mains consist of asbestos cementClass 18 piping in diameters 50 mm andabove which are manufactured to CAS 113 :1974 and are supplied in 4 metre lengths.Below 50 mm diameter galvanised steelpiping is used.

Pipes are laid on a bedding' of 75 mm ofdecomposed granite or similar selectedsuitable material with a gap of 450 mmlength left at each joint which ismaintained until the pipelines have beensuccessfully tested under pressure.

Jointing is generally by means of "Fluid -title" sleeve joints but cast iron shortcollar detachable joints are used for theinstallation of fittings. Pipes are laidwith a cover of 900 mm but this isincreased to 1 200 mm under roadways.

Backfilling to a height of 300 mm abovethe crown of the pipe is carried out withselected material placed in 100 mm layersand well and carefully rammed around thepipe. The remainder of the back fillingis carried out in 300 mm layers withboulder free material. Where possiblewater mains are installed in a 2 mservitude at the rear of the stand withcontrol valves fitted at convenient places.Fire hydrants of the standard screw downtype pattern are installed only in thevicinity of important buildings such asschools. Connections are made by fittinga malleable iron saddle to the main anddrilling and tapping for a 20 mmgalvanised pipe to supply one house or a25 mm pipe with branches to supply up tofour houses.

SEWERS

Sewers are designed for an average dailyflow of 0,3 nr/house and a peak flow of1,5 nr /house/day.

Sewer pipes of 100 mm and 150 mm diameterare manufactured of earthenware inaccordance with C.A.S. A16/1973. Pipesare supplied in 1 m and 1,5m lengths withlipseal rubber sleeve joints.

28

Sewer pipes of 225 mm diameter and above aremanufactured of concrete made from dolomiticaggregate and a 12 mm thick sacrificiallayer in accordance with C.A.S. No. A17.Pipes are supplied in 2,44 m lengths withrolling rubber ring 0-joints.

LAYING OF SEWERS

Sewers are laid in a 2 m servitude at therear of the stand and trenches areexcavated to grade and level using profilesat manholes and to a depth 75 mm below theinvert of the pipe.

Pipelaying is commenced from the lower endof the section and proceeds up hill witheach socket being supported at its correctlevel on a heap of selected materialseived through a 25 mm screen.

Bedding is carried out immediately behindthe pipelaying by filling beneath thebarrel height with selected materialthoroughly compacted by well ramming oneither side of the pipe. When laying andbedding of the sections is completed it istested by air. Thereafter the section isbackfilled to a depth of 300 mm above thecrown of the pipe with selected materialplaced in 100 mm layers and well andcarefully, tamped around and over the pipe.The remainder of the backfilling is carriedout in 300 mm layers with boulder freematerial after which the testing isrepeated.

Sewers having less than 300 mm cover overthe socket within stands and sewers havingless than 900 mm cover in road ways areprotected by encasing in concrete 100 mmthick.

MANHOLES

Manholes are located at 80 m maximumdistance and at each junction and bend andare constructed of precast reinforcedconcrete rings manufactured to comply withC.A.S. A17/1973 for Class 'S' - StandardReinforced Pipes. Rings are made in 610and 305 mm lengths with ogee type joints.

Gradients are continuous through themanhole and a smooth flow is ensured byconstructing the channels of half roundearthenware supported by concrete benching.

Manholes are of 675 mm minimum diameter.Within stands covers are of precastreinforced concrete but in roadways castiron covers and frames are used.

SEWER CONNECTIONS

Connections are made to junction pipesinstalled when the sewer is laid. Boththe outlet from the lavatory pan, throughan 'S' trap, and the gulley which receivesthe discharge from the kitchen sink andthe shower drain are connected by 100 mmdiameter, earthenware piping in which aninspection eye is installed. A vent pipeis fitted to the connection at the lasthouse at the head of each sewer branchline.

MATERIALS

Asbestos cement water pipes aremanufactured in Bulawayo using locallyproduced asbestos fibre and cement.

Earthenware pipes are manufactured inBulawayo using locally excavated clay.

Concrete pipes are manufactured inBulawayo using locally produced dolomiteand cement.

Rubber rings for pipe joints aremanufactured in Bulawayo but importedrubber is used.

SEWAGE PUMPING STATIONS

An undesirable feature of recent highdensity housing schemes has been the needfor reasons of topography to provide aconsiderable number of sewage pumpingstations - approximately one station forevery 1 500 houses. These have beenconstructed mainly to avoid expensiveoutfalls and although they add only$20,00 approximately per stand to thecosts of sewerage they are not favouredas the pumping machinery has to beimported and they are subject to breakdowndue to mechanical or electrical faultswith the subsequent nuisance of sewageoverspill.

To keep down costs the design has beenstandardised using electrically drivensubmersible pumps with screening,balancing chamber and pumps in duplicate.The rising main is constructed ofasbestos cement piping and terminatesin a velocity reducing chamber.

COSTS

Experience showed that the greatestopportunity for saving in the cost ofservices existed in the cost ofinstalling sewers and ways wereinvestigated of making savings on thisitem. The following measures have beenadopted in consequence :-

29

1. Manholes at the head of sewers havebeen replaced by roddlng ways.

2. Depth of sewers were reduced to aminimum of 800 ran.

3. 100 mm diameter pipes were used at thehead of sewers for the first 50 houses.

4. Gradients were reduced to a minimum of1 in 100 for 100 mm pipes and of 1 in200 for 150 mm pipes.

5. Manholes were reduced to 675 mmdiameter and step irons eliminated.

6. Cast iron covers for manholes withinstands were replaced by precastconcrete covers.

As a result of these economies the latestcost of_providing sewerage for a house ona 200 m stand is $210 per stand.

IMPROVING EXISTING HOUSES

In many cases where houses had beenprovided with aqua privies theirreplacement eventually became a necessity.

The ground on which they were built was notpermeable and through time the water tablerose to the extent that the houses weresurrounded by springs of sewage effluent.When eventually excavation for theinstallation of sewers was carried out itwas under the most unpleasant conditions.

Initially it was intended to retain theprivy structures and dispose of the liquidonly via the sewers but the residentscomplained and new detached toilets werebuilt.

Communal toilet blocks were generallyunsatisfactory. Cleanliness was difficultto maintain particularly as the toiletsserved as public conveniences. Also theiruse at night was hazardous and manylegitimate users were assaulted.

Water consumption was high as automaticflushing devices operated day and nightand manual flushing cisterns wererepeatedly vandalised.

Individual detached toilets are still beingbuilt and one doubts the mentality of thearchitect who designs an outside toiletwith shower facilities and no changing room.

Communal water supplies through a stand pipewith a "waste - not" self closing tap wereunpopular.

Apart from disputes over priority inqueuing, water had to be carried incontainers and most householders wereunable to carry out cultivation aroundtheir properties.

However some enterprising people who livednear the standpipe devised irrigationschemes by tying back the handle of thetap and delivering through a hose to theirproperty.

An individual water supply including watermeter costs $50 and for the benefitsderived therefrom not least thebeautification of the housing surrounds bythe cultivation of fruit trees etc. it is aworth while expenditure.

SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS

Three types of sewage treatment works havebeen constructed and are in operation inBulawayo - oxidation ponds, biologicalfiltration plants and more recentlyextended aeration activated sludge plants.From a capital cost point of viewoxidation ponds are the ideal solution forthe treatment of sewage if plenty of groundis available for their location andconstruction. We have had the unfortunateexperience that a works which was built inisolation in 1963 was surrounded by housingin 1978/1979 and is now a subject ofcomplaint when it malfunctions.

Tne biological filtration plants producea good quality effluent and cause littlenuisance. The effluent does not meetpollution control regulations standardsfor river discharge in respect of nitrogenand phosphorus but it is used forirrigation of pastures and crop lands andwith tertiary treatment for the irrigationof sportsfields and public openspaces.

Our first extended aeration activatedsludge plant was completed in August 1982,so there is little experience of itsoperation but it is hoped that it willproduce an effluent fit for river discharge.

Following the gazetting of the Water(Effluent and Waste Water Standards)Regulations 1977 the Ministry of WaterDevelopment issued a publication"Guidelines for the disposal of sewage andsewage effluent during wet weather".

Regrettably most engineers responsible forsewage disposal in Zimbabwe took fright atthese regulations and considered that theonly way to comply was to construct"extended aeration activated sludge plants".

These works are very expensive to construct,have a very high import content and requireskilled and sophisticated operation.

The unfortunate position has now beenreached where such a works is to be builtat a growth point in the communal areaswhere space is no problem and the nitrogenand phosphorus removed from the effluentcould be used profitably in farming

30

operations. The effluent may yet be usedfor Irrigation but the nitrogen wasted toatmosphere will have to be replaced byexpensive fertiliser probably imported.

31


URBAN SOLID WASTE: APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

by P r o f e s s o r K J NATH, P K CHATTERJEE, S K DASGUPTA and D M DE

1 .

The Solid Ytaste Management se r -vices can absorb upto 1#> of theG-.JM.P. and is one of the mostexpensive city services . At 3 to 6workers per 1000 population,solidwaste woi'kers may represent about1 to 2fo of the to ta l national workforce in the developing countr ies .In order to optimise return fromth is huge public expenditure.everycountry must evolve an indigenoustechnology for Solid Waste Manage-ment based on the quantity andcharacter of the wastes, the levelof national income, wage r a t e s ,equipment manufacturing capacity,energy costs and various social andcul tura l factors typical to thecommunity. A careful analysis ofthe present status of solid wastemanagement in the c i t i e s and townsin India would lead one to theinevitable conclusion that bet tersanitat ion standards could s t i l lbe achieved in most of the thirdworld c i t i e s and towns by prudentand well planned al locat ion ofavailable resources through theapplication of appropriate techno-logy. Hie All India Ins t i tu te ofHygiene and Public Health is pre-sently carrying out a pilot studysponsored by the Calcutta Metro-poli tan Development Authority andfinanced by the World Bank onvarious technical and managerialaspects of municipal solid wastemanagement and the experience ofthe project team strengthens theabove view points .

2 . KXISTING- STATUS OF SOLID VASTKMAHAG-UkijNT IN SMALL AND MfcJDItffiiTOWNS IN INDIA

the collection and disposalof refuse within an urban area hasbeen, traditionally the respon-sibility of local self GovernmentBodies. These bodies, except inthe cases of «. few large Metro-

politan Cities, do not have ade-quate managerial and technicalmanpower* at their disposal toplan and operate the Solid WasteManagement programme at thedesired level. Most municipali-ties spend a sizable portion oftheir annual budget for SolidWaste Management and for themaintenance of surface drains.But in absence of adequate plann-ing and management and as aresult of inappropriate techno-logy, much of the municipalexpenditure and efforts In thisdirection have gone waste. In asample survey conducted by theAll India Institute of Hygieneand Public Health in 34 municipaltowns with varying levels ofurbanisation and socio-economiccircumstances, population varyingbetween 20,000 to 3,50,000 anddensity of population varyingbetween 5000/sq.KM. to 30,000/Sq.KI*1, i t was observed, -

(i) In more than 60$ of themunicipalities surveyed, lessthan 40% of the solid wastesare collected daily. Againstan average generation of $00to 500 gnis/capita/day average.Collection is mostly less than200 gm/capita/day.

(i i) In absence of any house tohouse collection system andadequate no. of communitycontainers,collectIon Is fromopen on-road dumps. Thesedumps are invaded by scavangersand animals which scatter thewastes, the rats have accessto food, and fly larva migrateand pupate In the vicinity.Leachate from decomposing andputrifying garbage percolatesinto soil and nearby watersources. Resultant contamina-tion of food,water and tfoilhas caused frequent epidemicsof cholera,jaundice,-typhoidand other pest borne diseases.

32

( i i i ) Uncollect«a solid wastefinds i t s way into the opendrains meant for rain andsullage water, thus blockingflow and creating water logg-ing. This lias created acutemosquito problems in mostmunicipal towns. Moreoverremoval of solid waste fromthese unlined open drainsresults in wastage of muchlabour.

(iv) i'he handling process involvescollection from the stx-eetinto ill-designed hand cartswhich again damps them on theground to be picked up by ra -kes and baskets and put intotrucks. This results in wast-age of labour and waiting timefor vehicles apart from thegreat health r i sk that theworkers and public a t largeare exposed to .

(v) More than 8O/0 of the collectedsolid waste in municipal townsare disposed off by f i l l ingup private lands scattered a l lover the town in most uncon-trolled hap-hazard and insani-tary manner which is a poten-t i a l health r isk for the comm-unity. Municipalities possessless than 0.32 hectares ofland for every 10,000 personsfor disposal of solid waste aswell as night-soi l .

The above observations thoughbased on a sample survey in 34municipal towns in India, by andlarge reflects the general levelof Solid Waste Management in manyof the Asian and African towns,which could be attributed primarilyto the failure of the authoritiesto develop a iiolid Viaste iianagementiiystem appropriate to the socio-economic circumstances of the comm-unity and i t s available financialresources. Expenditure on Solidwaste Management varies betweenhs.B/- to Rs.20/- per capita perannum in India (£1=18 at 1981leve l ) . Man-power employed variesbetween 3 to 6 persons per 1000population. The quality of ser-vices provided in most urbanareas, particularly in small andmedium towns, in terms of quanti-ty of solid waste collected andenvironmental protection providedto the community, does not justify

this expenditure.

3 . PILOT S'ITTDTJSS

3 . 1 . Project Objective

(a) Development of a ful ly/partly containerised collectionand transportation servicewhich would not allow tbe wastematters to tonch the groundduring the collection and trans-portation process.

(b) technical and financialfeasibi l i ty of simple labourintensive, low cost yet hygie-nic methods of solid wastedisposal and resource recovery.

3.2. Pilot Project Areas

Six municipal wards, in twomunicipal towns, wiiii varyingsocio-economic circumstancesand different levels of urbani-sation were chosen as the pi lota res. s wh e re a 1 te rna te met hod swere studied. 1'hey covered atotal population of about 50,000.

3 .3 . Alternatives in Methods andIioaterials.

3.3 .1 .Collection and transpor-tation System!

(a) House to House collectionby light" weight mannnally t ipp-ing auto-vehicle (2LP/1.2T) and12/18 l i t r e plastic/G.I.domesticbins were supplied to each family.

(b) The same system as in (a)wi th pedal-tricycles,carrying4/6/8 nos. of 5O/IOO l i t r e s G.I,containers.

(c) Same system as in (.b),but collection from communitycontainers, provided for every10/20 houses.

(d) Collection from communitycontainers by pedal tr icycles anddirect transfer into 4M5 skips inprimary transfer s ta t ions. The skipis hauled by 95 H.P. tractors tndisposal grounds.

(e) SSs.iae system as in (d) butwith house to house collection.

33

3«5»2« Disposal techniques

(a.) Mannually operated sanitaryland f i l l ing.

tb) Mannually operated aerobic(Windrow method) composting.

&ach system was f i r s t opti-mised through the optimal combina-tion of men and materials, beforetheir comparative evaluati on.iiachsystem were run for daily as wellas alternate day collection.Cri-teria for evaluating system-effi-ciency were cost, environmentalprotection and public acceptance.

Mode of operations tried indifferent areas and optimal designparameters for them are shown in4

3.4. glndinga of the

In table~2 3 n ^n l 4 a comparisonof pi lot project systems i s madewith the existing systems in variouscategories of towns In India, inrespect of manpower1 requirement,0 & M Cost, vehicle and fuel requ-irement and quality of service asindicated by per capita waste co l l -ection per day, frequency of collec-t ion e t c . I t could be seen thatunder the pilot project systems,aver-age 0 & M cost is considerably lessthan what is presently being spentIn most Indian c i t i e s and towns .Atthe same time the level of servicesin terms of per capita refuse co l l -ection per day is much higher.Table3clearly demonstrates that the exis t -ing system of solid waste managementin the municipalities is counterproductive and wasteful in respect

Pilot Operations

Mod e of ope rat 'f on '•Optimal^parameters

Pilot AreaCharacteristics

: GoTlecti on &i Transport.-! t i on '•

Eisposal

P-I . Population-Density/1O,OOO/KM^Disposal s i te /3KiiSemi Urban jAverageincome level^te^SOOper capita per annum

P-I I . -Do-

As in (a) under Mannually3.3.1. operated

sanitarylandfilling

P-TTT. - D o -

As In (b)under -Do-3-3.1.

As in (c)under -Eo-3.3 .1 .

PTIV Population Density>20,000/KM2

Disposal s i te 8KMHighly urbanised.Average income level ,cvfiQ- p p r r>api t a

As in (d) under Mannually3 . 3 . 1 . operatedp

wind-rowcomposting

P-V

per annum

- D O - AS in (e)3.3.1.

under -Do-

12/18 l i t r e s p las t ic /G.I.buckets as domesticcontainer per familyper annumOne dumper per 5000people.Two crew collec-tion.

-Do-One tri-cycle (600 l i t r e s )per 1200 people.

One Community Container/10 houses.One tri-cycleper 1500 people.

One C omciun i ty -0 onta 1 ne r /20 hotises.One tr i-cycle per 2500people.One Primary TransferStation per 15000 people.One tractor-4 skips s e t /45000 people.12/18 l i t r e s p las t ic /G.I .buckets as domestic con-tainers.One tricycle per2000 people. One PrimaryTransfer Station per10,000 people. One i'rac-tor-4 skips set/30000people.

'Jable-g: 0 & POSTS

i Level of service : 0 & M.Cost Rs. pert Capita per annum.

Calcutta Corporation

34 Municipal Townsin Greater Calcutta

Pilot - I

PilotPilotPilot

I II I IIV

Pilot - V

500 gra/ca pita/day collection.Hoaaside open storage and DoubleHandling,Daily collect!on.Un-controlled disposal.200 gm/c/d.Irregular collection. Roadsideopen storage and Double Handlinguncontrolled disposal.250 to 350 gm/c/d.daily collection. Wo doubleHandling.Sanitary Disposal

- Do -150 to 200 gm/c/d300 to 400 gra/c/d

- Do -350 to 450 gm/c/d

Rs. 20700

Rs. 6.00 toRs. 10.00

Ra. 6.00(Rs.4.00

Rs. 7.00(Ks.4.50)Rs. 6.00(Rs.4.00)Rs. 4.5O(Rs.3-OO)

Rs. 5.5O(Rs.3.5O)

*ii'igures In bracket indicate Q &, SI cost fa? a l ternate day col lec t ion .Table-3* ViiHlQIiE .FTTJSL AMD S'JCAF?

: No. of vehicles s Jfyel consumption: Oil consumption :3taff r e -i needed : per annum '• per annum Wuirement: (Per million : (Per mil l ion *• (Per million :(Per 1000! people) J people) t people ) ^people)

lixisting System

Pilot ProjectSystem

400 Trucks

40 Tractorsand lOO t r a i l o r s/ski ps•

1,25,000

50,000

1500

600

3 to 7

1 to 1.2

of util isation of man-power.Methodstudies also revealed that for townswith density of population less than10000 persons/oq.KM, house to housecollection with pedal trl-cycle wouldbe moi-e effective, i 'or towns with pop-ulation density more than 20,0Q0/Sq.KM, collection from community contain-ers would ensure almost the samelevel of collection but at a muchlower cost*

Pilot studies on low-cost disposaltechniques revealed that,

(i) Small mannually operated sani-tary land fi l l ing si tes, could beoperated fairly satisfactorily bycut and cover method upto 15 tons ofrefuse per day(Population 40,000).The0 & M cost for such operations wasfound to be much lower that what manymunicipalities spend on crude dumping,(jiânnually operated wind-row compost

plants could be operated efficientlyupto 30 T per day capacity i . e . uptoa population of 60,000. At this levelthe transportation cost of refuse andcompost would also be minimal. 0 & Kcost would be about Rs.20 per ton of

solid waste as against Rs.50 per tonin larger mechanical plants.Inorganicrejects (which could be 30 to 50$)could be recycled for private landfil l ing within the town without caus-ing much health hazards. Chemicalquality of finished compost-manuresfrom mannually operated plants,withnut*1ent (NPK) content of about 20 Kg.per ton and carbon to. Nitrogen ratiobelnfe 15 to 20, are comparable withthat from the mechanical plants.

• • •Ref erences:1. ' 'Pilot Studies on Solid WasteManagement in Municipal towns"(con-ducted by AITH & PH,Sponsored byCKDAA'orld Bank).2. "A Status report on refuse andnight-soil disposal in municipalitiesunder CMD", Report prepared by AUH& PH, 1976-79.

35


DISPOSAL OF TOXIC AND INDUSTRIAL LIQUID WASTE IN THE CITY OF HARARE,ZIMBABWEby J B KEELING

Disposal of industrial liquid waste,specifically of wastes which, due to theircontent, could not be put to sewer.Historically these wastes were either ad-mixed with domestic refuse or depositedinto a separate area*

In the early 1970s, admixture of domesticwaste and liquid industrial waste pro-vided a low—cost disposal system.Problems arose with the admixture ofvarious liquids, the creation of ponds,the difficulties in backfilling, particu-larly in the rains, and their closeproximity to residential areas.

The by-laws contained no provision where-by the Amenities Department could refuseindustrial waste, liquid or solid, and nocharge was made for disposal. Certainsections of Industry made it quite clearthat they felt Council was obliged totake without question whatever Industrychose to give them.

Within the then Amenities Department andthe City Engineer's Department it wasadmitted that qualified control was neces-sary, but little transpired until 1976 anc1977, when attempts were madB to drydiatomaceous earth slurry on drying bedsat Western Sewage Works. Though ini-tially successful, they were discontinuedas impractical, mainly through a lack ofliaison.

In 1973, industrial liquid waste disposaland its impact on the disposal site alongthe Mukuvisi River made a move to someother site necessary. The possibilityof using Campbells Quarry off HatfieldRoad as a solid waste disposal site hadbeen raised in 1972. The site was ini-tially accepted, but turned down laterbecause of the possibility of seepage.However, under pressure of necessity andlack of funds for other sites or methodsof disposal, the quarry was used firstfor industrial solid waste, but by 1977it was also being used for liquid wastedisposal.

The final depth of twenty metres of thisold granite quarry were filled with soapand fat wastes, tannery waste, acidsludge from mineral oil refining, metalplating waste, garage waste, plus muchelse. A backfill of wood waste andboiler ash was attempted. Much of thisbackfill was burnt away in July, 1981,

when the "hole" caught fire.

Liquid disposal to this site had beenstopped some two weeks bBfors the firB,following seepage through an ash retain-ing wall on the western edge of the hole.The edge was strengthened and backfillingbegan with plant financed by Council,through a special grant of $25 000.($100 = £74,14 August, 19B1).

Although by 1981 efforts had been made toseek for and survey alternative sites,few sites were available for solid waste,and none for liquid waste disposal. Thepossibility of admixing or ponding on theKelvin Road disposal site was ruled outmainly for reasons of smell, but furtherpollution of the Mukuvisi and the generalproblems posed by scavenger controlweighed against this disposal method.

A temporary site was found off AustinRoad in Workington, the site of Council'sdisused Western Sewage Disposal Works.This site had been so effectively demo-lished by the contractor that no brickstood on another, no tank or pond wasleft unfilled. However, the area wasknown to have a level of reasonablyimpervious clay which it was felt aidedthe prevention of seepage and the pollu-tion of the nearby stormwater canal.

Ponds werB dug, the first to a depth ofone metre, a width of ten mBtrBs and alength of sixty metres. This was filledin two. weeks with the admixture as before,and a second larger pond was excavated.This admixture of liquids into ponds couldnot be maintained for long; both land andmoney for ponds were limited.

The question of separation and treatmentof liquids was no longer a matter for spe-culation, but one of immediate practicalnecessity, particularly so after attemptsto acquire a further quarry site wereturned down. With no other site avail-able, this small site had to deal with anaverage of 150 000 litres per week ofliquid waste as well as the prospect ofrain. The Chief Chemist and the Noxiousand Toxic Wastes Officer worked to devisea series of ponds with specific uses.

Earth removed from the existing two pondswas compacted into a double-ended ramp60 m. long, 20 m. wide and 2 m. high.Two ponds 6 m« x 10 mo x 1,5 m, deep werecut in this and two sections of 75 mm.

36

steel pipe with values inserted to provideoutlets. It was intended that theseponds be used for garage waste containingwater, silt and oil. Oil and silt inter-ceptors are required on garage foul-drain-age systems from vehicle wash and partscleaning bays. The valves were to drainoff water to an adjacent area either tosoak away or evaporate. As the separatedoil level was reached it was intended thatthe oil be drummed for possible sale.This oil has found a ready market with oneof our local manufacturers as a furnacefuel.Adjacent to the area created to containthe water from the garage waste, a smallpond was created to receive those aqueouswastss which did not contain significantquantities of oil and which might, withsafety and benefit, be mixed. Suchwastes as printers ink, resins, some che-mical wastes, acidic and alkaline wastesand food manufacturing waste were permit-ted to mix and dry together.

Four shallow 0,3 m. deep ponds,10 m. x 15 m., were created to accommodatethe liquid diatomaceous earth from one ofour oil/soap manufacturers, the expecta-tion being that evaporation could providethe answer by allowing each pond a weekto fill and two weeks to dry before beingdug out. In the event, the rains putpaid to this idea although the ponds havesince proved fairly effective in the dryweather.

Two other small ponds were created toaccommodate tannery waste. These wereeffective but the company discontinueddeliveries due to cost.

There remained two materials ths nature ofwhich constitutsd the Liquid Waste Disposa.Site's biggest problem.

Acid Sludge from a re-refining processfor mineral oil

Basically, concentrated sulphuric acidfiltered through used engine oil. Theacid sludge contains waste solids and someoil fractions. This is dischargsd into askip holding 2 000 litres. Deliveriesfor disposal average three skips per week.This material thickens due to a polymerreaction and gives off sulphurous fumeswhich add considerably to the noxious andtoxic nature of any mass with which it isadmixed.

One of the two garage waste ponds was usedto hold the deliveries of acid sludge. Atest using some of this material seemed toindicate that it could be used to fuelCouncil's Bitumen Unit. The thickeningof the acid sludge due to polymerization

made this impracticable. Similarly, thedraw-off valve proved ineffective whenattempts to drain off and burn some of thematerial from the acid sludge-filled pondwere made. This pond was backfilled andcapped with boiler ash.

Having failed to deal with this materialand not wishing to have a permanent acidsludge pond or to admix the sludge withother liquids, deliveries were redirectedto Campbells Quarry. Here backfillinghad continued to close in and cover theliquid waste, but there still existed alarge area of hole. This provided alimited life sits, an existing and rela-tively isolated one.

Whereas this first problem child wasonly delivered at an average rate of4 to 8 000 litres a week, the second wasa problem by sheer size.

Cotton seed acid oil A dark brown oiland water residue from edible oil manu-facture. This liquid waste constitutedthe largest single waste disposed to thewaste site - some 400 000 litres permonth. On average 60% of the liquidwaste delivered for disposal. It was toprovide holding capacity for this wastBthat a further pond 40 m. x 60 m. x 1,5 m.was created* With the creation of thispond sufficient capacity for iortnsdiateneeds was provided.

In September, 1981, with the introductionof a charge for liquid waste disposal($1 per 100 litres), it was hoped to intro-duce a realistic disposal cost into thethinking of Industry and provide financefor future development.

Further methods of disposal were examinedand actively pursued. Oily waste fromthe first and second ponds, and cottoneeed acid oil from the third large pondwere shown to be combustible^ Due tothe open nature of the burning tests, thetemperature required for a clean burn wasnot obtained, and an unacceptable blacksmoke given off. The water content andlow temperature caused the expansion andcontraction of a water content bubblingeffect across the oil surface which extin-guished the flams. Where the burningcontinued, a crust of unburnt carbongradually formed which also acted toextinguish the flame. An experimentalincinerator was considered necessary.

Those liquid wastes containing high solidsbut littlB fat warB capable of dewateringon either evaporation ponds or sand filterdrying beds. Froml976and perhaps earlier, diatomaceous earthslurry was the largest single waste ofthis kind, approximately 40 000 litres

37

per month being delivered throughout the

period. In September, 1981, the company

said it was their intention to deweter by

filter-prese; this process has been ope-

rational since October, 19B2. The liquid

waste disposal site continues to receive

periodic loads of a similar waste from our

other oil expressor.

Large consignments of tannery waste hadbeen received containing various mineraland metallic salts, skinfibrB, hair andfat. With the introduction of the dispo-sal charge the company attempted to dryths waste in their own premises but theresults were not vary satisfactory. Deli-vered as dry waste to the Kelvin Roaddisposal site it was complained of asbeing too wet and smelly. The waste fat,akin and larger solids have been redirect-ed for burial in the detritus trenches atFirle Sewage Works. The fibrous wastedries well in evaporation ponds and somepossibilities for re-use either as fuel,humus, or in the creation of leather paperare being examined by the company and thedepartment.

Council receives quantities of liquidwaste from a food processing company. Itis highly organic and has a solids contentwell in excess of Council's limits whichmay be put to sewer. Evaporation or fil-tration of this waste could prove satis-factory. The possibilities of burningthe dried waste or using it as an animalfeed are to be examined. By admixingthis liquid waste in the Western Evapora-tion Pond with inks and solvents, it waafound that no fly breeding took place inwhat was highly organic matter.

The problems posed by the cotton seed acidoil have been actively pursued with thecompany. Their use or sale of it as afuel or fuel additive and the reductionof volumes delivered by the introductionof a dewatering process resulted, in June1982, in a successful attempt to reducevolume.

By boiling off the acid oil and removingthe water to sewer, the company haseffectively reduced deliveries by 60$.The cotton seed acid oil presently deli-vered contains between 3 and 15% water bymass, as opposed to 60 to 7056 previously.The water content varies with productionthroughput, where time and available plantrequire the curtailing of the dewateringprocess. It is envisaged that withinthe next two years the dewatered cottonseed acid oil will be used as a boilerfuel if not required in soap manufacture.

ThB question of volume reduction was firsttackled as one of necessity at Western

Liquid Waste Disposal Site. Deliveriesas well as rain filled the first andseconds ponds to unacceptably high levels.The partial emptying of these pandabecame vital to the life of the siteduring the latter part of the rains inMarch, 1982.

Incineration of the fatty matter hadproven to be impracticable. Dry materialin the form of cotton seed hull had failedto soak up sufficient surface oil, or sinkto form a solid mass, which might beremoved. However, at the edges of theseponds where several loads of hull couldcompact, it was found that water was per-mitted through to a hole dug in the hull,whilst the hull prevented the oil andfatty matter from penetrating to thispumping hole. What had happened was theseparation of the solids, water and oilwithin these ponds. The water had ahighly organic content, and the surfaceoil seal created conditions similar tothose in an anaerobic pond or septic tank.The active organic content in the watermeant that under the surface crust of fat,the oil was being agitated. It was rea-lized that any attempt to drain the watermust be carefully monitored for oil con-tent, if put to sewer.

The draining and emptying of the firstpond was agreed. Water from this pondwas to be pumped into the second pond.Plant and vehicles were brought in, and asthe water was pumped out at one end, earthand hull were mixed with the oil andsolids at the other. These mixed solidswere dug out and taken to the solid wastesite.

Pumping the second pond was done to sewer.Its size, and the lack of plant andfinance meant that no removal of fats byadmixture of dry solids was attempted.The pond level was reduced by 0,5 m. orapproximately 1.200 000 It. of water putto sewer. The third pond was reduced bya similar amount a month later. Thisthird pond had received only materialadelivered from edible oil/soap manufac-turers, i.e. cotton seed acid oil, gumresidues, interceptor wastes and somediatomaceous earth slurry.

The second and third ponds were re-filledby November, 1962, mainly with cotton seedacid oil and have proved incapable ofbeing pumped to sewer due to their highoil/fat content.

The mineral oil refinery acid sludge,which had been deposited in the back-filled Campbells Quarry until August,19B2,was added to the refilling of the secondpond. This simply added to the speed offill, and final closure of the large ponds

38

at Western in November, 1982*

Addressing ourselves to the problem of thedisposal of "acid sludge", a number ofmethods have been investigated,,

Neutralisation, which the company regardsas too expensive, but which could giveCouncil an acceptable waste for disposalcontinues to be a last resort.

Incineration, admixture with other mate-rials, a straight disposal to land withthe addition of lima, are alternativgsused elsewhere in the world. Sellingthe waste acid back to be used in ferti-lizer is apparently a non-starter.Incineration has been tried by Council,and should thB present experimentalincinerator prove successful in burningthe acid sludge, the company have offereda material in a holding tank, which wouldbreak up any polymerisation thus givingthe Department a thin liquid to burn.

Admixture with asbestos concrete wastehas been found practicable in New Zealand.There, a company of the same group con-tracts to combine their acid sludge withasbestos concrete slurry from a nearbyplant. This is not possible here sincethe asbestos fibre waste from the localcompany is bath dry and has no concretecontent. Acid sludge has been admixedexperimentally with boiler ash, cottonseed hull, and dried diatomaceous earthwastB. With none of these local wastesdid it form more than a partial amalgam.

Disposal to land with the addition of limeis unacceptabls. Ths conssqusnces oflarge deposits of acid sludge can neitherbe assessed nor easily controlled.

Since November, 1982, the acid sludgeand all the edible oil and soap wasteshave been admixed with dry waste depositedat Council's new solid waste site atPomona. Hopes have been expressed thatthe sulphurous content of the acid sludgemay combine with the ironstone content ofthB soil. It must be stressed that thedisposal of acid sludge by adding it tolandfill is very short term. This ad-mixture of materials is considered asregrettable but necessary, since alterna-tive disposal methods are yet to be foundor become operative. The liquid waste isbeing backfilled load by load and coverapplied immediately; smell is thuseliminated. There are risks of both sur-face and sub-soil water contamination butthesB appear minimal in the presentdisposal area.

Council has constructed a small incinera-tor, two evaporation ponds, two sandfilter drying beds and a garage oil

and water separator at the SouthernSewage Works off Cripps Road. Prelimi-nary tests and experimental loads havealready been examined, and the facilityshould begin to provide further answersto liquid waste disposal in December,1982.

Since September, 1981, it has been partof the function of the Noxious and ToxicWastes Officer to assist in the disposalof chemical wastes. A number of thesehave fallen into the category of re-usable materials.

Outdated herbicides and insecticides havebeen collected and used by Divisionswithin the Department. By increasingthe dosing rates they have been effective,and saved Council funds.

Waste acid containing ferrous sulphatehas been utilized in separating themineral oil from the water of garagewastes. The same material was used torender waste cyanide innocuous by thecreation of ferrous salts.

Companies wishing to rid themselves ofold or spoilt stocks of copper, sulphurand mercuric compounds have been fount)companies willing to buy these "wastes"or to take them at no cost for re-use.

It can be fairly said that Council'sapproach to the disposal of liquid waste,and indeed to all hazardous materials, isnow a positive one. That facilitiesfor disposal should be improved isundeniable, and given time, finance andexpertise Council, in co-operation withIndustry, will provide them.

39


FISH PRODUCTION IN WASTE STABILIZATION PONDS

by BRIAN S MEADOWS

INTRODUCTIONAlgal stabilization ponds are now being adop-ted as the main method of sewage treatment forwater-borne sanitation in most tropical andsubtropical countries wherever feasible. Theadoption of ponds for treatment has been par-ticularly marked over the past two decades -in Kenya, for example there were four systemsin 1962, seventeen in 1972 and 52 in 1982.Algal ponds offer the possibilities for theintergration of aquaculture and sewage treat-ment. Reports of fish surviving in ponds,either occurring accidentally or deliberatelyintroduced are numerous but the commercialexploitation of fish for human consumptiongrown in algal stabilization ponds, built onbasic public health engineering designs forsewage purification, has never beer exploitedto any significant extent despite the factthat, albeit outside of Africa, sewage is re-cycled to fertilize fish ponds in many partsof the world - and has been since antiquity.The practice of building latrines over pondsor the addition of sewage-enriched flood wat-ers to commercial fish ponds are cases inpoint.

Reports of fish surviving in maturation pondsare frequent in the literature. The majorityof published papers, however, are reports ofstudies to assess the effect of introducedfish on water quality improvement (1) but somerelevant fish production data is available -for example Sreenivasan £t a^ (2) indicatespossibilities of producing 9500 kg/ha/yr(Common Carp Cyprinus carpio and Tilapia sp.)in India from a maturation pond. More rec-ently Edwards et al (3) have obtained extra-polated yields approaching 20 tons/ha/yr infish ponds receiving the effluent from a highrate stabilization pond over a 3-month growingseason. Both the last two studies were, how-ever , carried out at institutional establish-ments; there is a dearth of information onsurvival of fish in facultative ponds, as dis-tinct from maturation ponds, and in municipalponds. Until such data becomes available pub-lic authorities will be unwilling to designworks capable of combining fish culture andsewage purification. As part of a wider studyon the evaluation of pond design criteria inKenya - mainly carried out between 1977-80 -some observations on fish survival in pondswas also obtained. An outline of the dataobtained is followed by a discussion.MATERIAL AND METHODS

Ponds in Kenya are normally built in serieswith primary facultative ponds, which may or

may not be preceeded by anaerobic treatment,designed to give a pond Biological OxygenDemand at 25°C, inclusive of algae, neverexceeding 75 mg/1, secondary facultative pondsgive a pond B.O.D of 25 mg/1 and followed bymaturation ponds to produce an effluent witha faecal coliform count of less than 1000per 100 ml.

At the town of Thika (l°03'S, 37°05'E) sewageis treated by anaerobic, primary facultative(dissolved O2 range 0-20 mg/1), secondaryfacultative (02,1.2-26 mg/1) and maturationponds. Further technical data is given else-where (4). Tilapia nilotica, which is analgal feeder, and a highly suitable fish forAfrican aquaculture, were introduced intosecondary facultative ponds as fingerlings.They were cultured in cages in order to easesampling and to eliminate predation. Eachcage, which had a metal framework, measured90cmx90cmxl00cm. Survival rate was over 95%.Figure 1 shows the results of growth rate attwo stocking densities during 10 week growingseason. At the lower stocking density growthdata is available for up to 20 weeks.

3 0 '

TIME IN WEEKS

Figure 1: GROWTH RATE CURVE FOR TILAFIANILOTICA IN SECONDARY FACULTATIVE POND

In addition to the Thika site fish were in-troduced also into the secondary facultativeand maturation ponds at Kisumu (0°06'S34c45'E)At both sites fish were screened for chlorin-ated pesticides and heavy metal residues and

compared with levels from natural waters.*Fish, particularly those from stabilizationponds contained D.D.T. and metabolites D.D.E.and D.D.D. Trace levels (max 0.011 mg/1)were found in fish tissues from naturalsources, and at a fish hatchery(max.0i.026 mg/1). In contrast, levels ofD.D.T. in fish from Kisumu stabilizationponds were significantly higher (0.06-0.3mg/1 = 17-48 mg/1 on fat basis). No sig-nificant levels of other pesticides weredetected. Fish livers from ponds rangedfrom 39-199 mg/1 Zn and 0.6-2.6 mg/1 Cd.Lake Victoria sample also contained45 mg/1 Zn, 3.1 mg/1 Cd and possibly Hg at0.45 mg/1. No Cr, Pb or Hg was detected insamples from stabilization ponds. Liver-weight ratios from fish in Kisumu pondsaveraged 0.9 (as % liver/total wt.) and 0.5from Lake Victoria.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTSFish at Thika and Kisumu have grown satis-factorily and background levels of D.D.T.,although elevated, are still within accept-able limits. The influent to both pond sys-tems is predominantly domestic (currently100% at the Kisumu ponds). The possiblesources of D.D.T. which appears to have acc-umulated in fish from the ponds could arisefrom excreta, waste water washings from veg-etables and fruit, and from laundry washwaters. A sample of maize meal purchased inKisumu was found to contain 2 mg/1 of D.D.T.and another sample collected at Nakuru(0°22'S, 36°05'E) 1 mg/1.The liver/weight ratios do indicate that thefish growing in ponds are slightly morestressed than those in natural waters; thiscould be an effect of dissolved oxygenlevels.At Thika (Common Carp Cyprinus carpio) andTilapia sp.were kept in continuous culturein the maturation ponds at Thika for over 7years; there have been two fish fills invol-ving up to 50% of the carp population butnever Tilapia. Tilapia have similarly beenstocked for a six year period in the second-ary facultative and maturation ponds atKisumu without any reported mortalities.If Tilapia and especially Tilapia niloticacan be grown apparently successfully inponds; What is holding up further develop-ment?Allen and Hepher (5) in a global reviewlisted the following restraints for waste-water fish culture: dissolved oxygen levelsin ponds, toxic materials in wastewaters,tastes and odours in fish, fish parasitesand diseases, public health problems, pondeffluent standards and public acceptance.In an African context and specifically foralgal stabilization ponds, and particularly

•Analytical procedures and detailed resultsare available from the author.

with current and planned municipal schemesin mind, the following will be important:-Human disease transmission.Poor operation and maintenance of seweragesystems.Difficulties in obtaining good fish stocks.Public acceptance.Frustrations with existing pond designs.

Human disease transmission.This is probably not a problem but to con-vince public health personnel that it is notwill be difficult; it must rank as the mainconstraint.Janssen(6) reviews a considerable amount ofliterature dealing with this subject. Allthe available evidence indicates that, un-like warm blooded animals, fish normally donot suffer from infections of Salmonella,Shigella or other enterobacteriacea. Theproblem, however, is the risk that pathogensmay be carried passively by the fish and soserve as vectors. By allowing a depurationperiod the risk can be minimized; Buras (7),however, working in Israel, found that des-pite a 7-day depuration period there was noreduction in the faecal coliform concentr-ation in the flesh of the fish grown inponds fed with raw sewage although there wasa significant reduction in blood and aslight reduction in organs. Neverthelessshe was not able to identify any humanenteric viruses in fish flesh. It is quiteclear, however, that public health author-ities in Africa will insist on data beingcarried out in their own region rather thanrely on overseas work. At present thereappears to be a complete absence of suchinformation. A major constraint to obtain-ing it is the lack of laboratory facilities,especially for virus identification in manycountries.

Standards based on faecal coliform levelshave been suggested; for example Shuval (8)quotes a figure of 10 faecal coliforms/lOOmlfor fish culture but for most countries inAfrica such a standard cannot be enforcedand without other background information,such as the existing health of the popul-ation, this standard becomes meaninglessanyhow. Buras (7) found no correlationbetween faecal coliform bacteria, salmonellaor human enteric viruses in raw sewage.Since most rivers in Africa are faecallypolluted the risk of eating fish grown intreatment plants, where the water hasalready undergone settlement and, in thecase of ponds, several days' retention, mayperhaps be less than taking fish fromrivers: although often unrecorded in sta-tistics riverine fisheries are probably sig-nificant on the African continent.The attitude of some donors has also beenextremely conservative to wastewaterreclamation.

To overcome the disease risk it has beensuggested that fish from waste stabilizationponds should be used only as animal food,e.g. to chickens, or as a feed for "luxury"fish o.s Crustacea.

Poor operation and maintenance of seweragesystems.In the immediate future the economic sit-uation for most African countries is bleakand the expense of maintaining, operatingand augmenting existing water-borne sewer-age systems may prove extremely difficult.In addition policies of governments, suchas the desire to distribute industries out-side of the capitals, is leading to a sit-uation where few municipality works are nowtreating solely domestic sewage. Algalstabilization ponds are suitable for purelydomestic sewage (4) but are proving far fromideal for industrial effluents and especiallyfor industries, such as tannery and textilemill wastes, which are two types of indus-tries being rapidly developed in Africa. InKenya the number of tanneries and textilemills established in the country - and bothindustries produce a wide range of wasteflows - has doubled in the past decade andmost have been established in the smallertowns. In Kenya trade-effluent controlwithin the sewerage system is the responsib-ility of the local authority albeit this iscurrently under review; few local authorit-ies in Africa will be able to recruit thecalibre of manpower needed to effectivelycontrol trade-effluent discharges. Most ofthe problems at present, are arising frompond overloading and the adverse effects ofsulphides in the case of tanneries; as faras textile mill wastes are concerned theeffects of dyes are serious. One case inKenya showed that although the dye waste wasless than 5% of the total flow this inhib-ited photosynthesis by over 70%; the dyewaste was non-toxic but partially inhibitedlight penetration in the water columns.Non-point pollutant sources - detergentsbeing the obvious ones - are generally not aproblem in developing countries although inIsrael they have mitigated against utiliz-ation of sewage effluents in some situations.In the writer's view if fish culture couldbe successfully exploited, say by a co-oper-ative or private organization, paying a rentto a local authority the incentive to main-tain municipal sewerage systems in thefuture could be assured.

Obtaining fish stocks.Obtaining good stocks of fish is likely tobe a problem in many African countries.Regretably, many Government fish farms donot supply healthy stocks of fish and cannotmaintain hybrid or unisex stocks. Reliablecommercial suppliers are, however, availablein some countries.

Public acceptance.This certainly does not appear to be a pro-blem in fish-eating communities in Kenya,even amongst the well-educated strata of thepopulation who are well aware of the sourceof the fish. At the experimental site atThika and at a pond system in Klsumu, whichis adjacent to Lake Victoria,it has beenextremely difficult to stop local fishermenfrom seine-netting the ponds at night.Many African communities are, however, notyet adapted to a fish diet and it wouldprobably not be wise to introduce sewage-grown fish at the outset.

Frustrations with existing pond designs.The message of this paper is to utilizeexisting pond systems for fish culture andthis does seem feasible.It must, however, be recognized that to afish farmer the existing designs are farfrom optimum for such a purpose.Economic assessment will have to be under-taken to decide if additional constructioncosts are merited: this will include optionsfor draining and providing fish collectionbasins in the centre of ponds and the pro-vision of aerators with sensors to detectabnormal dissolved oxygen levels. Most fishculturalists would also like to see largerponds than the present sanitary engineeringdesigns allow.

CONCLUSIONS.Preliminary studies indicate that the sur-vival and growth rates of Tilapla niloticain secondary facultative and maturationponds now merits a detailed assessment ofthe possibility of combining fish foodproduction and sewage purification.The main constraint at present to anjr formof further development of utilizing sewagefor fish culture is the lack of data onpossible human disease transmission in anAfrican context and until this is obtainedpublic health personnel will not officiallyendorse the practice.

There is, in the author's opinion, a realand serious possibility that in the futurelocal authorities will be unable to effect-ively maintain the many sewerage schemeswhich have been constructed during the pasttwo decades or so. The possibility forcollecting a substantial revenue from fishproduction could be the financial incentiveto an improved operation and maintenance.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

Aspects of the work described in this paperwere supported by grant from the Inter-national Development Research Centre for awater reclamation project which the authorwas Principal Investigator.Mr. E.O. Nyaga, Project Hydrobiologist, wasresponsible for collecting data on fishsurvival and pond performance, and MissM. Keating, Consultant Analyst, for thepesticide residue analysis. Mr. D.M.Kirori,Director of Water Resources, Ministry ofWater Development, Kenya, facilitated thework programme to be undertaken.Views expressed in the paper are those ofthe author.

REFERENCES.

1. COLEMAN, M.S., J.P.HENDERSON, H.G.CHICHESTER, and R.L.CARPENTER 1974. Aqua-culture as a means to achieve effluentstandards. In: Wastewater use in the pro-duction of food and fiber. Proceedings U.S.Environmental Protection Agency, Environ-mental Protection Technology Series660/2-74-041: 199-214.2. SREENIVASAN, A., S.MUTHUSAMY and D.B.SUNDARESAN 1974. Fish cultural possibil-ities in sewage treatment ponds. TechnicalReport. Public Health Engineering Depart-ment, College of Engineering, Guindy, Madras.

3. EDWARDS, P., O.SICHUMPASAK,V.K.LABHSETWAR, E.A.R.OUANO and M.TABUCANON1980. A.I.T.Research Report No. 110.Agricultural & Food Engineering Division,Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.4. MEADOWS, B.S. (In prep.). An overview ofthe performance of waste stabilizationlagoons in the East African Highlands in rel-ation to current design criteria. Wat.Pollut.Control.5. ALLEN, G.H. & B.HEPHER (1976) Recyclingof wastes through aquaculture and constraintsto wider application. Paper presented atF.A.0.Technical Conference on Aquaculture,Kyoto, Japan, 26 May-2 June 1976.Doc.No.FIR:AQ/Conf/76/R.19.6. JANSSEN, W.A. (1970). Fish as potentialvectors of human bacterial diseases.Spec. Publ.Am. Fich.Soc, 5: 284-90.7. BURAS, N. (1978). Public health aspectsof fish grown in experimental wastewaterponds. Technical Report. Sherman Centre forEnvironmental Engineering, Technion, Haifa.8. SHUVAL, H.I. (1977). Public health con-siderations in wastewater and excreta re-usefor agriculture. In: R.Feacham, M.McGarryand D.Mara (Editors), Water, wastes andhealth in hot climates. John Wiley & Sons,pp 365-381.

Session 2Chairman: Mr R D Faulkner, WEDC,

Loughborough University ofTechnology, U.K.

DiscussionF C Cox

Phoredox activated sludge unit atthe Firle sewage works, Harare1. Engr LONGLEY, by way of introduction toMrs Cox's paper, presented the followingcomments on the operational advantages andexperience of wastewater nutrient removalplants in Zimbabwe.

2. When water pollution control regulationswere introduced into Zimbabwe some years agoit was found necessary to dispose of sewageeffluent by irrigation onto land as none ofthe existing methods of treatment couldeconomically provide a standard of effluentwhich could be returned to streams and dams.The introduction of biological nutrientremoval by the modified activated sludgeprocess has changed the situation quitedramatically.

3. It was at once obvious that the abilityto return effluent to public streams wouldbe a big advantage over disposal byirrigation but some of the indirectadvantages are only now coming to light.

4. One major advantage is the increasedeffective yield of a river system which canbe obtained by recycling. This is not justa once through process; ie. if 50% of waterabstracted is returned as effluent then thatalso can be abstracted, 50% of that returnedand so on. Mathematically this is equivalentto the sum to infinity of a geometric series,1/(1 - r) for the conditions underconsideration. The benefits are therefore:-

Recycling Ratio, r

0,00,250,500,75

Yield Ratio

11,3324

5. There are insufficient long term recordsin Zimbabwe for a reliable value to be placedon r but indications are that it could be ofthe order of 50%, giving an effectivedoubling of the yield if the effluent isreturned into a storage dam of adequate sizeupstream of the abstraction point. Thisyield increase is obtained withoutappreciable additional storage costs andwithout appreciable evaporation losses. Itcan almost be looked on as doubling thecatchment rainfall with the added advantagethat it is reliable and not subject to

vagaries of the weather. Most large townsin Zimbabwe lie on the watersheds. Newwater sources are therefore usually locatedlong distances away involving not only longpipelines but very much higher pumpingheads. An increase in yield approaching100% is "manna from heaven" indeed. Itradically changes development planningtrends too in that objections to effluentdisposal within the water supply catchmentare now not only nullified but reversed.

6. Another advantage of a completelydifferent nature which has come to light isthat it is no longer necessary to sitesewage works where there are large amountsof vacant land available for effluentirrigation or alternatively to build longeffluent pipelines to suitable irrigationsites. A sewage works situated within anurban area can now discharge effluent intoa public stream safely and without causingnuisance. One Zimbabwean town has found thatby doing this with a sewage treatment workswhich is situated within the industrialsites the present heavily loaded effluentoutfall sewer can be released to carry newraw sewage loadings, thereby avoiding thecost of duplicating the trunk sewer throughurban areas. Effluent from the works willnow be disposed of to a public streamwithout fear of eutrophication andconsequent problems. The same applies toother municipalities in Zimbabwe where theconstruction of nutrient removal plantwithin urban areas will reduce the loads onexisting sewers.

7. These two examples illustrate that ithas been found possible to introduce a newdimension in water supply and wastewaterplanning in order that infrastructuregrowth does not place a crippling load oncapital availability. Previously effluentwas a necessary evil which had to bedisposed of somehow at minimum cost. Theability to construct and operate reliableand economic nutrient removal works nowmakes it a by-product which can be disposedof without much difficulty and in manycases even a resource which can be veryprofitably recycled.

8. Mrs COX described the operatingprinciples behind the modified activatedsludge unit and presented results, payingspecific attention to the removal of ammoniaand phosphate.

9. Mr WHITE commented that although mostof the nutrients were removed from theeffluent, a small quantity remained; wouldthis cause algal blooms downstream of thedischarge point in the reservoir?

10. Mrs COX replied that previous problemsin the reservoir were due to the dischargeof percolating filter effluent. Very littlephosphorous was contained in the effluentfrom the present plant, and input from run-off was likely to be the main source ofphosphorous.

11. Engr KEELING asked whether the processwas effective in removing worms from thesewage.

12. Mrs COX did not know, and it wassuggested that the veterinary servicescould be of assistance in this matter.

13. Dr ADEYEMI enquired whether the F : Nratio caused many problems.

Mrs COx confirmed that the fact that theF ; N ratio was too low may well havecontributed to operational problems.

J D MilneWater and sewerage in housingdevelopment14. Mr MILNE described the background tohousing development in Bulawayo, theprovision of water, and the disposal ofwastewater via a sewerage system andtreatment works. Some design criteria werepresented.

15. Mr DYER asked whether the highconstruction rate of 5000 houses per yearcould be continued, and if not, whatsanitation provisions could be made forsquatter areas.

16. Mr MILNE replied that the presentconstruction rate could be continued withthe aid of a World Bank loan; seweragewould continue to be used.

17. Engr OBADINA stated that Mr Milne'spaper had been of great interest to him,and made the following observations: theTown Planning Authorities should have ensuredthat no houses could be constructed within acertain distance of the waste stabilizationproblems, to avoid odour nuisance. Thisproblem occurred in several countries. Itwas unfortunate that in many cases designerswere recommending sophisticated treatmentprocesses, often as a result of legislation;the capital and operational costs were high,and spare parts may not be readily available.A recent survey in Nigeria (1982) revealedthe following maintenance costs:

stabilization ponds Naire 0.70 /head/annumpercolating filters " 4.28 " "activated sludge " 5.25 "package plants " 7.17 "

(1 Naire = US$ 1.50)

18. Mr MILNE thanked Engr Obadina for hiscomments, with which he concurred. TheBulawayo Town Planning Branch were carriedaway in their zeal to provide housing sites,and forgot about the atmospheric pollutionproblem from the waste stabilization ponds.There was a place for all types of sewagetreatment, and providing that land wasavailable, ponds could treat the sewagefrom up to 10,000 houses; the effluentcould be absorbed in tree plantations whichprovide a useful source of firewood andfencing posts.

19. Mr HARRIS commented that wastestabilization ponds could be usedsuccessfully to treat sewage frompopulations of hundreds of thousands; hedid not agree with the comments that themaximum population was about 60 000.

20. Professor NATH added that the relevantfactor was competing land use, in view ofthe large land requirements of wastestabilization ponds.

21. Mr WILSON asked whether the Bulawayohousing program catered for all of thepopulation, and if not, how were thelowest income people housed? Were rentsaffordable to all, or were subsidiesprovided, and what was the default rate inpayment? He also wished to know if nonwater borne forms of sanitation wereconsidered for high density low incomehousing areas.

22. Mr MILNE stated that the housingprograms covered the whole population. Thelowest income groups were allocated olderhouses which had cheaper rents, and tenantswere encouraged to sub-let rooms. Therewas no subsidization, but default rateswere low. Water borne sewerage wasconsidered to be the only satisfactoryanswer to sewage disposal in high densityhousing.

23. Mr SPENCER referred to statements aboutsquatting pans no longer being popular; howhad this information been obtained and fromwhom?

24. Mr MILNE stated that the views of thepeople were considered.

K J Nath, P K Chatter]ee, S KDasgupta and D M DeUrban solid waste: appropriatetechnology25. Professor NATH presented the paper in

which he highlighted the existing status ofsolid waste management in small and mediumtowns in India, and described the results ofpilot schemes carried out in six municipalwards of Calcutta, and recommended suitablecollection and disposal methods.

26. Dr ADEYEMI asked whether the waste hadbeen analysed, and how this affected thecostings, bearing in mind that disposalmethods and sites may be different fordifferent types of waste.

27. Professor NATO answered that the physicaland chemical characteristics of the wastewere assessed, and that composting andsanitary landfill were felt to be the mostcost effective treatment alternatives.

28. Professor OLUWANDE thought that thesimplified approach for the collection,transportation and disposal of solid wasteoutlined in the paper was appropriate, butwould it be cost effective in countrieswhere labour costs were high? Would it bepossible for householders to deposit wastedirectly into transfer depots, from wheremechanical devices could be used, to reducethe labour costs?

29. Professor NATO replied that thecollection and transportation were aimed atreducing the labour requirement, but thatthe labour intensive disposal methods maynot be cost effective in countries wherelabour costs were high. Communal containersmust be near to dwelling places in order tobe used; even if the number of transferpoints were considerably increased, therebyadding to vehicle and fuel costs, they couldnot serve the purpose of communalcontainers as suggested.

32. Engr KEELING agreed, and said thatpersuasion often limited waste, with alittle muscle being used in difficult cases.

33. Mr UNDERWOOD asked what impact thewaste dumps had on the surrounding area,for example ground seepage and evaporationon nearby crops and vegetation. He alsowished to know what measures were taken toprevent children and onlookers from comingharm, especially in the case of the acidpits.

34. Engr KEELING replied that test holeshad been dug but not extended due to theproximity of plots, which had shown nonoticeable deterioration. A nearby canalhad shown no signs of pollution to date.The area had been fenced in securely, andthe site which was now no longer used forliquid waste was being backfilled withsolid waste.

B S MeadowsFish production in wastestabilization ponds35. The author had not been able to attendthe conferences and the paper was notpresented.

J B KeelingDisposal of toxic and industrialliquid waste in the city of Harare,Zimbabwe30. Engr KEELING described methods ofdisposal for a variety of industrial wastes,including sludge from mineral oil re-processing, and cotton seed oil, and outlinedsome of the problems of dealing with thewaste material, and emphasized the require-ment for positive attitudes on behalf ofboth the Council and industry.

31. Mr BALL observed that whole seed cottonand cotton seed hull were good for stockfeeds; he asked how much unneccessary wasteoccurred, and how much muscle the council hadto stop it.


THE IMPLEMENTATION OF URBAN AND RURAL SANITATION PROGRAMMES IN BOTSWANA

by JAMES G WILSON

1 INTRODUCTION

Over the past few years many papers have beenpublished and presented which have focusedupon the merits and demerits of various lowcost sanitation technical options. Quite afew have been based solely upon theory andtherefore this paper has been written toredress this situation by concentrating uponthe existing and proposed methodology, costingand experiences gained by the BotswanaGovernment in implementing both urban andrural low cost sanitation programmes since1980.

2 URBAN SANITATION PROGRAMMES

In 1979 the Building Research Establishmentin the UK developed an experimental doubleventilated improved pit latrine which wasreferred to as the "PIP latrine" (PermanentImproved Pit latrine) (ref. 1). Subsequentdiscussions with the Ministry of LocalGovernment and Lands in Botswana led to itsadoption as the sanitation unit in an urbansquatter area upgrading programme inGaborone. In Botswana this type of latrineis referred to as the REC II (Revised EarthCloset II) (ref. 2). The constructionof some 1700 REC II units as part of thisupgrading programme proved invaluable in thesubsequent implemention of site and servicesanitation programmes. The features of theREC II have been referred to in the past inother publications (ref. 1, 2 & 3). Themain advantage from the recipients point ofview is that it allows continuous sanitationfacilities even though one pit may be full byalternating to the second pit and from thelocal authorities point of view it allowsflexibility in emptying and the handling ofa harmless and inoffensive content.

The cost of constructing the REC IIsubstructure in 1980 was comparable to theexisting ROEC latrines at P275 (1 pula =£0.60 or US $ 0.95, December 1982) andconsidered technically superior to them* Itwas also considerably less expensive than theaqua privy which was being introduced at thattime.

Early observations indicated that there was aneed for both health and user educationcampaigns together with suitable legislationand improvements to the design before further

implementation of similar sanitationprogrammes could take place.

It was seen for instance that even thougha REC II Substructure had been constructedon each plot there was a very slowresponse from the plot-holders to completethe superstructure and use the latrine(ref. 2). It was decided that a healthand user education campaign be started bythe Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) toovercome this problem. Other problemsto be overcome by this means were

(a) claims that the pits were too shallowand would therefore fill too quickly(b) the misuse of the unit mainly bychildren who would remove the cap anddefecate in the unused pit and (c) thehabit of pouring wash water into the pitsand thereby flooding them (ref. 2). Atthe same time the latrine slab was alteredto incorporate fixing points for a gumpole framed superstructure. The purpose ofdoing this was to encourage superstructuresto be built of materials which the plot-holder might find more financiallyattractive. To underline the importance ofcompleting and using the sanitation unitsit was also decided to introduce as part ofthe agreement between the plot-holder andthe SHHA the legislation that the plot-holder had to complete the superstructureto SHHA's approval within three months ofsigning the certificate of rights or facethe possibility of repossession of the site.This had to be carried out in advance ofthe construction of the house though theconstruction of temporary accommodation waspermitted.

A building materials loan is available fromthe SHHA and currently the materials costof a cement brick latrine superstructure isapproximately P185. This compares withP564 for the cost of materials to build abasic one room house. The plot-holder islimited to a maximum building materials loanof P800 which must be payed back at aninterest rate of 9% over 15 years. Thesanitation superstructure at P185 willtherefore represent a repayment of PI.90per month.

Monitoring of the original REC IIsubstructures has revealed that it isessential that they are block lined except

when constructed in hard pickable material.A subsequent redesign of the substructure hasresulted in both the lined and unlinedsubstructures costing approximately the sameamount. This has been achieved by slightlyreducing the plan area of the lined versionand at the same time it has also been foundthat the increased costs due to the lininghas been offset by savings made by omittingthe reinforced concrete ring beam which isnow used only on unlined versions. Thecurrent (November 1982) lined REC IIsubstructure costs P310 in Gaborone (seetable 1) to construct and this representsa repayment by the plot-holder ofapproximately P3.00 per month orapproximately 25% of his monthly levy ratewhich represents SHHA capital and recurrentcosts which are recovered at a rate of 8%over 25 years. It does not include repaymentof the building materials loan but the totalmonthly levy rate of approximately P12.00does include a service charge of P0.75 tocover the cost of emptying and maintainingthe REC II substructures.

One successful method that has been introducedto reduce the overall total cost of the REC IIsubstructure has been to split the contractinto two distinct parts. The excavation orgroundwork is let out in 50 or 100 unit lotsto small contractors. They usually employmanual labour as opposed to expensivemachinery and have very low overheads.

Incentives or targets are introduced toencourage these contractors to vie foradditional contract lots. A very realisticcontractual price is usually achieved. Thesecond part of the contract is tendered forby larger contractors who have precastconcreting facilities. They tender toprecast the latrine slabs and deliver to sitewhere the small contractor will place them.This is an attractive contract to the largercontractor and is usually let in units of1000 or 1500 at one time. Again a realisticcontractual price is usually achieved and byemploying this method construction rates of12 complete slab units per day and 18complete ground work units per day have beenachieved. Over a sixteen month period inSelebi Phikwe for instance some 3500complete REC II substructures have beenconstructed.

A high rate of construction is essential toprevent potential squatter development asit is also a legislation that no plot willbe allocated unless there is already anapproved sanitation substructure constructedon it.

At this rate of construction it is alsoessential that proper supervision of thecontractors is maintained. In order toachieve this the SHHA technical assistantsresponsible for contractor supervisionattend periodic construction training

TABLE 1 COMPARATIVE COSTS OF REC II SUBSTRUCTURES

LOCATION OFREC IISUBSTRUCTURES

GABORONE

FRANCISTOWN

SELEBI PHIKWE

JWANENG

TYPE

LinedUnlined

Unlined

LinedUnlined

Lined

LOWEST

NOV 1980Pula

275

TOTAL COST OF

NOV 1981Pula

286

SUBSTRUCTURE

MAY 1982Pula

314

322302

NOV 1982Pula

310

556

1 Pula = £0.60 or US $ 0.95 December 1982.

NOTE: 1) The current 23% increase in cost at Francistown, some 450 km to the northof Gaborone, is due to transportation costs.

2) The current 79% increase in cost at Jwaneng, some 200 km to the south westof Gaborone is due to a combination of both transportation and contractorslocalised increased costs.

courses held in conjunction with the localPolytechnic.

3. RURAL SANITATION PROGRAMMES

Approximately 80% of the population ofBotswana (936,000 preliminary figures 1981National Census) live in the rural areas.The average population density is 1.5persons per square kilometre. To implementsuccessful rural sanitation programmes inthese conditions calls for considerableplanning. This situation is aggravated evengreater by the rural tradition whereby thevillagers leave their villages for the"lands" for approximately two thirds of theyear. The "lands" may be up to 30 km awayand distributed around the village. Timingis therefore very important if one is toinitiate any sort of campaign otherwise onemay find if one mistimes the commencement ofa programme that there are no recipients.To locate the recipients and initiatecampaigns at the "lands" is not feasible.

A rural pilot project was initiated in sixvillages which was aimed at improvingpublic health through multi-media healtheducation and improved sanitation systems.It was found that in order to initiate asuccessful project great emphasis must beplaced upon social acceptability, affordab-ility, and a willingness by the recipient toparticipate on a self help basis.

The villagers were involved from the commence-ment of the project with decisions relatingto social preferences and acceptability oftechnical options. A variation of the ZIMVIP(ref. 5) latrine was used and it wasinteresting to note that contrary to findingsin Zimbabwe the social preferences inBotswana were for square shaped superstruct-ures with doors and the use of a seat ratherthan squatting.

Social surveys were carried out to establishthe maximum level of affordability of themajority of recipients. This was found tobe in the order of P26.00. The real totalcost of the latrine, including all materials,labour and transportation was estimated tobe in the order of P190.00 which could onlybe afforded by 3% of the rural population(ref. 4). It was therefore established thata large subsidisation element must bepresent in order to successfully carry outrural sanitation programmes.

Another key factor to the successfulimplementation of rural sanitation programmeshas been the use of existing cadres such asthe village based family welfare educatorsand assistant community development officers.Being village based their advice is.far more

readily acceptable to the potentialrecipient that say a representative from theDistrict Authority or Central Government.

Current Government policy states that ruralsanitation programmes will be implementedon a district by district basis and when theindividual district feels that it is capableof carrying out the work.

The implementation procedures have now beendrawn up in the form of a District handbookbased upon the findings of the initial pilotproject. To date three of the ten districtshave put forward their sanitation proposalsand implementation plans covering the nextfive years. This it is hoped will cover40% of the rural population and multi lateraldonor funds have been secured to subsidiseand assist these proposals. It isanticipated that the other districts willfollow suit in the near future providedsuitable funds can be made available.

Only now, having established the capabilitiesof the districts, the acceptable technicalsolutions, the level of affordability and anefficient delivery system, can long termrural sanitation programmes be implementedwith confidence.

CONCLUSIONS

In both the urban and rural cases it isbelieved that the correct technical andsocially acceptable sanitation solutionshave been adopted. The question markhowever lies over affordability. The Authorfirmly believes that an equitable sum mustbe payed by the recipients for theirsanitation units. This will lead to acommitment on their behalf which, providedprior consultation with them regardingsocial acceptance has already been made, willbe an important factor in the continuedcorrect use and maintenance of the units.Obviously health and user education arealso very important but is has been seen insome countries that where the sanitationunits have been constructed at no cost tothe recipients they have quickly falleninto misuse and disrepair even though healthand user education campaigns have been carriedout.

Surveys have shown (ref. 4) that in the ruralareas the maximum amount that people areprepared to pay for their sanitation unitslies between P20.00 and P30.00. The currentreal full cost of the rural sanitation unitis in the order of P200 and therefore thedifference must be subsidised by Governmentand or a donor agency. As domestic fundsare becoming scarcer in Botswana a greaterburden is being placed upon the donor agencies

to increase their proportion of the subsidy.The fact that a proportion of the real costis recovered from the recipient and alsothat a self help element is introduced intothe construction of the units shows awillingness and commitment by the recipientwhich might encourage the donor agency tothink that its funds will be well spent.

In the comparatively more affluent urbansite and service areas the situation iscompletely different. To date all the urbansite and service sanitation projects apartfrom upgrading ones have been funded fromdomestic funds. The policy has been one oftotal cost recovery. The only form ofsubsidisation to the recipients has been thelevying of a lower than economic rate ofinterest on the capital and building loans.Clearly, as construction costs of sanitationunits increase together with the increasingcosts of the other components parts makingup the monthly levy rate, the ability offull cost recovery from the recipients in siteand services areas becomes more difficult.Having standardised upon the type ofsanitation unit to be used in site andservice areas the Government is veryreluctant to lower that standard.

An example of the lowering of standards wouldbe the introduction of the single pit latrineto replace the double pit latrine.Government could justifiably be criticisedby recipients for being discriminatory. Fromthe technical point of view there areadvantages to the local authorities incontinuing with the double pit latrine, themain one being its flexibility with regardsto emptying. Having allowed the contentsof the full pit to mature and decompose forone year the local authority still has afurther three years during which time it canempty the contents before the alternative pitis full. Even with limited resources andtaking into account the inevitable mechanicalbreakdowns the local authorities will beable to maintain an efficient emptying serviceand at the same time always provide therecipients with sanitation facilities,using the second pit.

The situation will not occur if the singlepit is reintroduced into the urban areas.When these pits are full the responsibilityis placed immediately upon the local authorityto empty them otherwise the recipient has noalternative sanitation facilities.Inevitably this form of emptying procedurewill be on an ad hoc basis and will lead to aninefficient use of labour and plant andpossibly the purchase of an excessive numberof emptying tankers than required in order tocompensate for mechanical breakdowns. Thealternative is to dispose with an emptying

service all together and to place theresponsibility of relocating the sanitationunit when full on the recipient. This willnot work in an urban environment* It assumesthat all the recipients are capable and havethe resources to carry out this relocation.It further assumes that those that are notcapable of doing so, do have the fundsavailable to pay others to do it for them.It does not take into account local groundconditions such as rock, sand or high watertable levels which will require special skillsto overcome. It further places unacceptableresponsibilities upon the local authoritiesto supervise this work which is bound to beon a piece meal basis.

In conclusion there are still some problemsto overcome in Botswana if the correctmethods of implementation of sanitationprogrammes are to be maintained, taking intoaccount current technical options, socialacceptability and above all affordability.This is under constant monitoring andreview by Government in order that anequitable solution is found and standardsare maintained.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Author wishes to acknowledge the permiss-ion granted by the Permanent Secretary ofthe Ministry of Local Government and Landsto publish this paper and the technicalsupport given by the Technology AdvisoryGroup (TAG) of the World Bank.

REFERENCES

1 CARROL R F. Improving the Pit Latrine6th WEDC Conference, 1980 March(from the proceedings)

2 WILSON, J G. The PIP and REC IILatrines. Sanitation in DevelopingCountries. 1981 IDRC publication 168e(from the proceedings)

3 KALBERMATTEN J M. et al. AppropriateTechnology for Water Supply andSanitation. Volume II, A SanitationField Manual 1980 December. The WorldBank

4. du PRADAL P. Final Evaluation of theEnvironmental Sanitation and ProtectionProject - Social Impact Analysis. 1982,December. Ministry of Local Governmentand Lands, Botswana (a report)

5. MORGAN P R . A Ventilated Pit Privy.Appropriate Technology 6, 10. 1979.

50

9 J/& Conference-. Sanitation and water for development in Africa: HARARE; 7983

WASTE MANAGEMENT IN URBAN SLUMS

by S A AMOANING-YANKSON

ABSTRACT The high rate of populationgrowth in developing countries in recenttimes has created intricate sanitationproblems which Governments can nolonger ignore. The problem is furtherascentuated by the constant drift ofrural dwellers to the few Urban centresin search of jobs and other opportuni-ties offered by Urbanization.

Urbanization and its concomitanthousing problems have created thesituation where Urban slums have becomea regular feature of most Urban Centres.High population density, temporary-structures used as living quarters andlack of proper sanitation are conspi-cuous features of these slums. Thepredominant method of excreta collectionknown to these slum dwellers is the nightsoil system. This paper examines somepopular methods of excreta collection andputs forward another possible method ofexcreta Management in high density Urbanslums.

INTRODUCTION

The Tema District Council in Ghanacovers an area of 720km2 and is not onlyone of the largest district council areasin Ghana, but also includes Ghana's onlyplanned industrial city, in addition toextensive rural areas most of which serveas "domitory towns" for the cities ofTema and Accra. While Tema, theadministrative centre has a centralsewerage system, the high populationdensity in the unsewered surroundingsatellite slums create many problems forthe District Council, among which isthat of excreta management.

Various excreta collection systems havebeen tried and considered unsuitable forthe type of urban slums the council hasto deal with. For example, the aquaprivy system has the disadvantage oflimited capacity, while the night soilcollection system, apart from theunacceptably high health hazard, tends tobe rather expensive to operate, mainly

on account of shortage of labour.Experiences both in Tema and elsewherein Ghana have also shown that watercloset system is unsuitable in theparticular situations under considera-tion. The water closet system requiresan expensive maintenance programme onaccount of improper use, particularlyin respect of use of improper analcleansing material. This system alsorequires imported items too delicatefor use in such slums.

In its 4esire to improve sanitationin these slums, the Tema DistrictCouncil in conjunction with a privatecontractor developed the AutomaticFlushing Toilet. The salient featuresof this system are discussed in thispaper.

FEATURES OF THE SYSTEM

Figure one shows details of the system,which consist mainly of a conduitserving various squating chambers, anautomatic flushing device at one endof the conduit, and the superstructure.

The conduit consist of 200 mm boreprecast concrete segments which areassembled on site. The upper arm ofeach segment leads to a squating hole.The flushing unit is a trapezoidalbucket, hinged near its centre of gravityinto which water is allowed to flow.The bucket when full tilts and dischargesits contents through a chute into theconduit. The rate of flow of water isregulated to ensure flushing once inevery half hour.

Other features include a trap gulleywhich is provided to trap flushed solidparticles and a syphon which ensures thatodour gases are excluded from thesquating chambers. A substantial part ofthe cost of the unit is invested in thesuperstructure. Current attempts atreducing cost include proposals to usemud-bricks for construction of thesuperstructure.

51

LOCATION OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

Location of these units is so plannedthat each 20 - hole unit serves approxi-mately fifty compound houses, each ofwhich may contain as many as twentypeople. This means that about a thousandpeople use one such unit. In thepresent areas of operation, walkingdistances are less than three hundredmetres.

Routine maintenance consist mainly of thetoilets being cleaned daily with hosedwater. The tilting mechanism of thebucket also requires greasing once inevery three months. It is proposed toincorporate a rack in the trap gulleywhich will require daily cleaning.

MERITS AND DEMERITS OF THE SYSTEM

The main disadvantage of the system isthat it can only be operated in areasserved by pipe borne water. The systemmay also be criticised in that, theautomatic flushing device operates evenduring periods when the unit is notsubject to extensive use, such as nighthours. However, with an average dailywater consumption of 1.2 gallons percapita, the system is clearly moreefficient in water usage than.the con-ventional water closet system. Difficul-ties arise during periods of watershortage since the conduit becomesclogged, necessitating roding andflushing when regular supply is restored.The tilting bucket, which is made of

cmnuen czi • en en im en en

QKOUHO PLAN

Fig. 1 Details of the Automatic Flushing Toilet

52

TABLE 1COST COMPARISON OF ALTERNATIVES

FOR A THIRTY YEAR PERIOD

ALTERNATIVES

Automatic FlushingSystem

Might Soil System

Water ClosetSystem

PRESENT WORTH * (CEDIS)

1%

101,896

1,092,104

195,410

84,759

850,013

155,007

8%

58,385

516,546

99,992

steel is also subject to corrosion overrelatively short periods. Studies areunderway to replace the tilting bucketwith a concrete tank operated by a syphon,as a way of overcoming this problem.

On the credit side, the automaticflushing toilet has been found to havelow initial and maintenance costscompared with the water closet and nightsoil collection systems. Table onegives a summary of economic analysisusing the discounted cash flow technique.A thirty year life span, and interestrates of 1%, 3% and 8% were adopted forunits serving a population of one thousandeach. The system is found to be morehygenic. There is no odour and no contactwith faecal matter, it has a long life andthere is no reliance on imported materials.The technology is simple and suited toany locality, privacy is ensured and ithas a capacity to withstand heavyloads. There is no pollution of soiland groundwater and no access to excretaby flies and rodents.

Abolition of Pan Latrines

Other merits of the system can be seenin its adoption as a practical way ofabolishing pan latrines, particularly insewered areas where landlords refuse toconnect to central sewers. The

respective council can provide suchpublic units and pass by-laws abolishingthe use of pan latrines. The conservancylabourers so affected may bere-deployed. Landlords who still preferhome units will have no alternative butto connect their houses to centralsewers.

Home units of the automatic flushingtoilets can easily be made without useof imported items. An interestingfeature is that, in villages, untreatedwater may be fetched from streams andwells to operate the units as and whenrequired. Effluent discharged may betreated by any of the known on-sitetreatment methods.

CONCLUSIONS

The object of presenting this paper isnot only to stimulate discussions whichmight in turn be of help in our futureimprovements, but also to introduce thesystem to other areas having similarcollection problems. As mentioned themajor disadvantage of the system is thefact that it is waterborne, and thereforemay not be in line with current trends inthis field. However, for an urbanCommunity that uses drinking water forwatering of lawns and garden, provisionof 1.2 gallons per capita per day for itssocially deprived people for proper

53

sanitation is not asking for too much.Finally mention must be made of benefitsto the nation as a whole namely:-(a) benefit accruing to the user interms of an easy access to goodsanitary facilities, which may be-related to his willingness thereafter topay his taxes(b) benefits accruing to the user andnon-user in terms of improved health andproductivity, savings in medical expenses,an enhanced social status of thecommunity and an improvement in theeconomic potential of the area.


LOW-COST SANITATION IN NIGERIA

by PROFESSOR P A OLUWANDE and A ONIBOKUN

INTRODUCTION

" Get mobilized, pay attentionto hygiene, reduoe disease,improve the health conditions"

Mao Tse-tung.

This quotation from the great Chinese leaderis very appropriate for all other developingcountries today as it was for China duringthe period before Chinese revolution of 19U9.In order that any environmental sanitationprogramme may have noticeable impact on thehealth of the people in the developingcountries it is necessary that the peoplemust be involved through aided self-helpapproach (Oluwande, 1?69 ref,1, 1975 ref,2,1976 ref,3, Oluwande and Onibokun, 1976 ref.li). As rightly pointed out by Chambersref.g (197U), Feaehem at al ref.6 (1978),Holmquist ref.7 (1970), Lamb ref.8 (197U)and Schaffer ref,9 (1969), to advocate mereBelf-help for people without adequatemobilization and necessary imput assistancewill make programmes get out of hand andeventually lead to frustration for allparties concerned. Feaohetn al ref,10(1980) also outlined some of the factorswhich lead to failure of self-help schemesand how to overcome the difficulties.

In Higeria, the only lowcoot sanitationmethod commonly employed by the people isthe conventional pit latrine as illustratedin fig 1. However, the simple latrine isnot popular among the people partly becauseof the well known shortcomings of the methodand partly because of defective siting,construction and maintenance practi oes(Oluwande, 1969, ref.11, Oluwande 1979 ref.i2j|The commonest sanitation method In the urbanareas are the ubiquitous septic tanks andthe soakaway pits ae Illustrated in fig II*AlVmod^m" houses, even those in communitieswhere there is no pipe tome water systemand those houses occupied by thce whocannot operate the system properly axeprovided with septic tank systems. For mostof the system* the tanks receive only sewagefrom the water closets, while millage fromthe kitchens, bathrooms and we-sh-hand-basinsis discharged either into the soak-aways or

into the open gutters (Oluwande et al 1978ref.12, Peaohem et al 19^0, ref,iU).The bucket latrines of the type illustratedin fig III are also common in urban andrural areas.

In recent years, mioh attention has beendrawn to the need for lowcost sanitationdevices for the developing countries whichare effective and sanitary without beingdependent much on water. The developmentswere aimed at reducing the bad features ofthe conventional pit latrines. Among themodified formB of latrines being introducedin different parts of the developingcountries aret

(a) the ventilated latrine,(bj the RDBC(0) the water seal and the

composting latrines (Wright, 1977, ref.15Winblad et al, 1978, ref.16). In the pilotproject being reported In this paper thesevarious modified forms of latrines and theconventional type were investigated.

2. Material & Method

Prior to the construction of the latrines,preliminary surveys were carried out ineach of the study areas to find out thetypes of latrine best suited for varioushouseholds selected. The study areasinclude part* of Ibadan city (Population2 million); Ilesha (Population i+000,000),Oyo (Population 300000), 0«u (Population20,000), Sekona (Population 10,000; I;}aye(Population 5,000) and Ib»rapa Division(Population 150,000), The various types oflatrines provided and investigated areillustrated in flg.17. The distributions ofthe sanitary appliances are given in table I.

In Ibarapa division, the landlords providedthe pits and the parts of the material costs.The remaining costs for materials, carpentersand bricklayers were provided by theUniversity. In order areas, the entirecosts were provided by the NigerianInstitute of Social and Economic Research(UISER). The average costs for each typeare given in table II.

55

TABLE I

Distributions of the latrine types

Types of latrines

Location

Ib:-A'..

Ilesha

Oyo

Oeu

Sekona

Ijaye

IbarapaDivision

ROEC

-

1

1

1

-

1

-

Ventilatedpit

1

1

1

1

-

1

-

Water sealdirect pit

-

-

1

-

1

-

-

Water sealoffset pit

1

1

-

-

1

1

Aquaprioy

-

1

-

1

1

-

u

Conventional 'pit

1

1

-

-

-

6

TABLE I I

Cost of different typeB of la brine ipt H/rerja (1,9,90/

Costs per one unit in hVlra

Latrinetype

Conventionallatrine

Ventilatedpit latrine

Water sealdirect pit

Water sealoffset pit

H0HX3 latrine

Aqua. Frivy

Septic Tank

Pit

5o

50

50

60

6o

8c>

120

Floor Blah

Material

50

50

70

100

100

150

130

Labour

ho

50

50

80

80

120

150

Piping

-

30

-

35

60

150

S\ip e rf) true tur e

Material

123

125

123

123

125

123

?

Labour

70

70

70

70

70

70

V

Total

333

375

363

un

603

600

Motet 01 1 Naira = O.76 Pound Sterling (Oct. 1982)? (b) ikruiai.iy the septic tank is not built voider a

separate superstructure,

56

Questionnaires were prepared for researchassistants to complete when they made monthlyvisits to each of the units. The typicalquestionnaire is given:

Low Cost Sanitation Pilot Project MonitoringProgramme Questionnaire

1. Type of Project

2.

3.U.5.6.

7.8.

12.

13.

Aqua privyConventional pit latrineVentilated pit LatrineROBC latrineOffset water seal latrine

Location

Name of Landlord.......

Bate visited

Time visited

Number of userB........

Numbers of adult users

l.uaber of children users..,,,.. ,(those under 10 years)

State of the floor of toilet:

cleandirtydrywet

10. Intensity of smell:

(a) None(bj Slight(c) Strong

11. Intensity of Ply breeding*

(a) None(b) Slight(c) Heavy

Position of iiie cover for the latrine

15.

(a) Properly kept in position(b) Not in position(c) Not available

State of maintenance of the inside of theinlet pipes:

(a) Clean(b; Dirty with excreta sticking

Any other operation-maintenance problemobserved:

Specify: fa)

Any other operation-maintenance problemindentified by the users:

Specify: (a)

Discussions

From this pilot project, the followingobservations were made for the parts ofNigeria concerned:

(i) Generally, people are found to be eagerto help themselves to provide sanitaryfacilities once they receive some form ofencouragement from the authorities. Suchencouragement may be in different forms,like provision of technical supervisionduring construction, assistance in procuringimported materials or provision of skilledlabour by carpenters and bricklayers. Thistype of aided self-help approach goes a longway. It is not enough for authorities toask the people to participate in self-helpprojects. The people must be aided to helpthemselves.

(ii) The reactions of the people to newsanitary facilities depend on many factorslike the level of formal education, thesocio-economic status and the previousexperiences with similar facilities in thepast. Prom this study, it was observed thatmany were eager and willing to accept theuse and maintain the new types of sanitaryfacilities even though they regarded thefacilities as special gifts from thegovernment* They regard themselves as beingvery lucky and that they must use and takeproper care so as to please the government.Some refused to use the facilities becausethey are not familiar with them. Even afterthey had been educated en the use andmaintenance they still refused to use then.There is a particular chief who will notpermit his tenants to use the aqua privybuilt for them because he wants them to useonly the pit latrine. Another will notallow his household to use the offset water-seal latrine because he fears it cannot beproperly used by them no matter the amountof education on the use and the maintenance.However, this type of oppositions to the newtypes of sanitary facilities were deliferatelyinvited because the facilities were providedto find out to what extent can people whoare used to one type can be educated to usenew and different types. This study revealBthat it is easier to educate the simple andilliterate families with low socio-economicstatus than the educated or half educatedones, who feel they know vihat is good fortheir people.

(iii) Initially, it was observed that inthose houses where there are many children,the concrete floors of the latrines werebeing fouled without maintenance. In mostof such houses the women responded to theadvise of the research assistants on the

57

need for proper maintenance. Once thewomen were talked to and they realised thatthe research assistants can call any timewithout notice, the standard of maintenanceimproved.

(iv) For the components of the latrines tobe properly constructed, the local bricklayersrequire close supervision. If this is notdone, special components like the vent pipe,the seal for the pour flush and the slantinginlet for the ROEC are likely to be misplaced.Among the common mistakes observed areiplacing the vent pipes inside the latrinewhen they should be outside for optimumeffects (Morgan 1979 ref.17) and making theslanting angle of the inlet pipe in the HQuCtoo big or the length of the pipe too long.It is therefore concluded that in the partsof Nigeria involved in this project, thelocal bricklayers and carpenters who areable to build septic tanks systems correctlyand atimes without supervision cannotconstruct the modifications desired for theconventional latrines without closesupervision. This situation is likely to bethe same for other parts of the developingcountries.

(v) The costs of the latrines are dependenton many factors like the method of executingthe project (whether by direct labour or bycontract); the location of the site(materials & transportation) .-•r.d the numberof latrine units (economy of scale). ThecoBts given in table II are for "semi-contract" approach. This was due to the factthat the bricklayers and the carpenters wereinvited to a meeting where the prices quotedby them were hassled and reduced. Themodifications maJce the latrines moreexpensive than the conventional ones. Also,it is not easy to obtain the ideal size(15cm diameter) of the vent pipe (Korâi1979 ref.17). Therefore, 10cm asbestoscement or PVC pipes coi.uionly employed fortie septic tank systems were used. Also,the 15cm diameter pipes which are ideal forthe inlets of the ROEC, the waterseal typeand the aqua privy are very difficult toobtain.

(vi) It is very difficult, especially inthe urban centres, to know the number ofpeople using each sanitation unit. This isbecause the people are unnecessarilysuspicious that a form of sanction whichdepends on the number of users will later beImposed on the;;:.

Conclusions

The low cost sanitation appliances mostappropriate for Nigeria are the varioustype of the pit latrines. The vei tilatedpit and the ROEC types are best forhouseholds where paper and other solidmaterials are used for anal cleaning whilethe water seal types are suitable formoslein households where water is used mainlyby adults. In many houses, where the useof the latrine unit is restricted to onefamily, the conventional pit latrine iseffective. This is because, it is easy touse and maintain such latrines properly.

The modifications to the conventionallatrines, though desirable, make theconstruction difficult for the local brick-layers and carpenters. Also, thematerials required for the modifications arenot available locally. The people willhave to be aided to obtain them.

References

1. Oluwande P.A. (1969a) Importance of Aidedcelf-help on improved environmentalsanitation in community rehabilitationJ.Soc.Hlth. Kig. vol.U Ho.2 pp.61-8?

2. Oluwande P.A. (1970, Development of Aquaprivy for urban sanitation X roc. 2ndInter. Conference on Water. Waste andHlth. in Hot Climates. i LouphboroufihUniversity of Technology U.k. pp.109-122.

3. Oluwande P.A. (1976) Provision of Enviro-nmental Health when resources are limited.J.Koc.lIlth. fcife-. Vol.xl pp«U-8.

U. Oluwoude P.A. and Onibokun A.G, (1976)Two ireaks in Ghana. An insight into ChinaCoLJiiUnity Dev. Journal vol. 11 l.o,3 PP.

gog-aiU. L.K.0, Chambers, ft. (I97I4) 1-Unagung Itural

Development Ideas .'ind Experiences fromEast Africa. Uppsale. The ScandinavianInstitute of African Studies.

6. Feachem.R.G.A; Bums E; Cairnsoss, A.;Khan, Cronum; A,; Cross, P.; Curties D;Kalid, K; Lamb D. and aouthall, K (1975)hater. Health and Levelppment; An Inter-disciplinary/- Evaluation; London TriiaedBooks Limited.

7. Iloiriqoist P. (1Q7O) "Implementing RuralDevelopment Project" In DevelopmentAdr.inigtr.--.tion - The Kenyan nacperiencedHyden, Jackson .ix<& Okunu ,-airobi OxfordUniversity Press pp. 201-229.

G. Larft, G.S.(197U) Persant Politics.London: Julian riedmsai.

58

9. Schaffer, B.B. (1969) "The Deadlock inDevelopment Administration" In Politicoand Change in Developing Countries, ed.C, Lays, Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press. pp. 177-211.

10. Feachem, R.G.; Bradley, D.J.; Garelick,H. and Mara, D.D. (1980) AppropriateTechnology for Water Supply andSanitation (Health Aspects of Excretaand Sullage Management - A state of-the-Art Review. World Bank WashingtonDC 2C-U33.

11. Oluwande P.A. (1969b) Experimentalinvestigation of some factors effectingthe strength and oost of pit latrineconcrete floor slab. J.Soc.Hlth.l'JiR.vol.kHo.3 PP. 137-11*7

12. Oluwande P. A.; Sridhar, M.KC. andOkubadejo D. (1978) The Health Hazardsof open drains in Developing Countries.Prog. Wat. Tech. Vol.11 No. 1/2PP. 121-130 U.K.

13. Oluwande P.A. (1979) sanitary appliancesin Nigeria Proc. of InternationalRegional Seminar on Sanitary EngineeringCairo May Z+-10 1979.

1J+. Feaohem, R.G.A.j Mara, D.D, and Iwugo,K.O. (i§80b) Appropriate Technologyfor water supply and sanitation vol.7In Alternative sanitation Technologiesfor Urban Areas in Africa World Bank,Washington DC.

15. Wright A. (1977) Rural Latrines Reportof a Technical Advisory Group Meeting.Kumasi, Ghana. IDRC Ottawa, Canada.

16. Winblad, TJj Kilama, U. and Torstensson K(1978) Sanitation without Water SIDA,Stockholm*

17. Morgan, P.R. (1979) A ventilated PitPrivy, Appropriate Technology vol.6No. 3 PP. 10-11 UK.

59

.) 9th Conference: Sanitation and water for development in Africa: HARARE; 1983

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN WATER AND SANITATION

by SISTER PATRICIA WALSH

INTRODUCTION

There is an almost unanimous general agree-ment to support the proposition that exten-sive community participation is indispensa-ble to the success of any broad-gauged effortto transform a rural society and to meet thebasic needs of its poorest families (ref. 1).

Pieno et ai. define 'community participation'as "serving the interests of villagers andhelping them to cooperate and be involved inthe planning and implementation of water andsanitation or other local programs." Theythen go on to describe the different degreesand types of participation which they saywill "vary from situation to situation."(ref. 2)

Concepts and characteristics of communityparticipation will be discussed in some de-tail throughout this conference and It is notthe intention of the author to go into muchdetail in defining this concept further here.However, for the sake of clarity, a briefoutline of 'community participation' as ap-plied to the project discussed in this paperwill be given.

I. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Since Independence great stress has beenplaced on community participation at alllevels of decision making in Zimbabwe. ThePresident, Prime Minister and various Cabi-net Ministers have on numerous occasions em- !phasized the importance of involvement by all)the people, all the time, in all decisionsconcerning their everyday lives.

Since the inception of the water and sanita-tion programme in the Takawira District, com-munity participation has been a 'built-in'feature of the programme, as it was felt thatthe local community has an important role toplay in rural water-sanitation programmes.The 'community' for the purpose of this pro-ject comprised of:

(1) Individuals - women in particular(2) Local leading citizens(3) Local Government officials(*0 The Mission Hospital staff and

Ministry of Health staff.This.'community1 gradually overcame many'teething' problems through a careful,patientand at times slow process.

This paper is concerned with the 'individualhousehold1 and 'community' aspects of parti-cipation in water and sanitation programmes.Participation for basic sanitation - involv-ed mostly only 'households' in the construc-tion of individual family pit-latrines, forthe water supply the community consisted ofa group of 'households' or an entire village.

2. BACKGROUND

A brief background will be given to the geo-graphical position of the area described inthis project and also to the introduction ofthe programme.

2.1. Geographical AreaThe area that this project was carried outin is the Takawira Communal Area (formerlyknown as Chilimanzi Tribal Trust Land), Itis situated south of Mvuma in the Midlandsarea of Zimbabwe. The District has a totalarea of 104 207 hectares. The main watersupplies of the area are two rivers on theeast and west boundaries. There are fourmain dams, used mainly for irrigation pur-poses .

The population as per Takawira DistrictCouncil Development Plan for 1981 is 55 000(ref. 3), giving an approximate populationdensity of 52 people per km .

2.2. Introduction of ProjectThe protected well and sanitation projectwas started in the District as a result of anevaluation/follow-up on children who had beendischarged from the Nutrition RehabilitationCentre (N.R.C.) at the District Hospital (St.Theresa's Mission Hospital). On visiting thehomes of these children it was soon realizedthat most of the teaching/discussion on sani-tation, hygiene, gardening etc., which hadbeen undertaken at the N.R.C. was more orless ineffective because the parents of thesechildren had neither pit latrines or protect-ed water supplies at their homes. In manyinstances the water that was available had tobe collected some kilometers away from thevillage, with the result that it would beused only for purely domestic purposes andnot for vegetable gardens.

The majori ty of the parents interviewedstated that their greatest need as far asthe i r fami ly 's health was concerned was to

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have 'clean water1. At this time (late 1975)there were very few protected wells in thearea despite the tireless efforts of thelocal Health Assistants. There was no feltneed among the people for latrines at thistime, despite the fact that they had beenexposed to a considerable amount of HealthEducation on the matter.

As a follow-up to this evaluation, the hospi-tal staff discussed the findings with theHospital Health Advisory Committee (thiscommittee comprised of the following repre-sentatives - Senior Hospital Staff, Govern-ment Health Assistants, Local Councillors,School Teachers and Local Leaders includingReligious Leaders). There was general agree-ment among the committee members that thetime was now 'ripe' to initiate a 'cleanwater project' as there was a felt need forit in the community. It was also felt thatthe introduction of the idea combining theconstruction of latrines with the protectedwater supply should not be introduced atthis time as it was not felt necessary by thecommunity at village level.

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECT

Over a period of about six months a number ofmeetings were held with various communityleaders to try and plan a suitable, accept-able programme. Many factors had to be takeninto consideration in this planning, i.e.time of year when people are available forsuch a programme, where there were existing'open' wells already, what type of pumps tobe used, degree of involvement and contribu-tion by the local village community etc.

3.1. Health Education for ProjectAs previously stated there had been an 'ex-pressed need1 by certain members of the com-munity (parents of children discharged fromthe N.R.C.) for such a project. It was feltby the Hospital Committee that this was pro-bably a good reflection of the feelings ofthe community as a whole; nevertheless it wasconsidered to be of paramount importance tomount a District Health Education Programmein preparation for the project.

Every opportunity was taken to inform the en-tire population of the District about theproposed project. The two Chiefs in the Dis-trict gave their full support and encourage-ment and spoke at gatherings about the propo-sal. The hospital staff concentrated alltheir Health Education efforts on water-bornediseases. They used every opportunity, i.e.talks/discussions in the hospital, at themobile M.C.H. clinics, at Parent/Teachermeetings, council meetings, religious gather-ings, clubs - no opportunity was missed todiscuss the project.

3.2. Financing the ProjectFinance of any project is always an importantIssue and in particular in a rural ThirdWorld Country where there was a war as wasthe situation in Zimbabwe in 1976.

As the majority of the people in the Districtwere subsistence farmers struggling with theharsh realities of a war situation and verypoor soil and trying to provide the basicminimum amount of food for their families, itwas decided after consultations with variouscommunity members that the hospital (whichwas run by Dominican Sisters from Europe)would be responsible for trying to raisefunds from their home countries for thematerials needed for the project.

The community at village level offered as acontribution to the project that they wouldprovide their labour for the digging of thewell, the lining of it, and where possiblethey would collect the pumps and slabs fromthe hospital in order to keep transport coststo a minimum. The labour of the communitywas approximately equal to the labour of twoadult males working for two weeks (6 dayweek) in cash terms (based on the minimumwage). This would mean a contribution ofabout $0% of the total cost of the project.The remaining ^0% covered cost of the pumpand transport, these being provided by theHospital. The cement (in part) was given bythe Provincial Health Inspector from theMinistry of Health.

3.3. Technical AssistanceIt was decided that the most suitable type ofpump for the Takawira project was the 'BlairHand Pump'. This simple hand pump was theresult of research and technology carried outby Dr. Peter Morgan of the Blair ResearchInstitute in Harare. The technicalities ofthe pump will not be described here. It suf-fices to say that the pump was meant to be'durable, low cost and easy to assemble andinstall'. In Its original design it wasmeant primarily for shallow well operation(approximately 6m) which was suitable for theTakawira District as it has a relatively highwater table.

This district was one of the first areas touse this pump on a wide scale, resulting inDr. Morgan visiting the project as often ashe could. The project benefited from histechnical expertise while he in turn did some'on the spot1 research which resulted invarious alterations to the pump.

The assembling of the pumps was carried outby metal-work trainees at the Mission workshopunder the guidance of Brother Charles. Thisworkshop was also responsible for making thecement slabs, and for the repair of the pumpswhen they broke down; the pumps were brought

61

to the workshop by the villagers for repair.

The siteing of the well was carried out bythe Health Assistants at the request of thevillagers. The actual digging of the well,carrying of stones for the lining, sand etc.was carried out by the villagers. When thewell was completed the Health Assistant sentthe measurements to the Mission workshop andthe villagers collected their pump which wasthen installed under the guidance of theHealth Assistant.

The three Health Assistants in the Districtwere inundated with requests from villagersto site wells for them and to protect wellsonce dug. In order to relieve the HealthAssistants, the Hospital employed and trained13 Village Health Workers (V.H.W.s) to assistand work with the Health Assistants. (TheV.H.W. project was financed by OXFAM - thewater project was part of their work whichincluded an integrated approach to 'totalhealth1.) There were some 'teething' pro-blems initially between the Health Assistantsand some of the V.H.W.s as there was nodefinite 'job description1 for the V.H.Ws butthis was quickly and effectively sorted out.However It is worth mentioning as it couldcause great problems in such a project. Itis of the utmost importance to have a clear'role description' of all participants insuch a programme before the programme iscommenced.

3.4. Present SituationAs far as was known to the Hospital authori-ties there were A protected wells in the areabefore the commencement of this project. Atthe time of this report 302 Blair Hand Pumpshave been installed and four boreholesthroughout the District as part of the pro- ;ject. The District Administration has agreedto be responsible for the maintenance of theboreholes as the Ministry of Water Develop-ment has also installed others in the areaduring the past year. :

It was felt that the time was 'ripe' for someevaluation of this project. A student fromthe University of Zimbabwe (Matindiki) evalu-ated this programme and submitted the resultsas a dissertation in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements of the degree of Bachelor ofSocial Work. His findings and suggestionswill now be studied as they bring out somevery important 'gaps' in the community parti-cipation of this project (ref.^t).

k. EVALUATION OF WATER PROJECT

This project which was commenced in 1976 wasdiscontinued temporarily in mid-1979 due tothe deteriorating security situation in theDistrict. By this time, however, it becameapparent that there had been no provision

made in the project as to who would be res-ponsible for the maintenance and repair ofthese pumps. Villagers started bringingbroken pumps to the Mission workshop for re-pair and in some cases pumps were just re-moved from the well and not brought for re-pair as people were expecting the HealthAssistants or V.H.W.s to go to the villagesand do the repai rs.

After Independence the project recommencedand it was hoped that villagers would beginto feel responsible for the maintenance butthis did not happen. Early in 1982 consid-eration had been given to the idea of havingcourses for training villagers to do theirown repairs but this did not materializeuntil the findings of Matindike's reportwere made known to the Hospital Authorities.

The following are some of the suggestionswhich Matindike (ref, h) makes. They are ofInterest to the Hospital and all partici-pants in the project and also may be of helpto others considering such a project.

(I) "There should be short courses onhow to maintain water pumps."These have already been commencedbut there were problems in thisarea in so far as that the commer-cial firm now supplying the pumpswants to sell the pumps assembledwhich means that they are gluedtogether which makes for 'localrepairs' a complex problem,

(ii) "There should be specific watercommittees to supervise proper useof the protected wells and also torepair the pumps promptly." Forthe first part of this suggestionit may be possible to get the local(village) health committee inter-ested.

(iii) "The communities should be encour-aged to save some money for buyingspare parts for the water pump orfor buying a new pump when thefirst one provided by the Hospitalis completely worn out." This toois a very important considerationand it is the plans of the educa-tion committee to try and integratethis project with other 'communityprojects' i.e. the co-operativebuying of fertilizer etc.

The community participation aspect in themaintenance of the pumps had not been seri-ously considered at the time of the imple-mentation of the project, but it is a mostimportant area which should not be left outin any planning. It will now be more diffi-cult to introduc e this new concept ofcommunity responsibility for maintenance andrepairs; nevertheless it is seen as an abso-lute necessity so that the community feels

62

totally responsible and 'self-reliant' inthis project. Plans are under way to preparethe ground for this important phase whichshould have been a built-in part of the pro-ject right from the time of its inception,

5. LATRINE PROJECT

As mentioned at the beginning of this paperthe water project was meant to be part of an'integrated health and sanitation programme1

in the minds of the authorities concernedwith the health of the local population.However due to the apparent lack of interestby the community in the latrine aspect ofthe programme it was felt that the introduc-tion of one concept - the water project - atany one time was sufficient.

Early in 1981 when the majority of the vil-lages had a protected water supply with asimple hand pump installed it was felt thatthe time was 'ripe' to introduce this nextphase of the programme. The same methods asused in the water project were used in moti-vation, creating an awareness of the impor-tance of latrines etc. As the country wasnow Independent and people were building uptheir homes with the hope of a brighter fu-ture this new concept of having a latrinequickly caught on. However, it was soonapparent that people were only interested in'household latrines'. They were quite ex-plicit that 'village' or communal latrineswould not be acceptable, mostly from a cul-tural and hygienic point of view. With thisin mind the construction of the 'Blair Venti-lated Privy1 was commenced with the familyproviding the labour in digging. Construc-tion was carried out with the aid of theHealth Assistants, V.H.W.s and the rawmaterials were provided by the Mission Hospi-tal.

At the time of writing this paper 580 latrineshave been completed in the District. As thisproject is still in its 'infancy' no evalua-tion has yet been undertaken but from 'on thespot1 checks it would seem that the problemsof maintenance etc. of the water project willnot be a problem in this case. The communityis aware of the fact that the initial mate-rial help in this project is a 'one time only1

contribution and that for the future, latrineconstruction will be entirely the responsibi-lity of the family, consequently they mustconsider this as an integral part of theirhome budgeting and planning for the future.

CONCLUSION

With the party political structure of Govern-ment in Independent Zimbabwe 'community par-ticipation' and 'self-reliance' is part andparcel of the everyday life of the people.The party structure includes District Health

Committees where the members are appointedby the community. This structure and thesegoals can be a most important vehicle in thefuture for all health programmes and in par-ticular for such projects as described inthis paper.

Despite the failure of community participa-tion In the maintenance aspect of this pro-ject we are hopeful that in future pro-grammes this problem can be prevented byforesight and careful planning.

It has been said that "Women hold the keyto the success of new water supply and sani-tation projects in much of the developingworld" (ref. 5 ) . The scope of this paperhas not permitted general comment on thedegree of participation by the men and wom-en as groups. However as a final comment Iwould like to note that without the enthusi-astic support and hard work of the women ofTakawira District this project would nothave gotten off the ground.

REFERENCES

1. COOMBS, P.H. New Strategies for Im-proving Rural Fami ly Life. I .C.E.D.Connecticut, U.S.A. 19*51.2. PINEO, C.S., SCHNARE, D.W. and MILLER,G.W. Environmental Sanitation and Integra-ted Health Delivery Programs, MonographSeries, American Public Health Association,Washington, D.C. 1981.3. DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR. 'DevelopmentPlan - Takawira District Council" (Unpub-lished). Takawira District, Mvuma. 1981.k. MATINDIKE, S.S.P. 'The Effect of Intro-ducing Protected Wells on the Incidence ofWaterborne Diseases in a Rural District1

A Takawira IChillmanzU District Case Study.University of Zimbabwe, Harare. 1982.5. WORLD WATER NEWS, in World Water1981 - 1990. Pub. T. Tel ford. London. 1982.

63


COMMUNICATION SUPPORT IN SANITATION DEVELOPMENT

by E P W Cross

1. INTRODUCTION

"Listen you ... fools, it's a simpleproblem. Let us engineers solve itand come back with what we've beenable to do ... But don't bring upthese goddamn silly questions aboutpolitics and local psychology" (Ref 1).

The starting point of the paper is this quotefrom an exasperated fictional American waterengineer struggling to mount a rural watersupply project in South East Asia in the1950's. The paper's premise is preciselythe reverse to that of the Ugly American:local involvement in project planning andimplementation, and considering thecultural context and the villagers' view-point are essential preconditions forsuccess in the sector. Technologicalsolutions and educational campaigns whichneglect the user and community viewpointcourt disaster. In the past the failure toconsider this perspective has been one ofthe primary reasons for ths poor performanceof sectoral programmes in Africa. Examplesof socially inappropriate programmes inthe sector are spread the breadth of thecontinent, from the banks of the Nile tothe squatter camps in the Cape Plats.

Two years into the International DrinkingWater Supply and Sanitation Decade theimportance of the viewpoint is more widelyrecognised. The technical literature isnow interspersed with pledges to socialappropriateness,community participation,'"bottom-up planning", the integration of"hardware" and "software" components,communications support, etc. Despite thedevelopment of this new language in publichealth planning, few African countries havetransformed such concepts into practicalproposals for programme design. The aimof this paper is to outline activities andmethods for establishing socially soundsanitation programmes in Africa.

2. PRINCIPAL SOCIOLOGICAL ISSUES

The sociological issues that need to beaddressed in sanitation development are apiecemeal collection of factors and are notderived from one coherent theory of socialchange. A useful distinction is thatbetween cultural and social issues. Culturalfactors refer to local understandings,

values, beliefs, preferences and customsaffecting technology adoption and usage,and the transmission of water- and excreta-related diseases. The social issues referto the social organisation and local levelmanagement of the projects.

Cultural factors

Like other human activities, human excretadisposal is culture bound. The act ofdefecation is both a physiological processand a social fact, and preferences indefecation differ between social andcultural groups. Failure to take intoconsideration cultural preferences willlead to misuse and under-usage of latrines.

Some of these cultural preferences areobvious: most rural African communitiesdo not cleanse themselves with water afterdefecation; the majority of the ruralpopulation (except in Southern Africa)prefer to squat; privacy of access isimportant; and the use of human faeces isculturally unacceptable in much of Africa.Other preferences are less obvious:communities may have preferred locationsfor latrines which need not necessarilyagree with optimum technical choices; theuse of latrines may be subject to avoidancerules and preferences in sharing arrange-ments which may, for example, prohibitsharing between social categories. Mundanelocal preferences in building styles andmaterials may also be important. Defecationtraining is moreover a fundamental activityin personality development and even a minorchange in cultural habits may be difficultto achieve. The topic of human excretadisposal is highly sensitive in manycultures and in general it is a difficultarea in which to attempt behavioural change.

There are essentially two basic approachesto ensure that sanitation technologies areculturally acceptable:

b.

adapt local behaviour to technologiesby health education;adapt the technology to localpreferences

Health education: In the past the problemhas been approached with a simple deductivelogic: if the technology fails then thefault must lie with the user. Despite thefailure of unimaginative and paternalistic

health education programmes, clearlyeducative components are essentialsupplements in sanitation development. Thereis a lack of expressed demand for sanitationIn comparison with other sectors and thehealth benefits of sanitation are notimmediately apparent.

Socio-technical design: The other approachis to design sanitation technologies inthe knowledge of local preferences. Sincehealth education has at best a limitedeffect on behaviour change a socially soundtechnology is a vital component ofsanitation development.

Social factors

Despite its importance cultural appropriate-ness in technical design constitutes themore manageable part of the spectrum ofsociological problems in the sector. Likeother developmental activities, sanitationdevelopment implies a change in systems ofmanagement and control, in other words achange in social organisation. Thesociological consequences of a Government'sbenevolence in implementing a sanitationprogramme may be quite different from thatexpected. Whereas administrators may seethe supply in terms of services and benefitsit is also likely to be seen by ruralcommunities in the context of local dynamicsof prestige, authority and alliance. Evenwhere project implementation does notdirectly require a change in the structureof local authority, it can add to theinfluence of those in control, and shiftthe balance of power in a communityprecipitating local resentments, politicaldisputes, non contribution to communalprojects, or even, in some instances,sabotage of projects. The principalsociological tasks in the sector are: togenerate user enthusiasm for a project; todevelop and sustain real community dialogueand support; to establish an effectivesystem of project management; to ensurethat maintenance is carried out; and thatfacilities remain in use in the long term.

3. COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT IN SANITATIONDEVELOPMENT

How can administrators and sector plannersconcern themselves with these sociologicalissues?

One approach is for technical unitsimplementing sanitation programmes to becomplemented by units of communicationsupport. Communication support activitieshave been defined as those concerned withsociological and educational aspects ofsanitation development during programmeplanning and implementation. A communicationsupport unit would ideally contain personnel

with skills in design, implementation andanalysis of sociological studies; designand implementation of promotional andeducational programmes; community liaisonand administration. The unit would serviceand support cadres of field workers.Principal communication supportresponsibilities are:

a. Pre-planning and pilot projectassessment of socio-cultural data;

b. Socio-technical design;c. Local level management design;d. Planning and implementing sanitation

promotion, education for construction,maintenance and use, and hygieneeducation;

e. Managing community participation;f. Monitoring and evaluation.

The following paragraphs outline recommendedmethodologies employed in undertakingcommunication support activities forsanitation development.

Data Collection

Sociological data is generally necessaryfor the following aspects of programmedesign: general programme design; socio-technical design; local-level managementdesign; and the design of promotional/educational programmes. General points tobe considered in data collection are:limit the scope of data collection sincethe information is invariably needed rapidlyand in a form that is easily digested byplanning authorities; where possibleintegrate data collection into pilotimplementation; alongside objectivesociological measures the beneficiariesthemselves should be brought into the datacollection and planning process.

The socio-cultural data required insanitation planning necessitates a varietyof data gathering techniques. The followingmix is recommended: field observationstudies are important to investigate beyondnormative behaviour to understand whatpeople actually do as opposed to what theysay they do; in-depth interviews of keyinformants is especially useful forgathering information on culturallysensitive issues; open-ended questionnairescan provide a mixture of quantitative andqualitative information in a short space oftime; closed questionnaire surveys areeasy to administer and can validate resultsover a large population, but careful designis necessary and questionnaires are generallypoorly suited to the collection ofattitudinal data; community meetings orworkshops can be a means of involving acommunity in programme design as well aschecking information obtained from othersources.

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Promotion and Education

A promotional or educational component may-be necessary to promote sanitation adoption;to explain methods of construction; toachieve effective local level projectmanagement and maintenance; to ensureusage; to improve hygiene or changebehaviours transmitting water and excreta-related disease; or to educate regardingdisease transmission.

A great range of media, materials andtechniques are available for promotionaland educational activities. Categories ofapproaches include mass media activities(radio, newspapers, cinema, wall-paintingsand billboards, etc) community basedactivities (public meetings, groupdiscussions, role-playing, home visits, etc)and a variety of other media and materials(including leaflets, slides, flannelboard,flip charts, models and exhibitions etc)(ref 2) .

An effective promotional and educationalcomponent will combine several of thesemethods. Optimum combinations will differaccording to circumstance. Generalconsiderations in planning a promotionalor educational programme include thefollowing points.

Mass media generally reach an audiencewider than programme beneficiaries and arebest used to pave the way for more specificapproaches. Mass media are difficult toco-ordinate precisely with constructionschedules, if used in the initial stagesof programme development may createexpectations which cannot be fulfilled, andare unlikely to effect specific behaviourchanges, especially in diverse culturalenvironments where a single message willhave limited relevance.

Community based approaches in contrast aremore flexible and direct. Severaltechniques are available which assistextension workers in the field. Traditionalmethods of communications in specificcultures (such as songs, stories or drama)may also be adapted for sanitationdevelopment.

Keep plan simple Institutional arrangementsin low cost sanitation development are oftenin a formative stage, are already spreadacross several departments and are unable toundertake a managerially complex task.Simpler educational strategies are morelikely to work.

Timing of promotional activities needscareful integration with other programmecomponents to achieve maximum impact without

raising expectations which may not be met.

Focus on Action not Knowledge An initialfocus on affecting action by whatever means,is likely to be more effective thanteaching the medical model of healthknowledge. The desire for comfort, privacyand status are far more potent forces insanitation promotion than are knowledge ofthe transmission routes of excreta-relateddiseases.

Identify specific behavioural risksUser education is most effective when ashort list of specific behaviours areidentified as target issues.

Use existing communication networks Thedesign of culturally-specific promotionalor educational component needs to be basedon a detailed knowledge of local communi-cation methods and networks. Whereappropriate the desired behaviour changeshould be expressed within the context oflocal knowledge.

Monitoring

Monitoring is the regular collection andinterpretation of data carried out byprogramme staff. The purpose of monitoringis not only the control of projectactivities but also the provision ofinformation on the basis of which improve-ments can be made. Monitoring is anespecially important though often neglectedactivity in communication support, sincethere is a need for regular information onthe impact as well as the execution ofproject activities. While the workload isespecially high in pilot stages of projectimplementation, the function continuesthrough the life of a project, and is ofparticular importance in projects involvingcommunity participation, in which thetechnology is not fully developed, andwhich are undertaken in culturally diversesocieties.

Generally speaking the following issuesrequire monitoring by communicationssupport staff: the social soundness oftechnical design; the effectiveness ofpromotional and educational activities;procedures in community liaison and projectimplementation; local-level projectmanagement; and latrine usage.

Two types of data need to be collected:information on project activities, such asstaff movements, the scope of communicationssupport activities etc, and information oncommunity response to the project.Monitoring community response can become acomplicated and time-consuming task without

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careful planning. One method Involvesannual rapid appraisals, using a mix ofdata collection techniques to collectdifferent types of information. These'objective1 mini-studies are interpretedalongside information gathered in acommunity data file recording minutes fromcommunity meetings, site visits etc.

4. CONCLUSION

The social, cultural and educational issuesin sanitation development constitute adiverse field, multidisciplinary and oftendifficult to classify. Activities address-ing these issues are defined as communi-cations support. Communications supportin sanitation development remains aneglected area and one which demandsconsiderably more attention if the goalsof the International Drinking Water Supplyand Sanitation Decade are to be met.

The paper has outlined the role ofcommunications support in sanitationdevelopment, defined project functions andsuggested methods for carrying out some ofthese functions.

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper is based on the author'sexperience as a consultant sociologistadvising on aspects of sanitation develop-ment in several African countries. Theauthor wishes to acknowledge the financialand moral support of the Technology AdvisoryGroup (TAG, implementing UNDP Project INT/81/047, "Development and Implementation ofLow-cost Sanitation Investment Projects" andexcecuted by the World Bank) and theInternational Reference Centre for WasteDisposal (IRCWD), Dflbendorf. The data andopinions presented above were developedwhile working under the auspices of theseorganisations. Aspects of the paper havebenefited from draft documents in preparationby other TAG consultants. The responsibilityfor the views presented here are those ofthe author and do not necessarily representthose of TAG or IRCWD.

6. REFERENCES

1. LEDERER, W J and BURDICK, E. The UglyAmerican, Victor Gollancz, London, 1958.

2. PERRETT, H. (In Press). Communicationsupport in Project Work: The WorldBank's experience, World Bank WorkingPaper, Washington.

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COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN RURAL WATER SUPPLIES IN KENYA

by S I KABUAGE

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN RURAL WATERSUPPLIES IN KENYA

The Kenyan Government embanked on aprogramme to supply potable water to everyhousehold by the end of this century. Tothis end in the last decade, the Ministryof Water Development was created to realizethis goal. This target has been enhancedby the launching of the desirous andambitious: "International Drinking WaterSupply and Sanitation Decade" by the UnitedNations,

Kenya has a population of 16 million peopledistributed in both the rural areas andurban centres. Due to the location ofindustries in Urban Centres, emigrationfrom rural to urban areas has been higherwith a growth rate in population of 6% -14% p.a, in many centres. This contrastssharply with the national average ruralpopulation growth rate of just under 4% perannum. This tremendous population growth,as shown by statistics, is among theworld's highest. This has made itnecessary to constantly upgrade the develop-ment plans for urban centres as well as setnew guidelines for both short and long termdevelopment for individual towns.

Due to the obvious unhealthy conditions andnuisance prevailing in densely populatedurban areas devoid of water and sanitationfacilities, the need for these services hasbeen recognised and funds allocated toremedy the situation.

The cost implication per capita for theurban dwellers for provision of theseservices are minimal and the revenuecollection has been fairly simple andeffective compared to the rural areas.This makes it easier for municipalitiesto have ready and adequate funds or showviability in terms of cost to benefit ratiosfor both national and international aidagencies and therefore making it easierto procure development capital. This paperdoes not dwell on provision of the saidservices to urban population which arewell served but instead dwells on ruralareas where the price per capita is highand sometimes is not economically feasible.

Kenya being economically agriculturallybased, the rural areas have been classifiedin terms of their agricultural potentialseither as high, medium or low. For thosewho are not aware, the desertificationprocess is a reality in the over-grazednorthern semi-arid and arid parts of Kenya.The country has only 25% of its land massavailable for agriculture, and the restbeing the great wastelands of northernfrontier which have massive irrigationpotential but are presently unproductivein terms of crop production.

In the rural areas the government hasinitiated national projects funded locallythrough the Ministry of Water Developmentand the Ministry of Local Government. Thereare also projects funded through Interna-tional Aid Agencies such as The World Bank,African Development Bank, Kreditanstalt FurWiederaufbau, Overseas DevelopmentAdministration to name but a few and otherBilateral aid agencies.

These projects are mainly designed byengineers in the government ministries orby Local or Foreign Engineering Consultants.They have boosted the number of peoplesupplied with piped potable water to theirhomes. The concentration has mainly beenin the high potential agricultural areaswhere the demand for this service wasdesired and the population density higher -exceeding about 150 persons per square kilo-metre. This brings the cost of supply percapita to about £Stg 150 - £Stg 400 perperson in capital expenditure compared to£Stg 50 - £Stg 100 in urban areas.

The per capita cost increases tremendouslyin the arid areas with a density of lessthan 10 persons per square kilometre andthe cost is in excess of £Stg 600, perperson making it necessary to review thetarget of supplying the country by the year2000. In such semi-arid areas the popula-tion is basically pastoral and nomadic innature. It would be poor economics to useborrowed prime capital investment to thisextent to achieve supply of such costlywaters. In such cases, only communal waterpoints along trade and pastoral routes shou-ld be established. The sources should incl-ude: shallow wells, boreholes, etc. as goodalternativesas these may be left idle during

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the period of migration. The waterdemand of such pastoralists who live inmore or less similar conditions as theirforefathers before them, does not exceed 1 -4 litres per capita per day compared tourbanite counterparts who demand 150 litresper capita per day. It is therefore clearthat in rural areas local conditions bestdictate the demand and therefore theappropriate level of services and technology.Due to hardships of nomadics lifestyles,some of these pastoralists are settling andchanging to mixed farming due to communityservices and other advantages accrued whenthey settle.

Prior to embarking on community participa-tion in rural water supply, it is fitting togive a brief history of water supply inKenya.

The early settlers of the 20th century inKenya embarked on their own water supply fordomestic consumption and where warrantedirrigation, this being with the assistanceof government subsidies. It is thereforeobvious that organized piped water supplywas started by the white settlers. They hadawareness of potable water as day to dayessential commodity. There was no communityparticipation at all. There were onlyindividual settlers with their own water andthe local people depended on natural, surfacesources.

The early settlers as compared to the localshad an awareness of hygiene and had theeconomic means to supply their domesticwater of 250 - 400 litres per person per day.

In contrast to menial workers, who althoughhad a piped supply in labourlines did nothave the financial means had therefore abasic demand of 25 - 100 litres per capitalday dependent on status i.e. labourer toforeman. It is that awareness of the rela-tionship between potable water and theknowledge of water borne diseases thatincreased the demand of this service as apreventive measure.

The community participation can therefore beviewed simply as an individual enterpreneur,a group of farmers, a local water supply withcommunal facility, or an abandoned systemwhich requires maintenance and upgrading etc.On the other hand, the development aspect ofmordern rural water supply requires highcapital investment which almost always therural communities cannot afford.

It therefore becomes imperative to look intoways and means of reducing the capital andrecurrent costs of such water schemes. Tothis end the workability, and environmental,

and long-term effects of the schemes, itseconomies and social factors should beassessed.

In order to achieve this, the designcriteria should commensurate with thecommunities income, affordability i.e.lower the design criteria such that insteadof a design based on 150 1/p/d to have say30 1/p/d and which brings the cost level toan acceptable level or more appropriately"affordable level". It would serve nopurpose to have a water scheme which thepopulation served cannot afford to pay for.

The community may also assist on a heave-ho"Harambee" basis as it is known in Kenyawhere only funds for materials are soughtfrom donor agencies and labour providedfree to the project by the beneficiaries,inexcept for the necessary skilled artisansi.e. masons, carpenters, pipefitters,welders, etc who are tradesmen and seekpayment. Effective savings up to 30% ofproject costs have been made this way insome rural water supply projects.

In rural communities collection of fundsthrough mass meetings has met with success.In some cases the funds are misappropriatedbut we shall not dwell on this. This hasenabled the collection of 40% - 60% of theproject funding in some of the best casehistories. This has however, occurred inareas where the administration, politicaland local elders are agreeable on thenecessity of the project and projectdefinition. In such cases the governmenthas created an incentive scheme by institu-ting a self help subsidy section where suchprojects are designed to save the additionalfunds required for completion of theproject. This section also caters for up to80% of recurrent expenditure. The sectionis also entrusted with the mammoth tasksof feasibility, survey and conceptualisationof the design. Such projects require care-ful monitoring to ensure that the implemen-tation is according to the design; especia-lly the distribution system which may beused for political ends to boost potentialvotes. The administration in this caseacts as the corrective arm to calm thepolitical aspirants' ambitions by ensuringthat the systems are constructed asdesigned.

When the populace is made aware of thebenefits of the projects, the contributionsin terms of labour can save 10-20% ofproject costs. However, such savingexposes the project to abuse if the projectschedule should lag behind the peoples'expectation; malicious damage and vandalismbecome rampant and in some cases render theentire project useless. This is usual as

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the locals becane too familiar with theinstallations.

The need for community participation as ameans of saving must then be viewed withthe caution it deserves, though it isdoubtless, such saving would be effected.In real terms a contractor keeps the workssafe by watching and taking steps againstvandals as is required by the conditions ofcontract at an early stage. This instillsa sense of discipline and responsibilityin the locals as third parties.

Thus it can be seen that the value consci-ousness of the water supply as a servicemust be fully appreciated by the communitybefore they accept it wholesomely, and aneffort by authorities to this end isessential. Each household is required topay £Stg 1.00 for a connection.

Some non-profit making Organizations suchas CARE have assisted local projects withtechnology and funds for development;others such as the National ChristianCouncil are committed to financial assist-ance and making such that the receipientsare informed of the importance andnecessity for this service.

The rural women's awareness of lessenedwork where there is a piped water supplymakes them more willing than men tocontribute both financially and to provide .free labour.

At this juncture, it is necessary toevaluate the performance of such projectswhereby the intended beneficiaries arenot fully aware of the potential and haveno demand for the service provided. Insome cases the lack of such awareness isso endemic that they would prefer to go tonearby water courses or neighbouring homesfor water as they cannot afford or do notsee the need to pay for having a connectioninstalled.

This attitude makes the project benefits toaccrue only to a small portion of thecommunity, sometimes as low as 10% of thetotal population in the scheme area.

In conclusion it can be summarised thatcommunity needs and awareness have alwayscontributed to water supply in Kenya andindeed all parts of the world. Communityparticipation can also be used to greatadvantage to reduce capital cost andrecurrent cost of water schemes and subse-quent sanitation be creating public aware-ness and participation. Otheradvantages include extending use ofexisting facilities with subsequent

reduction in the incidence of waterbornediseases. The water supply must however,ideally be coupled with proper sanitarydisposal to avoid nuisance.

It is however, imperative that the know-ledge of this awareness be disseminatedat all levels of education and throughsocial media.

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Session 3

Chairman: Mr C Davey, Halcrow and PartnersZimbabwe

Discussion

J G Wilson

The Implementation of urban and ruralsanitation programmes in Botswana1. Mr WILSON described experience inBotswana using different types of pitlatrines; comparative substructure costswere presented. A rural pilot project wasdiscussed, and the problem of affordabilityof latrines was emphasized.

2. Mr HARRIS asked two questions,- hewished to know the range of monthlyrepayments for material costs for differenttypes of latrine superstrucutre, the averageincome of a typical plot holder, thepercentage of total sanitation costs toaverage income; and the default rate onloan repayments which was found during theearly stages of a project.

3. He was interested to note that upgradinghad been recognized as a future possibility,and asked the author to expand on theprogressive steps he envisaged, and whethersmall bore effluent systems were seen as amethod of upgrading pit latrines to pourflush septic tanks.

4. Mr WILSON furnished the followinginformation: the maximum monthly repaymentsof material costs for the superstructure wasapproximately £1.20, which included thecost of the concrete block structure withgalvanized iron roof, metal door frame,wooden door, two PVC vent pipes and a GRPseat unit. The monthly repayment representeda loan being repaid at an interest rate of9% over 15 years. The average total familyincome of a plot was £900, and the maximummonthly sanitation costs represented 7.7%of family income in Gaborone, which includedapproximately £1.20 for the superstructure,£1.80 for the substructure, and £0.45 forthe emptying service. At present, theaverage 30 day default rate was 70%, but thisreduced to 30% after 90 days. Legislationhad recently been introduced to enable thelocal authority to repossess the plot if theplot-holder was in continual default. Itwas anticipated that this would reduce the90 day default to a more acceptable value.

5. The layout of site and service areas,and the use of the twin pit latrines hadbeen deliberately adopted with eventualupgrading to a water-borne sewerage systemsometime in the future when it is affordable.All the plots could be drained to omit

existing sewerage systems. The twin pitlatrine could be converted to a low volumeflush (say 6 1) toilet system with theminimal of structural alterations. InBotswana, plot holders' aspirations toimprove their standard of living was highand it was the opinion of Government thatthe upgrading sequence would be directlyfrom the pit latrine to the flush toilet,omitting all theoretical stages in between.The use of small bore effluent systems wascurrently being considered; however it wasforeseen that it would not be used as anintermediate stage of upgrading but as asolution to particular problems, it couldsuccessfully be used for instance in areasof high rock horizon where it was originallyanticipated that pit latrines were to beconstructed. A communal septic tank sayfor six houses coupled to a small boreeffluent system could overcome the problemof the frequent emptying of pits situatedin impervious soil or rock conditions.However adequate water supply must beavailable, preferably to each plot.

6. Mr CHIBANDA observed that the REC IIlatrine was chiefly for the urban population,and the Blair latrine for the rural people;given that both were odourless and fairlycheap to build, he asked what were theirrelative advantages and disadvantages inrelationship to the two types of community?Was their any difference in their operation?

7. Mr WILSON replied that in the urbanareas, the REC II was the preferred optionbecause when full, its superstructure neednot be moved,i.e.it was permanent. Theremoved contents were odourless and freefrom most bacteria and viruses, which wasadvantageous to the pit-emptiers. As theemptying period was flexible, this gavethe local authority advantages in planningthe pit-emptying service. The REC II wasalso suitable for eventual upgrading to alow volume flush system with the minimum ofalteration; it was more expensive than theBlair latrine, but the cost was repaid at alow rate of interest on a monthly basis,which was not possible in rural areas. Thepopulation was considerably poorer in ruralareas, and self-help projects were moreappropriate, and hence the Blair latrine wasused. These latrines could be easily movedwhen the existing pit was full. There wasvirtually no difference between the two typesof latrine from the users viewpoint; howeverwith the REC II, the user had the responsib-ility of changing the unit over to the secondpit when the first was full, and of informingthe local authority, who would empty the fullpit. The user of the Blair latrine mustprepare an alternative site when the existing

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pit was full.

8. Mr NGCOZANA commented that in Zimbabwe,contractors who were rushing to make profitsdid not comply with the specifications forthe Blair latrine, and he very muchappreciated the author's comments concerningthe need for continuous supervision ofthe contractor.

9. Mr WILSON replied that in Botswana theneed to properly supervise contractor builtsubstructures had been recognized. In orderto do this it was decided that all the SelfHelp Housing Authority technical assistantsin the country attend one week trainingcourses at the Polytechnic. These courseshad covered all aspects of the latrineconstruction and involved the technicalassistants constructing a latrine themselvesduring the course. These courses had greatlyassisted in the proper supervision of thecontractors by the technical assistants.

10. Miss SMITH-CARINGTON asked whether therewere cultural difficulties in using the pitcontents as fertilizer.

11. Mr WILSON stated that the contentsremoved from a full twin pit latrineconsisted of dry humus, free from odour,viable bacteria and viruses. However,because of the known cultural difficultiesexperienced with regard to reuse andhandling of excreta, it had been decidedthat the latrines would only be emptied usingmechanical methods and that the contentswould initially be used by the localauthorities to improve the soil conditionsof their parks, gardens and nurseries. Ona long terra basis it was hoped that theplotholders would recognise the advantagesthat the Local Authorities were getting fromthis and would request that the contents bedumped on their own plots to improve theirgardens and vegetable plots.

12. Engr OBADINA commented on the use ofaqua privies in the centre of Ibadan, Nigeria.They were constructed in public places, andin large family compounds serving populationsof between 200 and 1000. Each structureconsisted of between 8 and 32 units, withabout 30 people using each unit. There wereno waterseals, and the odour problem had beenavoided by good ventilation of the tank. Theywere designed so that the drop pipepenetrated the water level by about 200 mm;the units were connected to the city water andelectricity supplies. Why would such unitsnot work in Botswana?

13. Mr WILSON thought that the use of aquaprivies as described was not reallyapplicable to the Botswana context. Theurban population density was considerablylower than Ibadan and it was not theGovernment policy to introduce communal

toilets in these areas, nor would it be theinhabitants choice to use them. Theproblem of aqua privies in the urban areasof Botswana was that they were notconnected to individual water supplies.This required the plotholder to fetch thenecessary water to top up the water sealfrom a standpipe. Because of embarrassmentthe plotholders did not do this on a regularbasis and consequently the water seal wasoften broken resulting in unacceptableodour and subsequent rejection of the aquaprivy.

14. Mr UNDERWOOD wished to know if theimpact of VIP latrines had been assessed interms of smell and seepage into water courseswhen used in large numbers in confined urbanareas, and if there had been problems ofacceptability, because people wanted a moresophisticated system.

15. Mr WILSON replied that being properlyventilated there was no problem with smell.In urban areas, water was supplied fromdams whose catchment areas were outside thearea of urbanisation. There was thereforeno potential of contamination of the watersource. In rural areas however they wereaware of the fact that there was the dangerof polluting boreholes. Monitoring of thewater quality from the boreholes was carriedout before and after sanitation schemeswere implemented. There was cooperationbetween the relevant authorities, andboreholes were usually located outsidevillages. There were very few shallow wellsin Botswana, and pollution problems wouldnot arise..

16. No problems regarding acceptability hadbeen found; politicians and communityleaders had been involved in discussionsregarding the implementation of sanitationprojects from the beginning. Plot-holders'views were taken into account, but they, inturn, understood the meaning of"affordability". The Government did notbelieve in subsidizing sanitation in urbanareas, and although plot-holders might havehigher aspirations, they were aware thatthey had to be paid for.

17. Professor OLUWANDE observed that thelatrines were located some distance awayfrom the houses; he wished to know whythis was so, given that they are nuisancefree, and could therefore be part of thehouse.

18. Mr WILSON stated that although thetype of latrine being used was nuisance free,there remained a cultural belief thatanything in direct contact with the latrinesuperstructure became "contaminated". Itwas thus to assure cultural acceptance thatlatrines were built away from the house.

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In addition, care must be taken regardingthe house foundations, as seepage from anearby pit could adversely affect the bearingcapacity of the soil.

S A AMOANING-YANKSONWaste management in urban slums19. Mr AMOANING-YANKSON explained thesanitation problems in slum areas of Tema,Ghana, and presented information on anautomatic flushing communal toilet whichhad been installed in an attempt to alleviatethe problems.

20. Mr MAKHETHA said that he was impressedby the units, and the ability of each tocope with about one thousand people. Heasked for details concerning the institution-al arrangements for daily cleaning andmaintenance, and their efficiency.

21. Mr AMOANING-YANKSON replied that theunits replaced the labour intensiveconservancy system, with consequentreductions in council expenditure on highlypaid labourers. Some of these redundantlabourers had been employed for cleaning,and were supervised by the Medical Officerof Health's department. Maintenance wasthe responsibility of the District Engineer'soffice. The aim was to involve the community,but until the authorities were confident intheir ability to operate and maintain thefacilities, their taxes would be used toemploy people for this work.

22. Dr GONDWE commented that the author hadsuggested that people could obtain thenecessary water from nearby streams in theevent of a cut in the water supply,- hesuggested that in this case, the latrineswould block, and many people may choose toexcrete by the streams, and that this formof sanitation may need re-examining.

23. Mr AMOANING-YANKSON referred the speakerto page 2 of his paper, and stated that inthe case of water shortages, the unit wasclosed for use, as would be a water closetunit. He added that experiments were underwaywith smaller "home units" in rural areas,in cases where a perennial water source wasnearby, and could be used to provide water,which would be carried to the unit. It hadsmaller buckets for flushing, dependant onthe required tractive force in the conduit.

24. Mr WILLIAMS commented that he was awareof a tradition of communal latrines in ruralareas of Ghana, and asked why communallatrines were chosen for urban areas, whethercharging was proposed, and who would use them.

He also asked if the double pit ventilatedlatrine developed at Kumasi had beenconsidered, and commented on the communalaqua privy units used in Bangladesh whichhad between 1000 and 2000 users.

25. Mr AMOANING YANKSON stated thatcommunal latrines were the cheapest way ofdiscouraging indiscriminate defaecation.About 98% of the community would use theunits, since only 2% had adequate sanitationfacilities. The 23% of people served byaqua privies would also use the units,because the aqua privies had all failed dueto the lack of availability of trucks fordesludging the tanks. There was no directcharge for using the units, and the Kumasilatrine was being used in the villages ofthe district.

26. Dr COTTON requested an explanation ofhow the effluent from the units was disposedof; if it was via a septic tank system,what happened to the subsequent effluent?

27. Mr AMOANING-YANKSON replied that onsite treatment was provided by a combinationof an Imhoff tank, with the tank effluentbeing disposed of via field tile drainsand a sand trench.

28. Mr BOCARRO asked whether communalwashing facilities were provided at thetoilet units, and if so, could the waterbe used for flushing purposes, and whatvolume of water was used to operate thesystem. He commented that the tiltingsteel bucket used in the flushing systemcould be replaced by a syphon operatedconcrete tank, but this might be moreexpensive. Corrosion problems could alsobe reduced if a glass fibre tank were used.

29. Mr AMOANING-YANKSON thought that theprovision of washing facilities was to beconsidered at the next stage of the program;the volume of water used depended upon thepopulation served. Experiments usingsyphons had been carried out, but provedunsuccessful due to difficulty in removingthe air pocket at the top of the syphon,resulting from very low inflow rates to thetank. Concrete was very cheap, and locallyavailable, but glass fibre was not available.

30. Mr UNDERWOOD had found that communallatrines were unpopular in Zimbabwe, andwondered why this did not appear to be thecase in Ghana.

31. Mr AMOANING-YANKSON replied thatcommunal toilet facilities existed in manyvillages; people in the slums had oftenmigrated from villages, and were thusfamiliar with the system. In many areas,existing communal toilet facilities had beenconverted to the automatic flushing system,thereby reusing an abandoned superstructure.

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32. Mr NGCOZANA posed a number of questionsrelating to the operation of the units; hewished to know if there were odour and flyproblems in between flushing, the rate atwhich excreta accumulated, and what measureswere taken to ensure that there were noblockages of the chute, and that the flushingwater had sufficient carrying capacity.

33. Mr AMOANING-YANKSON said that odour andflies were not too much of a nuisance; fliesrarely went from areas of light into darkness.He estimated that the conduit was adequatelydesigned to cope with the likely excretaload of 0.03 m3 from each squatting hole;

the appropriate tractive force in theconduit could be achieved by using a steepslope and sufficient quantity of water.

34. Professor OLUWANDE reported that the"comfort stations" in Ibadan were similarto the units described by the author; hewished to know how many such units had beenbuilt, and whether there had been problemswith maintenance.

35. Mr AMOANING-YANKSON stated that twelvesuch units had been built, eight being inslum areas, two in schools, and two in themarket place. Maintenance problems arosewhen supervision of the cleaners wasrelaxed, leading to filthy conditions.

P A Oluwande and A Onibokun

Low cost sanitation in Nigeria36. Professor OLUWANDE presented the paper,and outlined the types of sanitationavailable and their application to Nigeria;the local costs of the various systems weregiven.

37. Dr ALUKO asked how the latrinesdescribed could be modified to be used inthe Lagos area of Nigeria, bearing in mindthe heavy concentration of population andthe high water table.

38. Professor OLUWANDE said that there wasno one solution which was appropriate. Inareas where the water table was high, thepit could be raised, or lined aqua privy orseptic tanks used, although this wouldincrease the costs. For high density areaswhich currently use bucket latrines,communal facilities such as the "comfortstation", which is a combined communallatrine and washing place could be used.Although very expensive, a central seweragesystem may be appropriate to lower densityareas.

39. Mr KUYATHEH wished to know how thesituation of some people, such as chiefs, who

benefit from new techniques and yet do notuse them, was reconciled with the author'sstatement that regardless of the level ofhealth education, people would not changeunless they were aided in the procurementof materials.

40. Professor OLUWANDE replied that thechief who did not allow his people to usesanitary facilities was likely to be anexception, perhaps because he feels thathe alone knows what is best for his people.

41. Professor NATH asked whether anyattention was paid to pollution risks fromthe various types of low cost sanitationalternatives which were monitored andevaluated, particularly under adversehydrogeological conditions. In denselypopulated urban areas leaking water mainsmay be contaminated during low pressureperiods, particularly when the ground iswaterlogged during the wet season.

42. Professor OLUWANDE replied that noneof the latrines had been sited such thatthis was likely to be a problem.

43. Dr ADEYEMI asked whether the top slabof the pit should be Independently supportedto avoid collapse of the pit, and if thepit should be hopper bottomed to facilitatesludge collection.

44. Professor OLUWANDE thought that it wasperfectly adequate to support the slab onthe pit lining where ground conditionsrequired it. Independent support would onlylead to more complex construction and greaterexpense. There would not appear to be anygood reasons for having a hopper bottomedpit.

Sister P WalshCommunity participation in water andsanitation45. The paper considered the importance ofcommunity participation in water andsanitation programs, and described thebackground, implementation and evaluationof projects in Takawira, Zimbabwe.

46. Brother CHARLES submitted the followingdiscussion in relation to Sister WALSH'spaper.

47. By participation we take it for grantedthat several people are involved. How dowe involve people? Who should be involved?We all are concerned with sanitation andwater development in Africa. From thebeginning we would expect all the people togive top priority to both of these,especially to water development, is it like

this? Everyone knows that there is a realneed to have an adequate supply of water, beit for human consumption, animals orirrigation. Often people will agree withthis, but when it comes to the realisationof a concrete project they are hesitant. Itis a new idea which needs to be explained,especially to the older and conservativepeople. Why this discrepancy? Is it justpure laziness? Was it always like this?What made our people into such individualists,even within their own villages? Has themeaning of extended family, which was soimportant to our culture, been lost? Theneed for money brought about great changesin our society. It became a competition tohave more money available and by this moresecurity. Security in the old days wasthere if you had your wife, children andcertain possessions. Only if people feelsecure will they be eager to participate incommunity affairs. To solve this deep-rooted problem we do need a politicalsolution.

48. Being aware of this, how do we go aboutin involving many people to participate inour rural areas? You might find some menwho are very eager to get involved. They,however, are not the whole community. Yougive to these men a project, like building aprotected well and they are eager to goahead. What about the others,- do we knowthat by imposing things on the masses, youbreak an old tradition? For centuries thegirls and women of this area might havegone to a river to fetch water and forwashing. This might have been the occasionfor their daily gossip and exchange of ideas.Your pump water might be clean, but not astasty as the water which they used to

fetch from the river. Someone might knowsome reasons why they never tapped water atthe spot you choose. They might enjoyletting you make mistakes on your own. Fromthese observations we see how very importantit is to get all the people involved.

49. Without someone with technical 'know-how'the people might still put a lot of effortinto their venture, but they will be verydisappointed if it is going to be a failure.People must feel that it is themselves whoare undertaking the project. The technicaladviser should stay in the background, butstill must know where to come in with hissuggestions. We are dealing with adultsand not with children, he should never splitthe Community by taking sides. We aretempted to treat adults as children, as soonas we feel that we are superior in ourknowledge. It might even give us temporarysuccess, but will frustrate further involve-ment in similar projects.

50. Keeping these points in mind, we haveto consider the following points if westart such a community project; is therereally a felt need for it and if so, arethe people convinced of it? Who willbenefit from it? Do all of those who willbenefit from it agree to become involved

in it? Are the people willing to contribute,be it in labour or cash? Is the localcouncil aware of it, as they might have othersuggestions. Do you have a coordinator whoacts between the local council and yourcommunity? Did you ask for technicaladvice? Is the material you will needavailable? Should your project be aprotected well, have you decided what kindof pump you need? Who is responsible formaintenance. Never accept generalisedagreements where everybody is supposed tocare for it.

Never forget that any pump can break down.

Are you aware that you will have to educateyour people how to use the pump and eventhe latrine? Should sanitation be providedfor a single family or a whole village? Inthe first instance the owner of the houseshould consult the health worker from whomhe will get the needed advice. It is hisresponsibility to acquire the necessaryadvice and material.

Have the women been consulted? It is theywho might benefit most from the new projectand who will be expected to look after it.In the local culture it is the mother whois closest to the small children; she mustbe consulted in everything, and very oftengets the blame if things go wrong. Herinvolvement is often deeper-rooted as sheis the heart of the family; without thewilling involvement of the women incommunity projects and family projects, verylittle will be achieved. This is anobservation which has always seemedimportant to me. The men's world seems tohave no boundaries but the woman's worldis still her home.

51. Some further personal observations are:If we do not have a homogeneous communityany project will have difficulty insucceeding at our local level, this meansthat the healthworker and the representativeof the local council responsible for healthmust be able to cooperate well, so that sucha project does not split up the localcommunity. Political affiliation shouldremain in the background.

As soon as people have done theirpreparation, like digging, carting stones,lining etc. they want the project to go

75

ahead. Do not let them wait unnecessarily.They soon get tired of empty promises and ifyou expect them to be involved in a laterproject you will have opposition.

If you have succeeded in motivating onefamily to build a decent latrine it willact as an incentive for others. I havenoticed how latrines mushroom round a well-built one; people like to see progress andnot long speeches on progress. Very muchdepends on the Coordinator and his approach.If a project is tackled in the spirit itdeserves, they do appreciate it very much.They show their appreciation and joyspontaneously by offering some food, beerand by dancing. Ideally the Project shouldbe coordinated by medical staff, as it ispart of health service. This however doesnot mean that a doctor himself shouldsupervise the construction of wells andlatrines; with their personal connectionand experience they will be able to assistin coordinating and by giving advice as towhere best to acquire the needed materials.Most of the doctors I know take thegovernment policy of "prevention is betterthan cure" very seriously. They see thebenefits from these projects, as so muchdepends on clean water and sanitation.

There must be a very close cooperationbetween health service and local council.Ideally the material needed would be acquiredand stored by the local council. Verystrict control will be needed as who getswhat and how much. Only written duplicatedrequests should be accepted by thecouncillor in charge. Should you intend tostart a crash program, for example buildinga few hundred latrines in a specific area,it might be advisable to employ a builderwho would go round and supervise thebuilding. This of course would add to thecost and arrangements must be made first asto how much and to whom each participanthas got to pay.

Whoever gets himself involved in any projectshould remember: Let's not so much workfor the people, but with the people.

52. Mr MARAMAH commented that in his workwith agricultural peasant communities"awareness" courses involving films anddemonstrations on the need for safe water andsanitation were run. If the local peoplewere willing to dig a well, and a pit for alatrine, and collect stone, aggregate andsand, his organization provided cement, ventpipes and well pumps.

53. Mr CHAZOBACHII replied that it wasimportant to get the community or familyto carry out their part of the programbeford providing cement, lest it be used forother purposes. Latrine building was a more

personal thing, and the approach to thefamily had to take account of this. Ithad been found that one family could oftenmotivate another to construct a latrine.

54. Professor NATH thought that anintegrated approach to water supply andsanitation was more beneficial in the longterm. Indian experience showed this to bethe case in so far as health benefits wereconcerned. The rural health centre of theAll India Institute of Hygiene and PublicHealth maintained about 500 handpumps; twomechanics were chosen from the local peopleand trained. They attended requests forbreakdown repairs; unless it was a majorbreakdown, labour and materials wereprovided by the local people, andpreventative maintenance was taught to thepeople by these workers as they travelledaround.

55. Brother CHARLES said that he agreedwith the integrated approach, which theyhad found worked better if the water supplywas provided first. Village health workershad to advise on the maintenance of pumpsand latrines; they were hoping that villagecouncils would soon take over certainprojects.

56. Dr LAING commented that in hisexperience, the presence of sanitationhad a far more signigicant effect on healththan did the presence of a water supplyalone. He had not found that communallatrines worked in practice, and consideredthat latrine superstructures should beconstructed from the same materials as otherlocal buildings. Health education should beconsidered as a part of development as awhole, rather than training in new techniques.He had found that giving lectures to villagerswas a useless way of imparting information,and had used an acted drama with moresuccess.

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E P w CrossCommunication support in sanitationdevelopment57. Mr CROSS discussed the principalsociological issues involved in sanitationdevelopment, and considered means of datacollection, promotion and education, andmonitoring; he suggested that these areasof communication support required moreattention if the aims of the InternationalWater Supply and Sanitation decade were tobe met.

S I KabuageCommunity participation in ruralwater supplies in Kenya58. The author had not been able to attendthe conference, and the paper was notpresented.

77

®9*<8833HOUSEHOLD

by P A andi

1 Conference: Sanitation and

WATER SUPPLY - A USER'

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SUPPLIER'S

in Africa: HARARE:

PROBLEM?

1983

1. INTRODUCTION

Provision of water for householdconsumption is vital in Third Worldcountries. Apart from tedious workconnected with the drawing of water fromfar away sources, the situation ischaracterized by human sufferings in terrasof poor health. According to a WHO surveyof 91 developing countries in 1970, 1 100million or 86% of the rural population inthese countries were without "reasonableaccess to safe water" (ref 1). Thesituation was worst in South-East Asia andAfrica with 662 million or 91% and 136million or 89% people respectively affected.By 1980 it was estimated by ECOSOC on thebasis of country reports, that 29% of therural population in the Third World wereserved with safe water within a "reasonable"distance to safe water (ref 2) .

In Malawi piped gravity water has played asignificant role in providing improved waterin rural areas since the end of the 1960's.These projects have involved the populationto be served not only in digging trenchesand laying pipes but in all stages from theoriginal initiative, the planning andimplementation to finally the operation andmaintenance of the project. Thus, theinvolvement and participation of the peopleis not only in order to reduce costs (ref 3).

A recent WHO/World Bank Report found that"excellent progress has been made duringthe past few years in the provision ofrural water supplies and there is everyindication that the impetus generated,principally through the success of theMinistry of Community Development and socialWelfare self-help gravity (water) supplyprogramme, will continue. This programmeis undoubtedly the most impressive of itskind encountered by the mission members anddepends very largely on the involvement ofthe potential beneficiaries through thewhole cycle of planning, construction,operation and maintenance", (ref 4). As aresult of this involvement "a genuine senseof pride and ownership in the projects isgenerated within the local communities. Thisis reflected by the fact that in all of theschemes visited by the mission an extremelyhigh level of maintenance was observed" (ref5) .

Concerning groundwater supplies, theshallow wells programme has since the 1970shad a similar approach as the piped waterprogramme. The borehole programme hasbeen extremely expensive compared with thetwo others. Recently, a new low-costgroundwater approach has been launched,integrating boreholes and wells (ref 6).

Apart from the study by Glennie,comprehensive evaluations of the functioningand the utilization of water supplies havebeen done by the Christian ServiceCommittee (ref 7) and the Centre forSocial Research of University of Malawi(ref 8), while there has been noevaluation of the health impact of improvedwater supplies. The authors of this paperare in cooperation with researchers inMalawi at present carrying out such anevaluation one year before the interventionwith improved water and one year after inthree areas each with around 150 households.One of the areas will get improved wateras well as hygiene education and sanitationpromotion. The second area will getimproved water only, while the third willact as a control area and will get nointervention.

2. WATER SUPPLY AND HUMAN HEALTH

The impact of water supplies on the healthstatus of the recipients is based on theirpotential capacity to control water-relateddiseases. These have been divided intofour main categories: water-borne, water-washed, water-based and spread by insectvectors (ref 9). Of these the first twoare more directly related to poor andscanty household water supply than the lasttwo. Water-washed diseases are dividedinto two groups: infections that affecteye and body surface with a limitedepidemiological importance and diarrhoealdiseases, the most important of water-washed diseases because they constitute aleading cause of childhood morbidity andmortality.

The most important benefit anticipated whenimproving water supply is improved health.However, it has been maintained that therecent popularity for support to ruralwater supply projects among donors andrecipient governments is due to the

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increasing general interest in ruraldevelopment. "For the aid donors -national, international and voluntary-agencies - rural water supplies are visibleevidence that their money reach the ruralpoor" contrary to much of capital invest-ment and technical assistance (ref 10).Further, "the current enthusiasm has ledto a certain amount of wishful thinkingabout the benefits of village water supplies,to the extent that rural water supply issometimes seen as promoting development onits own, and not as part of an integratedrural development programme ... althoughwater supplies are probably a necessarycondition for achieving improvements in therural economy and the public health, theyare by no means a sufficient condition"(ref 11) .

Therefore, what are the minimum requirementsto achieve better health? It is now widelyacknowledged that not only water, but alsosanitation and hygiene, are important inorder to reduce water-related diseases(ref 12). This would certainly be thecase if complete water and sanitationfacilities were installed in every house.However, the available resources will onlyallow limited improvements. Relativelyfew studies (in Hughes's review (ref 13)four studies in Africa) have evaluated theimpact of improved water supplies uponhealth with studies both before and afterintervention.

Of the 43 studies reviewed by Hughes (ref13), several have shown that improvedwater supplies have some effect ondiarrhoeal disease (see also McJunkin (ref14). This suggests that "previous attitudesconcerning the lack of documentation ofhealth benefits associated with water andexcreta disposal projects may beunnecessarily pessimistic" (ref 15). Youngchildren are those who benefit most, whenimproved water is combined with improvementsin hygiene and sanitation, reductions of 20to 40 percent in diarrhoeal morbidity amongchildren are not unusual (ref 16). Oftenthe effect of increased water availabilitymay be more pronounced than the effect ofimproved water quality.

The minimum amount of water for dailyconsumption, which is required to preventillness is not yet known. Hughes notesthat data from the several studies includedin his review "suggests that volumes in therange of 20 - 30 litres per capita per daymay be a minimum required to yield reductionsin diarrhoeal disease morbidity" (ref 17).On the other hand, McJunkin in hisliterature review concludes that "fiftylitres per capita per day should be a

minimum goal" (ref 18).

Where water of good quality is provided itis often contaminated during collectionand storage. Therefore, a good knowledgeabout the relationship between water andhealth, attained by hygiene education, maybe as essential as water-quality inreducing water-related diseases. It isthen important to determine the significanceof inputs like improved water,organisation and management of waterprojects, participation, hygiene educationand sanitation promotion and food-intake,upon health and social conditions in orderto find the most cost-efficient solutions.

3. FACTORS TO BE ASSESSED WHEN EVALUATINGHEALTH & SOCIAL IMPACT OF IMPROVED WATERSUPPLIES

As pointed out recently in a draft on"Minimum evaluation procedure for watersupply and sanitation projects" (ref 19),evaluation of water supply and sanitationprojects should be done in three stages,ie firstly, assessing whether thefacilities are functioning in the correctway, secondly assessing whether they areutilized by the population and thirdlyassessing the impact.

If there are deficiencies in one of theearlier stages there is no reason toexpect that the subsequent stages willhave any successful performance, as bothfunctioning and utilization are necessary(but not sufficient) conditions for thefollowing stages. Therefore, it is nopoint to evaluate the utilization untilthe functioning is satisfactory andevaluation of impact will not be worthwhileuntil the facilities are properly utilized.

If, however, the functioning andutilization are known to or could beexpected to be satisfactory, the evaluationcould aim at assessing the health andsocial impact of improved water supply,hygiene education and sanitation promotion.A proposal for a number of hypotheses tobe tested concerning which factors,according to the present state ofknowledge, are thought to be of importancefor attaining health and social impact ofimproved water-supply and sanitationprojects are given in fig 1. It alsoindicates (with arrows) the relationshipsto be tested.

4. HEALTH IMPACT

Health is a broad phenomenon with manyaspects to evaluate. For an impact studysome indicators must be chosen, which

79

have as close relationship as possible tothe environmental and behavioural changesto be studied, in the above referred draft"Minimum evaluation procedures for watersupply and sanitation projects" (ref 19)some recommendations are given: "A goodindicator should:

- be a significant public health problemin the project area,-

be likely to change substantially as aresult of the project;

- be easy to measure.

The following are recommended as meetingthese criteria:

diarrhoeal disease;

infection by common gut nematodes suchas Ascaris;

- nutritional status of young children;

and in some regions - Guinea worm".

To the above mentioned indicators might beadded skin-and-eye infections and inaddition to nematodes the total parasiteload.

Children are those suffering most underpoor conditions. A high percentage ofdiseases is associated with bad hygiene,inadequate water for personal use and lackof sanitation (about 80% related to thelack of safe water (ref 20). In the figure80% malaria is included, which has littleassociation with drinking water supply,hygiene and sanitation. Therefore, it isappropriate to assess the health impact asimproved health of children.

Diarrhoeal disease

This is the most important water-relateddisease to be studied. The age group underfive is chosen because diarrhoeal diseaseis most common and has the most vitalimportance in this group, especially underthe age of two. It is a well recognizeddisease among villagers and it can bestudied through interviews and historiesfrom the mothers.

Diarrhoeal diseases are a heterogeneousgroup of diseases caused by differentinfectious agents, bacterias, viruses andprotozoas. These agents are faecal-orallytransmitted but the modes of transmissionand the relative importance of differentroutes varies (eg waterborne, food-borne,person-to-person, animal contact). So theimpact of any change in environment orbehaviour upon diarrhoea will be differentfor diarrhoeas of different etiology.

Skin-and-eye infections

Skin infections, such as bacterial skin-infection and scabies, and eye infections,like conjunctivitis, are conditions whichare often associated with dirt and badhygiene (ref 21). Moreover, the durationof skin and eye infections seems to begood indicators of routine child care(ref 22).

In the present study the morbidity indiarrhoeal disease and skin and eyeinfections is studied through fortnightlyvisits to the homes and interviews with24 hours recall carried out by non-medicalpersonnel.

Parasites

Intestinal parasites are common indeveloping countries. With a safe excretadisposal (if latrines are used also bychildren) and good hygienic practices inand around the home a reduction in hookwormdisease, ascariasis and trichuriasis canbe expected. Dracunculiasis is essentiallywaterborne and the prevalence may beaffected by the introduction of safe water.Improved water supply will not bring aboutany immediate change in the schistosomiasisprevalence. However, with a sanitationpromotion programme and health education,a reduction of the prevalence should beachieved.

Nutritional status

The nutritional status is an importantmeasure of the general well-being of achild. The main factors that interferewith a child's growth potential areinfections, especially diarrhoeal disease,and a deficient diet. Diarrhoea seems tobe the most important factor behindmalnutrition except in situations whenfood availability is extremely low (ref23). Attempts have been made to find arelationship between water supply andmalnutrition. However, the situation iscomplex and it has not been possible todraw any conclusions. It is uncertainwhether water purity alone matters orwhether the more complex relationship ofunhygienic practices is the most important(ref 24) .

REFERENCES:

1. World Health Organization. World healthstatistics report, vol.26, 1973, 720-783

2. SUBRAHMANYAM, D V. Introduction to theInternational Drinking Water andSanitation Decade, paper delivered atthe United Nations Inter-regional

80

Seminar on Rural Water Supply, Uppsala,Sweden, 1980.

3. GLENNIE, C E R. The rural piped waterprogramme in Malawi. A case study incommunity participation, MSc thesis,University of London, 1979.

4. World Health Organization/World BankCooperative Programme. Water supplyand sewerage sector study of theRepublic of Malawi, 1978, Vol.1 & 2,pp 20-21.

5. ibid, p 21.

6. Malawi Government, Department of Lands,Valuation and Water. Manual forintegrated projects for rural ground-water supplies, Lilongwe, 1982.

7. MSUKWA, L A H & CHIRWA I. Anevaluation report of Christian ServiceCommittee funded water programme,Christian Service Committee, 1980.

8. MSUKWA, L A H & KANDOOLE B F. Waterby the people. An evaluation of therural water supply programmes inZomba district. Centre for SocialResearch, University of Malawi, 1981.

9. BRADLEY, D. Infective diseases anddomestic water supplies n Tschannerl,G (ed) Water Supply, Proceedings ofthe Conference on rural water supply inEast Africa, BRALUP Research paperno.20, 1971.

10. FEACHEM, R. et al. Water, health anddevelopment, an interdisciplinaryevaluation, Tri-Med Books, London,1978, p.3.

11. ibid, p.4

12. e.g. FALKENMARK, M (ed). Rural watersupply and health. The need for a newstrategy, Scandinavian Institute ofAfrican Studies, Uppsala, 1982.HUGHES, J M. Potential impact ofimproved water supply and excretadisposal on diarrhoeal disease morbidity:an assessment based on a review ofpublished studies, Diarrhoeal DiseaseControl Programme Consultation Report,WHO, Geneva, November, 1980.McJUNKIN, F E. Water and human health.USAID, Community Water Supply andSanitation Division, Washington, July1982.

13. Hughes, op.cit.

14. McJunkin, op.cit.

15. Hughes, op.cit., p8.

16. McJunkin, op.cit. p94

17. Hughes, op.cit. p9

18. McJunkin, op.cit p94

19. SCHULTZBERG, G. Minimum evaluationprocedure for water supply andsanitation projects, unpublishedmanuscript, Ross Institute, LondonSchool of Hygiene and TropicalMedicine, September 1982.

20. World Health, August-September 1980,38.

21. WHO: Benefits to health of safe andadequate drinking water and sanitarydisposal of human wastes, EHE/82.32, 6.

22. KIELMANN, A A et al. The Narangwalnutrition study: a summary review,American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,1978, Vol.31, 2040-2052.

23. MATA, L et al. Diarrhoea andmalnutrition: breast feedingintervention in a transitionalpopulation, iii T Holme et al (eds) .Acute Holland Biomedical press,Amsterdam, 1981.

24. TOMKINS, A et al. Water supply andnutritional status in northernNigeria, Transactions of the RoyalSociety of Tropical Medical Hygiene,1978, Vol 72, 239-43.

81


PARTICIPATION IN RURAL WATER SUPPLY - THE MALAWI EXPERIENCE

by L A H MSUKWA

1. INTRODUCTION

It is generally accepted that communityparticipation in water supply projects greatlystrengthens the community's commitment tothe supply and encourages better operationand maintenance. During the past fourteenyears, Malawi has made remarkable progressin the provision of potable water to itsrural population. It has been estimatedthat by 1980, 50% of the country's ruralpopulation had access to a water supplyservice (1). This has been achievedthrough three programmes, Boreholes, Wellsand Gravity Fed Piped Water Schemes. TheWells and Piped Water Programmes have beenimplemented through self-help and an elementof community participation has just beenintroduced in the Borehole Programme.

The purpose of this paper is to brieflydescribe Malawi's experience with communityparticipation in the Gravity Fed PipedWater Programme. The paper is based on theexperience I have gained by participating intwo surveys. The first one was a survey ofall funded water programmes by the ChristianService Committee of the Churches in Malawi(CSC) which included 8 piped water schemesthroughout the country. The second surveywas carried out by the Centre for SocialResearch in the Zomba East Piped WaterScheme which was aimed at finding the socio-economic impact of the project on the people.Both these surveys looked at several aspectsincluding water collection and water use,quantity and quality of the water, repair,maintenance and up-keep, economic benefitsand community participation. In this paperonly one aspect, community participation,will be considered.

Historical Background

The first ever piped water scheme was startedin 1968 by the Department of CommunityDevelopment in the Chingale area of ZombaDistrict. The area had been designated as aCommunity Development Project area and stafffrom the Department, including an engineer,were posted to the area to assist the localpeople in identifying possible communityconstruction projects. From discussions withthe local population, it became clear thatone of the major problems the community wasfacing was water supply.

The traditional sources of water,unprotected hand-dug wells dried up duringthe dry season and women had to walk longdistances to fetch water. However, thereis within the area, a stream which hadwater on the slopes of the mountain allthe year round.

Led by the community leaders, the engineerwent to the slopes of the mountain andfound that there was enough water in thestream to supply people living in thevalley with clean tap water. A proposalwas put to the local leaders to the effectthat Government would assist the people toinstal a piped water scheme in the areaprovided that the people agreed to dig thetrench. A few days later, a public meetingwas convened at which the proposal wasmade known to the community and reluctantly,the people agreed to the proposal. In1969, the Chingale Piped Water Project wascompleted at a cost of about US $6,000($2 per person). The people themselveshad dug 25 km of trench, laid the pipes,backfilled the trench and installed 25stand pipes. This project is still workingtoday and is being operated and maintainedby the people with some assistance fromthe Government (2).

This was the beginning of one of the mostinteresting Community Development Projectsin the country. By 1982, over 640,000people in Malawi's rural areas were beingserved by 4,160 village taps which theythemselves had installed after diggingand laying over 3,000 km of trench line.All this has been achieved at an averagecost of only $5.00 per head of population(3) .

The over 3 3 projects that have beeninstalled range from small projectscovering only one village with only sixtaps to large schemes involving over100,000 people and 800 stand pipes. Asmall project might take only a few monthsto complete while large projects can takeup to four years of construction.

We will look at the role the communityplays in piped water schemes at two stages,the construction stage and the maintenancestage.

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II. THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY DURINGCONSTRUCTION

In the early years of piped water schemesin the country, the principal motivatingforce was the Government which took theinitiative by inviting the community toparticipate. However, the Government madesure that the Community got involved at anearly stage. Thus as soon as a project hasbeen announced in an area and the communityagreed to take part, a Project Committeeis elected at a public meeting to supervisethe work. Once a pilot project issuccessfully completed in an area "itbecomes a potent advertisement for theprogramme and thus genuine popular demandbecomes the principal motivating force" (2).Today most of the schemes are started atthe request of local leaders through theDistrict Development Committees.

The value of the local community input inrural piped water schemes has been estimatedat 30 per cent of total construction andmaintenance costs. The local people areresponsible for marking the pipelines,clearing temporary access roads to storagetank sites, digging the trenches,excavating tank sites, loading and unloadingpipes, collecting local materials, layingthe pipes, back-filling the trenches andplanting grass to mark completed pipelines.They do all this so that in the end theycan have clean tap water near their homesfor which they do not have to pay.

To carry out such work successfully a highdegree of organisation is required at thecommunity level. The role of the communityorganisation is to set up and maintain theSelf-help labour programme. Table 1 givesthe organisational structure for a majorproject and related levels of project(Government) Organisation. The success ofany project depends upon the authority ofthe various committees. This authority isderived from the local leadership ie theChief and Malawi Congress Party leaders andnot from the project staff who are there toprovide technical expertise and to advisethe local committees. Each committee hasdistinct responsibilities:

The Main Project Committee

The Main Project Committee is responsiblefor the overall management of the self-helpprogramme. The initial work programme isorganised by this committee and is alsoresponsible for setting up the main linetrench digging programme.

Section Committees

Villages involved in one section of thepipeline elect a Committee whose immediate

task is to draw up a daily programme ofvillages to work on the trench. Thecommittee is provided with a list ofvillages and populations so that abalanced work programme can be made.Committee members supervise the trenchdigging on rotational basis. If anyproblems arise regarding the progress ofthe work, the committee calls a publicmeeting where such problems are discussedand if this committee fails to solve theproblem it is referred to the Main Committee.

Branch Committees

Once the digging and back-filling of themain line is completed, the main committeemeets to call upon the villages of eachbranch line to form Branch Committeeswhich are responsible for organisinglabour on branch lines.

Village Committees

The Village Committee is responsible forsupervising the village labour on itsappointed day of work and for ensuringthat village attendance is maintained. Itis also responsible for selecting the sitesfor all standpipes in the village.

Ill THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY INMAINTENANCE, REPAIR AND UP-KEEP

Community involvement as described in IIabove is expected to make the people feelthe project is theirs and that they willtake care of it. In the two surveys,respondents were asked the question "towhom does the water supply belong?" Inthe Zomba East Survey, 60% of respondentssaid it belonged to the community while29.5% said it belonged to the Government.In the Nationwide Survey by CSC, 83% of therespondents said the Scheme was theirs andonly 9.6% said it belonged to the Government(4). it should be pointed out that the CSCSurvey included a number of schemes in theNorthern and Central Regions which had beencompleted several years back and whosemaintenance was completely in the hands ofthe local people unlike Zomba East whichat the time of the evaluation was not fullycompleted.

In an evaluation of the Wangingombe NorthWater Supply Project (NWSP), Tanzania, bythe Bureau of Resource Assessment and LandUse Planning, a similar question was asked.In this survey, 89% of respondents said theGovernment was responsible for the projectand only 2% said the village. The authorsof the report observe that the people'sparticipation is "reduced to manual labour...villagers do not know how the water schemesfunction and in case of breakdown it is onlythe experts from the headquarters who can

83

do the repairs" (5) .

The situation in Malawi is certainlydifferent from that observed in Tanzania.Not only that people have some knowledge ofhow the system works but also, a big partof maintenance work is done by local people.

Prior to 1980, the maintenance of completedschemes was completely in the hands o| thelocal people. For each completed project,a few people were given training in repairand maintenance and these people wereresponsible for overall maintenance of thescheme. At the local tap level, the tapcommittee was given responsibility for thereplacement of a damaged tap head, repairof apron, drain and soakaway. TheGovernment only provided materials such astools, pipes and fittings and the communitywas responsible for the purchase of a taphead.

It was revealed during the CSC evaluationthat this arrangement was not completelysuccessful. The main problems observedwere:

(a) spare parts were not readily availableto people who were given responsibility formaintenance. In some cases, several weekscould pass before the Government could sendthe necessary materials especially forschemes in the Centre and North.

(b) the system relied too much onindividuals which meant that if theyhappened to leave the community temporarilyor permanently, the scheme would havenobody to maintain during their period ofabsence.

(c) tap committees which were responsiblefor maintenance at tap level were found tobe inactive.

In an effort to solve problems, a newsystem was introduced in 1980. Under thissystem, the Government has employedmonitoring assistants responsible foroverseeing about 200 taps each. The dutyof the monitoring assistant is to monitorthe functioning of the scheme and adviserepair teams, which have also beenintroduced. One person from each village isappointed by the village headman to betrained by the DLVW in simple maintenancelike joining PVC pipes, repairing breaks inthe line as well as cleaning the tank. Allpeople thus trained coming from villagesserved by a branch line form the "RepairTeam" for that branch with a Chairman whokeeps the spares. These teams areresponsible for the maintenance of theScheme while the tap level maintenance still

remain a responsibility of the tapcommittees. The Teams are supposed towork closely with the tap committees andmembers of the general community. Eachmember of the community is supposed toreport to the team member any faultshe/she notices in the scheme.

The Functioning of the New MaintenanceSystem in Zomba East

The new system of maintenance is fullyestablished in Zomba East Project. One ofthe aspects we looked into during theSurvey was to determine the quality ofcommunity participation in the maintenance.At the tap level the problem observed inthe CSC evaluation still remains.Committees are active just after the taphas been installed but die soon after assome members of the committee leave thearea and are not replaced while othersbecome disinterested. In spite of this thestandard of up-keep in Zomba East was foundto be very high but this is more as aresult of the work of a few key individualsthan that of the community. Vandalism inthe scheme is non-existent.

Formation of Repair Teams in Zomba Eastwas completed by April, 1981 and the Surveywas carried out in August 1981. In ourSurvey, people were asked whether they hadever heard of a repair team and if so whothe members of the team were. As shown inTable 1 below, about 62% of thoseinterviewed had never heard of a repair team.

Table 1 Have you ever heard of a Repair

Area

ZA.EZA.EA]]

.North

. SouthZA.E.

Total No. ofHh's

180176356

Yes

38.37.38.

• %

8957

Team?

No

616261

%

.11

.5

.8

Source: Water by the People p.35.

In another question, respondents were askedwhat action they took the last time theyrealised there was no water at the tap.The majority (81%) said they did nothingand just went to draw water from thetraditional source. The majority thoughtthat whenever there was no water, the tankwas being cleaned. One would expect thatif the tank is to be cleaned, not onlyshould the community be informed but thatthey should take part. "... we fail tosee how the community can be expected tocooperate with the Tap Committee or RepairTeam when they do not know the members ofthe Committee or the Team are. We feel

that if the community is to take charge ofthe maintenance of the Scheme, theircontinued participation in the affairs ofthe project is important.....involving thecommunity in all major decisions concerningthe project like what rules are to beintroduced, who is to be trained as amember of the repair team, who is to be amember of the tap Committee, etc might notbe the quickest way of doing things but itis the surest way of ensuring properfuture maintenance and care of the Scheme"(Water by the People p 44).

Efforts are now being made to involve thepeople more and steps are being taken tokeep tap Committees active.

IV CONCLUSION

Despite the weaknesses pointed out throughthe Zomba East Evaluation on CommunityParticipation in maintenance, Malawi'sexperience in this field could be ofinterest to other countries. By 1982 about33 piped water schemes of varying sizeshad been installed throughout the country.There are a number of factors that havecontributed to the relative success of theprogramme in Malawi. The following are,in my opinion, the most important:

(1) A Long History of Self-Help

The people in Malawi have had a long historyof self-help which has constantly beenencouraged by both the Government and theParty.

For example the construction of primaryschool classroom block ^nd teachers' houseshas always been the responsibility of thelocal community. Other communityconstruction projects on self-help haveincluded things like postal agencies, healthunits, roads and bridges. The creation ofDistrict Development Committees, Area ActionGroups, Village Development Committees andthe introduction of Youth Week have allhelped to enhance the spirit of "helpyourselves" among the people.

It was, therefore, not strange to thepopulation to be called upon to participatein the improvement of their water supply.

(2) The Evolution of the Programme

The piped water programme in Malawi hasgrown through a cautious approach. Localpeople are always suspicious of new ideas.Although local leaders had agreed to theproposal for a piped water scheme inChingale, they were not convinced thatwater would ever flow through taps in theirvillages. This first project was small

enough as to be completed within arelatively short period.

A year after the Chingale project wasstarted, a much bigger project wasstarted at Chambe in Mulanje District.The project was designed to serve 30,000people in 60 villages through 180 standpipes. Before the actual digging of theprojict started, local leaders were takento Chingale to see the completed workpeople of this area had done. Work atChambe got off to an enthusiastic startwith all villages digging the main lineand as work started on the branch lines,the initial enthusiasm started to wane.

People began to doubt as to whether theywould ever have piped water in theirvillages. Rumours began to spread to theeffect that Government planned to takeland from the people and establish estatesonce piped water had been installed. Thepeople completely stopped going to digthe trench. Although the project waseventually completed after people's fearshad been allayed, important lessons werelearned. There was a credibility gapbetween what the local leaders had seenat Chingale and what they were able toconvey to the people. The people wereasked to make "an act of faith" bycommitting their labour for a cause whosemotives they doubted. A smaller projectwould have been much more appropriate (2).

One of the most important outcomes arisingout of the problems faced at Chambe isthat no major project was introduced in anew area before the Government coulddemonstrate that piped water was possiblethrough a small project. Thus each timethe programme was to be introduced in anarea for the first time, a sort of pilotscheme would first be installed.

(3) Genuine Popular Demand

The programme, which started throughGovernment initiative has great appeal tothe population. Before piped water schemeswere known throughout the country, localpeople nearly always asked for a boreholewhenever they had a water problem. Thesedays the demand is for piped water. Thepeople ask for these schemes knowing fullywell what is expected of them.

(4) Proper Community Organisation

Another reason for the success of self-helppiped water schemes in Malawi is the highlevel of organisation that has evolved inwhich both the Party and TraditionalLeadership are used. Government officialshave no direct contact with the communityexcept through the leaders and the Committees.

85

(5) Controlled Growth of the Programme

Lastly, the rural piped water programme hasgrown or rather evolved, through a smallnon-technical Department of CommunityDevelopment. With one engineer, and anumber of multi-purpose CommunityDevelopment Assistants, the Department couldembark on only one major project and a fewsmaller ones at any one time". After thefirst pilot projects in the South, requestsfrom District Development Committees inother parts of the country were expressionsof general community interest rather thangenuine popular demand. It was clearlybeyond the resources of the Water ProjectsSection of the Department to embark onnumerous pilot projects all over thecountry. With insufficient supervision,such projects would have been excessivelyprone to failure, and even if, by goodfortune many succeeded, the resultingpopular demand would have been politicallyimpossible to resist and yet beyond thecapacity of the Department to satisfy. Thedecision to select a few focal areas forthe expansion of the programme ensuredadequate supervision and limited thestimulation of popular demand to anacceptable rate" (Glennie, 1979, 41).

The above five factors have been crucial inthe success of the programme in Malawi. Thefirst one might not be applicable to allcountries in Africa and it would be difficultfor a government which has been doingeverything for the people to say that theyhave to provide free labour for water supplyprojects. The "Philosophy" of self-help hasto apply to all aspects of rural developmentif it is to be successful and not just toone sector.

I will conclude this paper by adding a wordof caution to the Department of Lands,Valuation and Water. Self-help piped wateras well as the Wells Programme grew out ofCommunity Development, a non-technicaldepartment which had very limitedresources. Both these activities have movedinto a technical department which hasrelatively more resources in terms ofpersonnel and finance. Piped water schemesshould not only be looked at from thetechnical aspect to the neglect of thevital element in the success of the programmeso far, genuine community involvement.Neither should the community be looked atjust as a source of cheap labour, howeverimportant this might be in itself. The aimof community participation should be togive chance to the people to play a role inshaping their own future, give them personaldignity, self-confidence and a sense ofresponsibility (6).

References

1. MSUKWA, L A H and KANDOOLE, B F (1981)"Water by the People: An Evaluationof the Rural Water Supply Programme inZomba District". Centre for SocialResearch, University of Malawi, Zomba.

2. GLENNIE, C E R (1979) "The RuralPiped Water Programme in Malawi: ACase Study in Community Participation".An unpublished MSc Dissertation writtenfor the University of London.

3. Department of Lands, Valuation andWater (1982) . "Self-help GravityPiped Water Projects in Malawi".Prepared for the Social ScienceConference held in July, 1982, atChancellor College.

4. Christian Service Committee (1980)."An Evaluation of CSC Funded WaterProgrammes".

5. STAHL et al. "A Socio-Economic Studyof Water-Related Problems in NorthernNjombe", Bureau of Resource Assessmentand Land Use Planning, University ofDar-e s-Salaam.

6. MSUKWA, L A H (1981) Meeting the BasicHealth Needs of Rural Malawi: AnAlternative Strategy, GEO Books,University of East Anglia.

86

^;-,MS! Vf/i ( ^ ^ ^ Conference: Sanitation and water for development in Africa: HARARE: 7983

LOW COST IN RURAL GROUNDWATER PROJECTS IN MALAWI

. by A Smith-Carlngton

INTRODUCTION

The concept of Integrated Projects for ruralgroundwater supplies has been developed inMalawi since the introduction of low-costboreholes in 1980.

The need for a low-cost efficient approachwas clear because it is estimated that about75% of the 1990 rural population of about7 million people will need to be served fromgroundwater. The very successful gravity-fed piped water programmes can only servethe remaining proportion of the rural areasdue to the limited number of protectedperennial sources.

The integrated approach aims to providecomplete coverage of an area with waterpointssuch that the walking distance is less than500m for the great majority of thepopulation to be served. This is achievedby:

a) rehabilitation of existing boreholeswhere feasible

b) construction of new well-designed low-cost boreholes

c) protection of suitable existing dugwells

d) construction of new dug wellse) establishment of a maintenance structure

for all waterpoints

Full details of the programme are given in acomprehensive manual (Chilton, Grey andSmith-Carington, 1982) .

There are two Integrated Projects currentlybeing implemented, one in the LivuleziValley in Ntcheu District and the other inDowa District, and several more are planned.Both of those under construction will serveprojected 1990 target populations of about60 000, each borehole serving a designpopulation of 250 and each dug well 125people, with a design abstraction of 27litres/head/day.

Hydrogeology

The waterpoints are being constructed in theweathered Basement aquifer which is wide-spread over the plateau areas of Malawi,although it is relatively thin (commonly10-30m). The extent of weathering and

and unconsolidation increases from thefresh bedrock upwards. It grades througha zone of broken and hydrated rock wherethe surfaces are chemically weathered,into a zone of crumbling and decomposedbedrock, often of sandy texture, which isthe main aquifer. The weatheringprocesses result in increasing clay contentupwards and the more permeable layers arepartly confined by an overlying thicknessof compacted clays and latosols (commonly5-20m thick).

Potential borehole yields are low (usuallyless than 60 litres/min) but these aresufficient for handpump supplies wheretypical abstraction rates are 20 litres/min.Dug well abstraction rates are in the orderof 10 litres/min. The weathered basementis thus an important source for ruraldomestic water supplies.

The water table is shallow and groundwateris usually first struck at depths of lessthan 20m. The choice of waterpoint dependson the depth to water and is the uniquedecision of the Project Hydrogeologlst.Where the water table is less than 4mbelow ground level a dug well is constructed;where it is more than 6m deep a borehole isdrilled, and where it is 4-6m deep eithertype of waterpoint is constructed.

Project implementation

In each area there are 4 cable tool drillingrigs and 2 well digging teams. Keepingthem in close proximity allows greatersupervision of the construction byprofessional staff and considerablereduction in the transport costs. Motorcycles are used by professional staff,bicycles by drilling crews, a tractor andtrailer for moving the rigs from site tosite, and a small pick-up truck fortransporting materials. There is thus ahigh operating efficiency whilst keepingoverhead costs as low as possible.

Borehole Designs

Most of the existing old-design boreholesin Malawi are very inefficient, andexpensive to construct and maintain. Themajority are drilled very deep (40-60m)into hard fresh bedrock, with the more

87

porous, and permeable water-bearingweathered zone cased out. Expensive steellining (commonly 150mm diameter) is instal-led and the screened sections of this areusually only short lengths at lower levelsin the hole. These sections have relativelyfew torch or hacksaw cut slots of largediameter. Together with the thin,ineffective pack of very coarse crushedroadstone (6-12mm) these allow the ingressof sand into the borehole. As a resultthere is often rapid wear on pump components,frequent breakdown of handpuraps and highmaintenance costs.

An understanding of the hydrogeology hasled to the matching of the borehole designto the aquifer. The improved design low-cost boreholes are drilled only as deep asis necessary for the required yields (30litres/min for rural domestic supply) andthey tap the weathered basement aquifer.Borehole depths are commonly only 20-3Omand they require only about 4-5 days forconstruction. This is between about athird and a half of the time taken for old-design boreholes in the dispersed drillingprogramme.

Locally manufactured PVC pipe (110mmdiameter) is used to line the boreholes.Slotted pipe is installed below the depthwhere water is first struck. There is amuch greater open area of the screenedsections (9%) although the slot sizes areonly 0.75mm diameter. Coarse sands (l-2mm)from the shores of Lake Malawi are used asa pack to fill the annulus between thelining and the walls of the borehole(drilled at 200mm diameter). Development byoverpumping is carried out until thedischarge is clear to remove the fines andincrease borehole efficiency.

Dug Well Designs

Dug wells are at present being constructedat 1.5m or 2m diameter and are being linedwith porous concrete rings and/or bricks.They are protected by a concrete top slaband equipped with handpumps. Tests arebeing carried out on other lining materialseg sisal cement and different dug welldesigns in order to improve the sanitarycompletion, increase the ease of constructionand minimise costs. Digging takes placeduring the dry season, and aims to reachdepths of 4m below the minimum water levelalthough this cannot always be achieved. Apump is used to dewater the well for diggingbelow the natural water table.

Backfilled wells have been tried in order toincrease the protection from pollution;however there are difficulties of access if

deepening or pump repairs are required.As a result, this design is likely to besuperseded.

Waterpoint Surrounds

All waterpoints are completed with theconstruction of an apron to prevent watercollecting around the pump pedestal and itsingress into the borehole or dug well, andto ensure good drainage away from the area.A washing slab is incorporated into theapron and this has proved to be verypopular with the communities, encouragingthe use of the clean protected water ratherthan traditional water sources in therivers.

Target Costs

Using the integrated approach the targetcost for borehole construction has beenreduced to MK 1500, and for dug wells it isMK 750. These represent MK6 per capita,and are inclusive of handpump, waterpointsurround and Project overheads.

*MK1 is approximately equivalent to US$1.

Community Participation

Community participation is considered to bevital to the long term success of therojects. The involvement of the localpeople in as many activities and decisionsas possible is important in order to buildup a feeling of ownership of the waterpoint,even where it may reduce the efficiency ofthe construction. It must be rememberedthat the implementation phase is only thestart of the Project, and smooth operationand maintenance will hopefully continuefor many years.

Local meetings are held with communityleaders to explain the aims of the Projectand what tasks the villagers will beexpected to carry out. A water committeeof 4-5 people (if possible including somewomen) is formed in each village; theseare responsible for organising all theduties carried out by the community.

The waterpoint sites are chosen by thevillage themselves after advice from thehydrogeologist. Detailed geophysicalsurveys are not usually necessary becausethe yields required for handpumps are verylow and available over widespread areas.Guidance over siting in relation toexisting pit latrines and cattle kraals isimportant to avoid risks of water pollution.Seasonally waterlogged ground and areasneat the outcrop of fresh bedrock areavoided. ..;,

The community also pays in kind by theprovision of bricks, stone, sand and water,and by their own physical effort in diggingthe wells, crushing stone for the apronsand providing labour to help whereverpossible in the construction of the water-point. A sense of village ownership is thuscreated, and as a result there is likelyto be more care of the pump and surroundingsand the possibility of village levelmaintenance.

Handpumps

The locally manufactured lever-actionMaldev handpump has been developed inMalawi with ease of maintenance as a majordesign feature, and has been installed onthe majority of boreholes in the IntegratedProjects. Preventive maintenance byvillage caretakers is commencing in theLivulezi Project with regular tightening ofnuts and bolts. The downhole componentscan be removed through the cover plate onthe top of the pump without any dismantling.This offers scope for simple repairs atvillage level, but this is dependent on thedevelopment of easily replaceable, cheapdownhole components, which is currentlyunder research in Malawi and also by theConsumer Association in UK and the WorldBank Global Handpump Testing Project.

It should be noted that the key to goodhandpump performance is good borehole design.Good pumps cannot function well on boreholeswhich allow sand ingression and wear on pumpcomponents. On the other hand, none of the24 well-designed boreholes of the LivuleziFeasibility Project fitted with conventionalpump cylinders have required replacement ofthe cup leathers over a period of li-2 years.

The dug wells are equipped with locallymanufactured, shallow-lift, direct-actionhandpumps. The designs are still beingimproved to allow village level maintenance.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, the Integrated Project approachhas resulted in low-cost groundwatersupplies in the following ways:

a) boreholes drilled only as deep as isnecessary for handpump supplies andconstructed in a shorter period.

b) use of locally available materialswherever possible

c) site selection by the communitiesd) considerable reduction in transport costse) greater supervision resulting in high

standard and high success rate of water-point construction

f) labour and materials provided by thecommunity.

The involvement of the community duringthe implementation stages is seen as thevital factor for the successful long termoperation and village level maintenanceof the Project.

REFERENCE

CHILTON P J, GREY D R C and SMITH-CARINGTONA K, 1982. Manual for Integrated Projectsfor Rural Groundwater Supplies. UNDP/Department of Lands Valuation and Water,Malawi Government.

89


WATER SUPPLIES FOR RESETTLED POPULATIONS

by Dr B H KINSEY

INTRODUCTION

The recently published first volume of theTransitional National Development Plan(TNDP), covering the period 1982/83 to1984/85, defines the national objective oftransforming Zimbabwe into a dynamic,equitable society and spells out thestrategies to be followed in effecting thistransformation. Central to the theme ofthis conference are the plan's overallemphasis on rural development, in which

fsettlement, improved water supplies andsventatiyehealth are key strategicsments. This paper will examine theinneSTesettlement of large numbers ofral households in terms of its

implications for and place in Government'soverall water programme, which aims atproviding all the people of Zimbabwe withsafe water supplies for domestic and otheruses by 1990. In this context, theprogramme to supply water to resettled areaswill be reviewed, and accomplishments anddifficulties to date will be outlined. Onlylimited attention, however, will be directedto what will over time become anincreasingly important concerns water foruse in small-scale irrigation, not only topromote continuing growth in agriculturaloutput but also to permit limited landresources to absorb more settlers in such'productive agriculture. ,,

BACKGROUND

Ulater resources

Zimbabwe experiences a mean annual rainfallof some 675mm, but the distribution of waterresources available for utilization variessignificantly both spatially and temporally.Taking into account actual and potentialstored surface water and extracted groundwater, there is thought to be a maximumtotal of some 10,000 million cubic metres ofwater per annum available for use, some 15per cent of which is currently utilized—mainly in agriculture. It is estimated thatover the next 20 years the demand for wateravailable from internal resources mayincrease to an annual utilization level ofbetween 3,340 and 5,000 million cubic metres

\

(1, p. 61; 2, 24/1/83). In addition,Zimbabwe is entitled to a share of thewaters of the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers,however these sources have competing claimsand are far from the major centres ofpopulation.

Because of the frequency and severity ofdroughts, the urban, agricultural and miningsectors are largely dependent on the storageof water in dams. Some 7,400 dams ofvarying sizes have been constructed, with atotal storage capacity of some 4,700 million

\ cubic metres. About 85 per cent of thetotal storage capacity is in the 100 largestdams, and sites have been identified foranother 300 large dams (3, p. 9). The ruralsector relies for its water supplies oncomparatively low-yielding boreholes,shallow well5, small dams, seasonallyflowing rivers and streams, pools andsandbeds in rivers, and springs andwaterholes. The source used typicallyvaries with the time of year and theintended use. These sources are generallyunprotected and, with increasing populationdensities, surface supplies in particularhave tended to become polluted.

The data base covering water supplies anduse in the underprivileged rural sector isvery weak, and estimates of the number of

* people who have access to water varyaccordingly. The total rural population issome 5.6 million, of whom some 3.9 millionreside scattered across the communal areas,1.0 million in the commercial farming areasand another 0.7 million in small ruralcentres. One recent estimate suggests that

J only about 10 per cent of the rural"I population has an 'adequate7 water supply

(3, p. 5), while an earlier figure cited forthe proportion of the population with"adequate access to safe drinking water' was20 per cent (2, 20/10/81). A thirdestimate—and the most recent located—indicates, however, that some 2.0 millionrural people are served by boreholes, 0.2million by piped water supplies in villagesand 0.4 million by piped supplies in ruralcentres, while 2.0 million have no access topotable water supplies (2, 23/12/82). Thislast source implies that anything from 35 to47 per cent of the rural population lackaccess to clean water.

90

he Government is committed to ensuring that;he entire population of Zimbabwe issupplied with clean water by the end of thenternational Drinking Water Supply andanitation Decade in 1990 (2, 16/1/83).

Government intends to ensure the optimumutilization of water resources through thejreparation of development plans for each ofthe major river systems and catchment areas.These area-based plans will constitute partof a national water master plan, which willalso investigate the total demand for andsupply of water and the most economical waysof providing it.

The rural areas Are to receive particularattention. In order to remedy years ofneglect in the communal areas, Governmentintends to provide the larger villages withstorage reservoirs from which water can bereticulated to communal standpipes or fr-^Vindividual connections for community '"* P * •facilities. In the more sparsely populatedregions, supplies will be provided fromboreholes or wells. Water supplies foragricultural purposes, such as stock-watering and irrigation, are to be developedas part of the programmes for integratedrural development (1, p. 62). Aid funds andtechnical assistance to facilitate waterdevelopment are currently being providedfrom a number of countries and agencies.

Even at its most economical, meeting thegrowing national demand for water andimproving distribution of supplies will notcome cheaply. By way of illustration, ithas been estimated that the policy ofproviding pumped and reticulated supplies tothe population of the communal lands alonewould cost in total some Z$650 to 1,000million, figures which suggest a per capitacost of some Z$150 (3; 4). Expenditure onwater supplies can therefore be expected toincrease substantially. From 1981/82 to1982/83, for example, the expenditureestimates for the Ministry of WaterResources and Development (MWRD) increasedby some 128 per cent—from Z*18 to Z*42million (£1 = Z$1.48 in January 1983). Wellover 93 per cent of this increasedexpenditure was allocated to theconstruction of water supplies, waterconservation works and rural water supplies<5, pp. 130-32).

\

In September 1980, the Government embarkedupon a programme of agriculturalresettlement which 'will occupy a centralplace in the social, political and economiclife of the country7 during and beyond the3-year period covered by TNDP a, p. 66).

This programme, ambitious not only in itswide scope but also in the capacity of a newadministration to implement it, is a keyelement in the Government's pledge torestructure rural society and economy and toimprove rural welfare. The target rates ofresettlement designed into the originalprogramme were subsequently multiplied someninefold by the addition of a second,parallel programme, which makes resettlementnow and into the foreseeable future themajor rural development activity inZimbabwe; indeed, it is currently the majorpublic sector programme with the potentialto affect fairly immediately andsignificantly the economic welfare of largenumbers of rural dwellers.

The consequences of a basically inequitabledistribution of land per se beforeindependence have been exacerbated byunderlying differences in land quality.Agricultural land is classified into fiveagro-ecological zones, known as naturalregions. More than half the large-scale,commercial farming land is in the morefavourable areas! natural regions I, II andIII, which by definition enjoy more greaterand more reliable rainfall. In contrast,three-quarters of the communal area land isin natural regions IV and V, which areconsidered marginal or unsuited forcropping. It should be noted, however, thatnatural regions I and II—those best-wateredand suited for intensive farming—compriseonly 17 per cent of the entire country.iThere is thus an absolute shortage of good,/naturally watered farming land which doesnot reflect the relative shortages caused bycolonial land distribution patterns. Landin the communal areas is under serious tosevere population pressure, and in 1981these areas were estimated to beaccommodating some 219,000 households inexcess of their carrying capacity (6, p.147).

SCALE OF THE RESETTLEMENT WATER PROBLEM

The number of people to be resettled underGovernment's programmes is not known withprecision but is estimated at 170,000families, the great majority of whomGovernment hopes to settle by mid-1985 (7,p. 10). Assuming a family size of five,resettlement must therefore supply the waterrequirements of some 850,000 persons.Settlers are moving onto land that wasformerly commercial farms, where watersupplies usually exist but where they wereinstalled to support the pre-existingpattern of family or corporate farming withits relatively small and clusteredresidential labour force. Moreover, many ofthese water supplies were badly damaged andrendered useless during the war. i

91

Settlers are to be grouped into villageswhich are to be supplied with water at a

\service level of one borehole, fitted with alhandpump, to about 25 -farm families. Thebudgeted cost is Z*5,000, or about Z$30-40per capita. In cases where surface water isnot available for stock-watering, a boreholeequipped with a windmill, storage tank andtrough will be provided at a budgeted costof Z$20,000. The administrative centrewhich houses resettlement and otherGovernment personnel is to be supplied by anengine-driven pump mounted on a borehole ifpossible; otherwise supplies will come fromsurface water via a small treatment plant(8, Appendix E). Costs are budgeted atZ*25,000 per installation. Since thes«administrative headquarters Are expected togrow into rural service centres, supplieswill be reticulated.

Resettlement on the scale indicated aboveimplies a need for some 2,000 boreholes orother water sources a year <not all of whichwould be new) which in turn implies the needfor 120-130 drilling rigs. In mid-1982,there were only 65 rigs in Zimbabwe, 16 ofwhich were government-owned. The capitalcost of a single new percussion drilling rigis estimated at Z*45,000 while running costsare Z44,500 per month, or some Z$52,000 ayear, but a number of aid donors are

p providing increments to the national stockof drilling equipment. The shortage of rigsis not the only problem however. Thegeophysical surveys needed to selectdrilling sites sre also being impededbecause of a shortage of engineers andinadequate knowledge of ground waterresources.

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

With the exception of water supplies, allinfrastructure in settlement schemes is theresponsibility of the Chief DevelopmentOfficer, under the Director of RuralDevelopment in the Ministry of Lands,Resettlement and Rural Development (MLRRD).Teams working under the Chief DevelopmentOfficer construct internal roads, cattledips, health clinics and staff housing<through supervised contracts), install•fencing, coordinate school construction anddemarcate land and arrange for initialploughing. Responsibility for watersupplies in the settlement schemes lies withthe Ministry of Water Resources andDevelopment through its Division of WaterDevelopment (DWD), which acts as a serviceagency to MLRRD.

\

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RESETTLEMENT WATERPROGRAMME

Resettlement is currently being implementedas a tactical exercise, with great pressuresbeing placed on the institutions andpersonnel involved to speed up the programmebecause of its political, economic andsocial importance. The problem of watersupplies is the major constraint currentlyaffecting both the pace of resettlementitself and the follow-up to settlement, anda solution to the problem is currentlyMLRRD's number one priority. Untilrecently, relocation of settlers had beenproceeding whether or not boreholes or wellsexisted at the settlement site on theassumption that settlers could usealternative sources of supply. Thisassumption proved valid during the earlieststages of resettlement. Far example, in1981/82, MLRRD received only 30 per cent ofanticipated installations from DWD butmanaged to get away with nearly a fullresettlement programme because of theprevious good rains. Two consecutive seasonsof draught, however, have had severelyadverse effects on resettlement planned forthose areas where reliable water supplies donot exist. Moreover, where resettlementhas already taken place, there can be noconsolidation or secondary development untilwater supplies are provided. Housing forextension, health and educational staff, forexample, cannot be constructed until waterpoints have been sited. Even before watersupplies for drought relief became the majorpreoccupation, however, resettlement wasonly the third priority for DWD after thereconstruction and school-buildingprogrammes.

Even without the expansion of its activitiesto include resettlement, however, MWRD wasalready fully stretched by its nationwideprogramme of repairing war damage toboreholes, wells, dams and pumpingequipment. Moreover, the ministry is beingrequired to expand its activities incommunal areas, and the continuing droughthas necessitated the deferral of some waterprojects while MWRD concentrates on droughtrelief to the hardest-hit areas, mostly inthe southern half of the country. The waterprogramme has been further impeded by theresignation of 65 per cent of the ministry'swater engineers <2, 18/1/83).

Because of these problems, the DevelopmentBranch of MLRRD, which already handles otherphysical infrastructure, is attempting toestablish a well-digging unit in order bothto overcome the shortage of drilling rigsand to reduce the time and costs involved inthe drilling programme.

92

As a consequence of the difficultiesoutlined above, the major infrastructuralproblem -facing the resettlement programmerelates to the limited ability to installwater supplies fast enough. The delays ininstalling water supplies severely constrainthe implementation of other components ofinfrastructure, such as the construction ofdips, clinics and staff houses and offices,and these aspects are slipping well behindthe present pace of resettling families.

In addition to affecting the subsequentability to construct facilities needed byboth settlers and administrative staff,other consequences also arise from thedelays in providing water supplies. Thedelays arm a bottleneck to resettlementitself in that settlers are expected to takeup permanent residence in new villageswithout any—or only inadequate—water fordomestic use, for constructing their ownhouses or such facilities as cooperativeschools, or for agricultural use such aswatering stock or mixing crop sprays. Inthe worst drought-affected areas,resettlement schemes have at present onlyseven per cent of the total number ofsettlers they can accommodate, and in otherareas settlers have temporarily had toabandon the schemes due to insufficientwater (2, 24/1/83).

CONCLUSIONS

Bad luck, in the form of two successiveyears of drought, has diverted resources•from planned programmes of water supply toemergency relief measures. The adequateprovision of water supplies is clearly oneof the major constraints to the speedy andsuccessful implementation of Government'sefforts to resettle large numbers offamilies from the communal areas into formercommercial farming areas. In addition, thecurrently limited capacity to provide newsupplies impedes the national objective ofensuring clean water to the entire ruralpopulation by 1990. The internationalcommunity has responded generously withequipment and technical assistance, andsolutions a.re also being sought which willutilize local knowledge and institutions.Perhaps most encouraging for the future isthe recognition that rural people should beactively involved, through village watercommunities, in planning and implementingwater supply projects. Such an approach notonly can reduce the rising costs ofproviding water but also can harnessZimbabwe's most potent force fordevelopment: her people.

REFERENCES

1. Republic of Zimbabwe. Transitionalnational development plan, 1982/83-1984/85,Volume 1. Harare, 1982.

2. The Herald. Harare, various dates.

3. World Health Organization. Republic ofZimbabwe: Rural water supply and sanitationsector study. World Health Organization/World Bank Cooperative Programme, Beneva,1982.

4. Wurzel, P. Groundwater in Zimbabwe:development aims for the 1980s. Paperpresented at Sroundwater 81, Kuala Lumpur,1981.

5. Republic of Zimbabwe. Estimates ofexpenditure for the year ending June 30,1983. Harare, 1982.

6. Republic of Zimbabwe. Report of theCommission of Inquiry into Incomes, Pricesand Conditions of Service. Harare, 1981.

7. Kinsey, B H. The strategy and tactics ofagrarian reformi resettlement and landpolicy in Zimbabwe. Paper presented at theannual conference of the Development StudiesAssociation, Dublin, 1982.

8. Republic of Zimbabwe. Zimbabweintensive resettlement programme:instruction handbook for planning. Ministryof Agriculture, Harare, 1981.

93

URBAN

by J

LOW

DE B

* Conference: Sanitation and

COST SANITATION

ASHWORTH

wafer for deve/opment in Africa: HARARE: 1983

URBAN LOW COST SANITATION:SELF HELP, GOVERNMENT DIRECT LABOUR ORCONTRACTOR BUILT?

1. SummaryContractor built latrines located in urbandevelopments are more likely to lead to thesuccess of a pit latrine project than eitherdirect labour or self help construction.Contractors are not constrained by govern-ment regulations and can often, for example,use alternative methods to obtain materialsin short supply, or pay incentive wages tothe labour force for work not just atten-dance.A self help construction project is likely tobe successful in a rural environ where thecommunity is united under a central figure -the village elder. But the fight to survivein an urban habitat often results in mater-ials being sold for more important thingssuch as food and medicine, and not theconstruction of the latrine.Urban Government direct labour built latrinescan suffer from the severe restrictions ofgovernment rules and regulations whichdictate the purchasing procedures, but nothow much is necessary to bribe storekeepers to release materials to the project.

2. IntroductionYou are the Town Engineer: The town's pop-ulation has doubled in the last 8 years, butthe supply of housing has failed to keep upwith demand. The rural migration hasmoved into slum (squatter) quarters along theriver banks where the town council has notfinancial interest because it is waste land.There has just been an outbreak of cholera.The daily papers are clamouring for somebodysblood and blaming the Government for failingto implement election promises of providingsanitation to all people. You are perilouslyclose to being sacked in order to assuage apolitical blunder and allow the governmentto be seen to take action. In the meantime,by working through the nights with theMinistry of Health you manage to contain thecholera out break,A court of enquiry, after the cholera outbreak, establishes poor sanitation and thepublic's poor personal hygiene to be the maincontributory factors. The enquiry establish-ed cholera to have a minor contributor to themortality rate far outstripped by gastroen-

teritis, measles and malaria as infantilekillers. In addition the Ministry of Healthpoint out that clinic and hospital recordsindicate only the "tip of the iceberg".An inspection of the squatter areas showsbare footed children walking through poolsof sewage, sullage and surface water, onlya token water supply and refuse in partlycovered pits with flies buzzing around thedecaying matter.The politians authorize finance for consul-tants to study the water and sanitationproblems. Bilateral agencies support theproject and eventually, years later, thedetailed designs are underway. However,the lending agencies are short of money andhave limited the Projects to a standpipewater supply, sewerage for the town centre,latrine project. It is agreed that theHealth Education Unit of the Ministry ofHealth will join forces with the SanitationExtention Unit under the Town Engineer, andunder their combined umbrella oversee theconstruction of the pit latrines. But how?Self help, Government Direct Labour orContractor built?

3. Self Help Latrine Construction?Since independence, the country's philoso-phy and policies have been based on social-ist ideology. Great emphasis has been pla-ced on self help and this has worked well.Village water supply schemes have beenconstructed under the authority of thevillage elder, with technical assistancefrom central government. The personal relat-ionship the villages hold with the construc-tion works has resulted in continuing inter-est in maintaining the plant to a high level.From a financial view, the village selfhelp projects are very effective. Not onlyare the labour costs practically nil, butthe indirect foreign;exchange element is low.Little imported machinery is needed to undertake the works; diesel fuel is only requiredto transport materials to site and for thetechnical design, and supervision staffs'transport.The reason that self help philosophy doesnot work for an urban project is not tech-nical, but human. The village elder is apaternal figure. He knows by name andpersonality everyone in his village. In turnhe is respected by the villagers; his advice

and arbitration is sought after. A misdem-eanour by a villager is soon brought to theattention of the village elders and dealtwith. In fact, it is a "close-knit" societyworking for a common good - socialism at itsmost successful.In an urban environment these village attri-butes are quickly lost and scorned in thedaily battle to survive. The dream of st-reets "paved with gold" is rapidly dispelledby the lack of work, food and housing thelot of too many rural migrants. The pro-blems are compounded by disease, most ofwhich is water related - children that mightsurvive measles in their home village die inan urban community , as they are, in addit-ion, fighting diarrhoea,ascaris • (roundworm), fevers and malnutrition etc.In the past, "Sites and Service" projectshave occasionally been implemented on a selfhelp basis. The problems encountered arealong the lines that "if it can happen itwill happen". For example, one individualused his loan for a luxurious week in thecountry's best hotel, ethers sold part of th-eir cement allocation to buy food for thechildren. It was not long before sites andservices projects we contractor built.4. Government Direct Labour?The direct participation of the town orgovernments' public works department in alatrine construction programme seems veryattractive. It should be possible to save,at least, the contractors' element of profitin addition to savings on Costs incurred intendering and administering the works. But,to operate the project by complying with allgovernment regulations can lead to an expen-sive latrine.

The hiring of a direct labour force is oftenat the mercy of the regulations: Governmentscommonly pay labourers the minimum wage:sufficient for the man to arrive each day,but not to do a days work. Overtime ratesare pityfully small unless the supervisorawards four to five hours as an inducementfor hard work.Many financial regulations for examplerestrict the employment of casual labour tothree months. After the three months period,labourers become full time government employ-ees and are entitled to redundancy payments.Often after this three month period thelabourer or craftsman has become effectivelytrained when the regulations require him tobe sacked. The supervisor then has thedilemma of retraining a new labour forceor "bending" the regulations to maintain thepresent one.The financial accounting procedures caneffect the output of the labour force. Wagesare paid weekly and once the total bill ismore than, say, US $ 100 some financialregulations require a police escort! It canbe very difficult to arrange and may resultin the work force spending half a working

day in collecting their wages from the cen-tral office.Financial regulations on the purchase ofmaterials and equipment are often veryfrustrating. Local purchasing orders mustbe placed with government parastatal bodies.If the parastal is unable to provide therequisite materials, than a proforma mustbe obtained from three private establish-ments and the purchase placed with the : o.lowest tender. Even after payment for thegoods failures can still occur, especiallywith scarce and valuable commodities suchas cement. The delay between obtaining aproforma and presenting the money for pay-ment can take weeks because of all thenecessary authorization signatures, by whichtime the materials may have been allocatedelsewhere. And for cement, which is oftenin short supply, it is nearly always necess-ary for the allocation officer in the cementworks to be bribed - very difficult wordto use on your government expense sheet IIn developing country, government transportis a highly valued commodity as publictransport is often on point of collapse.Cars and Landrovers are used to ferry work-ers to and from work by which time theweekly quota of petrol is half consumed orhas been syphoned off by the driver in orderto pay for his food. Thus, the use of agovernment car to supervise a constructionproject is often not available. To borrowa lorry to transport cement materials isarranged in advance of the day for cementallocation, only to be foiled by the cementworks who default on supplying either becauseof non payment of the bribe or a mechanicalbreakdown of the plant. The author knowsof occasions where three attempts had to bemade to obtain 7 tons of cement from aparastal cement works, although all paymentshad been made and the highest authoritiesgiven had priority clearance.Two other areas affecting government trans-port are the purchase of fuel and repairs tothe vehicle. Addtional petrol to the weeklyquota (often 70 litres), requires the auth-orization of the department's director andthe most senior civil servant in that Minis-try - no mean feat to obtain these approvals.But then the ration must be drawn from theGovernment fuel depot. Which can entailqueues of upto a mile long-more wasted timeand energy. Repairs and servicing of veh-icles with a few exceptions have to be under-taken by the government garage. Spare partsrequire money which is the reason why a veh-icle can be laid up for months to the detri-ment of the project.

The cost of educating and training profess-ional and technical staff in a developingcountry is a great burden on the economy.In ,=;r>f"R cases this has suffered from Brit-ain's dramatically increasing overseasstudents fees. The limited number of qual-

95

ified professional staff are rapidly promotedto high positions where they are enmeshedin administration and have little chance incontrolling the engineering projects. Thisis left to inexperienced staff who can oftenbe daunted by the administrative procedures,let alone the technical requirements.But a latrines project,constructed by directlabour will require full time engineers tosupervise the works. However a degree of theroutine work can readily be undertaken byIVth and Vlth form leavers, if given theappropriate induction course.

5, Contractor Built?Contractors have the reputation of makinglarge profits, which is considered consistantwith a capitalist and not socialist ideology.But, by open tendering procedures it is poss-ible, in many cases, to keep the profit per-centage low.The advantage of a contractor over a Ministrydirect labour force is that he is not confin-ed by the government financial arrangementsthat are long overdue for revision. Thepurchase of materials can be completed in apragmatic manner, where necessary by payingthe appropriate bribes - in other words thefree market price. Petrol and vehicles arerarely a constraint to a contractor.A great advantage of a contractor over a Min-istry labour force is that he is not confinedby the government financial arragements thatare long overdue for revision. The purchaseof materials can be completed in a pragmaticmanner, where necessary by paying the appro-priate bribes - in other words the free mar-ket price. Petrol and vehicles are rarely aconstraint to a contractor,A great advantage for a latrine constructionproject is the hiring of local labour toundertake the works. Labourers and craftsmenare employed for the duration of the works.They will learn new skills, such as precast-ing latrine floor slabs on leveled groundrather than insitu floor slabs that requiredetailed shuttering. At the completion ofthe labour force will be disbanded but theacquired skills will remain within the dis-trict. A few craftsmen and labourers arelikely to establish a latrine constructionservice to satisfy the demands of the area.Once this process has been successfully oper-ated throughout the district the private"entrepeneur" craftsmen are in a position toundercut a contractor's price for any futureworks. It may not be by direct tendering,as that requires the formal establishment ofa company, but by the refusal of the peopleto pay the higher price.

Supervision of the latrine construction bygovernment or town council employees willstill be required. But, the frustrationsshould be grately reduced and confined topaying the contractor for satisfactorilyperformed work. But a word of warning,

contractors are better equipped than privatecitizens to use inferior quality materialsthan those Specified. Unless there is sat-isfactory supervision of the works thecontractor will profit to the detriment ofthe works.

6. Cost ComparisonIt is extremely difficult to compare thecosts of building a pit latrine by selfhelp, direct labour or a contractor. Therehas never been a project where all threeapproaches have been fully tried under ident-ical conditions. Often, the government sup-ervision and administrative costs are exclu-ed in the analysis.The average cost of a direct labour builtpit latrine was obtained from a recent con-struction project in Africa and calculatedto cost US 2 610 including government super-vision and transport costs. The break downof costs is given in Table 1

Table 1

The cost of a Single VIP Latrine

(January 1981

a) Materials:

Cement

Steel

u PVC pipe

Timber

G.I. roof

Miscellaneous*

b) Labour

prices)

US 3

126

12

16

34

22

28

238

372

US SS 610

: 39%

: 61%

Or, if the black market (ie free market) ex-change rate is used : US 8 226. The abovecosts take account of labour, standing timewhen materials were not available and coverthe half a day's working time a week tocollect wages.A contractor built latrine should be finan-cially more expensive than the US $ 226and a self help built latrine cheaper. Ifthere is no wastage of materials. But aswith cost comparison between all systems theresults will depend upon circumstances with-in each country.

* covers a proportion of tools and equipment• such as steel squat plate moulds.

96

Session 4

Chairman: Dr H A Coad, WEDCLoughborough University ofTechnology, U.K.

Discussion

P A Linskog and R U M LinskogHousehold water supply - a user's ora supplier's problem?1. Dr LINSKOG discussed the problems ofassessing the health and social impact ofimproved water supplies, with particularreference to the situation which existed inrural Malawi.

L A H MSUkWCIParticipation in rural water supply -the Malawi experience2. Dr LINSKOG presented the paper, in theabsence of Mr MSUKWA; he covered thebackground to the self-help water supplyschemes in Malawi, and discussed the rolewhich local communities had played inconstruction, maintenance and repair of thesystems. The functioning of the new main-tenance system in Zomba East was outlined.

3. Dr LINSKOG agreed to answer questions onboth his own, and Mr MSUKWA"s papers.

4. Mr BALL asked how the problem of unfairdistribution of water along the length of apipeline, whereby users at the end of thepipeline may receive little water, could beavoided. He also enquired as to whetherthe enthusiasm of people for having a pipedwater supply could be used as a "carrot on astick" for obtaining their cooperation inless glamorous but equally importantdevelopments such as conservation, grazingcontrol, and latrine construction.

5. Dr LINSKOG suggested that the pipelinecould be designed to provide the requiredamount of flow at the end of the system,assuming that the source was adequate, bycareful choice of pipe size. He felt that"carrots" only worked if the taste was sweet,and water supplies could only be used topromote other development activities if theyfunctioned properly, and gave a satisfactoryservice to the users.

6. Dr NYUMBU asked whether a one or two yearperiod was sufficient time for the impact ofwater supplies to be observed and evaluated,and requested more details on maintenanceschemes.

7. Dr LINSKOG agreed that one or two yearswas not sufficient, but that obtainingfunds for such an evaluation beyond a twoyear period was difficult. The maintenanceschemes were outlined in Mr MSUKWA's paper,and he added that the villagers regardedthe water as belonging to them, and theyhad to raise money through their committeesif repairs were required.

8. Mr BINNIE stated that the improvementof water supplies often led to increasedpopulation growth rates, and asked whetherthe interrelationship between land, food,water and population had been studied.

9. Dr LINSKOG replied that their pipedwater supply schemes allowed for a populationincrease, but felt that it had not beenestablished that improved water supplynecessarily led to an increase in populationgrowth rate.

10. Mr AMOANING-YANKSON thought that theselection of three nearby sites, to whichwere given different facilities, would makeevaluation very difficult, because of theadditional variables involved; he askedwhether surveying villages on a "with" and"without" basis could be used, rather thanon a "before" and "after" basis.

11. Dr LINSKOG said that when an areareceived water, there would be standpostsor pumps all over it, as it was bothpolitically and ethically impossible to dootherwise. If a "with" and "without" basiswere used, the areas must be randomlyselected otherwise it would be impossible todetermine whether the impact was due to thewater and sanitation improvements, or toother changes in society.

12. Mr WHITE asked whether the health impactsurveys had taken account of the availabilityof health services in the area.

13.so.

Dr LINSKOG replied that they had done

14. Professor NATH asked how the authorallowed for variations in nutrition, andsocio-economic conditions when comparingdifferent groups in an impact survey, andhow changing standards of living during theproject period would affect communityhealth.

15. Dr LINSKOG stated that no communitieswere identical, but providing that thesefactors were measured, they could be used instandardization, and that indicators of thestandard of living were continuously noted.

16. Engr KEELING considered areas in whichno improvement to water supply was envisaged

97

until 1985, and asked how far away such areaswere from those areas already served, and howmuch monitoring of population movement onboth a daily and a permanent basis was totake place.

17. Dr LINSKOG answered that such areaswere usually more than 4km distant, and thatduring health surveys, population movementswere recorded fortnightly, whereas watercollection patterns were recorded for atleast eight weeks per year.

18. Mr CROSS wished to know how the authorproposed to measure water and sanitationuseage, and vitally important details suchas hand washing, tolerance of flies and themethod of scooping up water, which werecritical in assessing health benefits. Heasked how data were collected, bearing inmind the limitations of the questionnaire.

19. Dr LINSKOG answered that there werenumerous indicators, too many to list atthe present, but the major ones were includedin his paper. The methods used to collectdata included closed and open-endedquestionnaires, unstructured "chatty"discussions, in-depth discussions with keyinformants, and observation.

20. Dr LAING offered the following comments.Evaluation should include the effect oncommunity dynamics, including the mobil-ization of the community. Werner haddescribed development projects as communitysupportive and community oppressive.Community oppressive, while giving lipservice to community input, were fundamentallyauthoritarian, paternalistic, or werestructured in such a way that they encouragedgreater dependancy, servility, and unquestion-ing acceptance of outside regulations whichin the long term were crippling to thecommunity. Community supportive schemeswere those which favourably influenced thelong term welfare of the community whichhelp it stand on its own feet, generallyencourage responsibility, initiate decisionmaking and self reliance at the communitylevel, and build on human dignity. Truedevelopment thus occurred from communitysupportive projects, and any evaluationshould include an assessment of howsupportive or oppressive the project was.

21. Dr LINSKOG replied that in Malawi,people had been involved in self help schemesfor a long time, and were used to makingtheir own decisions in a number of ways,which facilitated implementation of watersupply projects.

22. Mr BALL stated tha't piped water schemesin Zimbabwe often had a good supply of waternear the intake point, and only a dribble atthe end of the pipeline, and asked if thiswas the experience in Malawi.

23. Miss SMITH-CARINGTON, replying onbehalf of Dr LINSKOG, answered that thepiped water schemes in Malawi have a seriesof storage tanks at intervals along the mainpipeline. These served to ensure thatsufficient head was maintained at the furthestpoints, and that storage was provided by thetanks filling up at night.

A Smith-CarlngtonLow cost rural grounclwater projects inMalawi

24. Miss SMITH-CARINGTON described thehydrogeology of the relevant parts ofMalawi, and discussed the design of boreholesand dug wells. Community participation waspresented as the vital factor for thesuccessful long term operation and villagelevel maintenance of the project.

25. Mr KANDWE thought that the provision ofwash slabs at the boreholes was a good idea,but asked for details on how wastewater andlitter were disposed of; he also asked formore information on the Malawi pump.

26. Miss SMITH-CARINGTON replied thatinitially, soak pits were provided to removewastewater, but these rapidly became infilleddue to very low permeability of the surfaceclays, which were widespread in weatheredbasement areas of Malawi. The channellingof water to small irrigated gardens was nowbeing encouraged, and any income generatedfrom cash crops could be used to purchasespare parts. Each waterpoint had a pumpcommittee of three women volunteers, whoseduty it was that the surroundings were keptclean, and that users removed their rubbishfrom the area. Detailed drawings of theMalawi pump could be found in the Manual forIntegrated Projects for Rural GroundwaterSupplies; important features of the pumpincluded; ease of maintenance; localmanufacture; reliability; and low cost.

98

B H KlnseyWater supplies for resettledpopulations27, Dr KINSEY discussed the national waterpolicy in Zimbabwe, the resettlement problem,and the scale of the water supply problemfor resettled populations, including theinstitutional framework and programmeimplementations.

J de B AshworthUrban low cost sanitation28. Mr PEACOCK stated that he would bepresenting the paper due to the absence ofMr ASHWORTH; he had stepped into MrASHWORTH's place at less than 24 hours notice,and although he had little direct experiencein the topic under discussion, his experienceworking in African developing countries,supervising both direct labour work andcontractors, was relevant.

29. Mr ASHWORTH's paper was intended as anattempt to save developing countries fromadopting idealistic social approaches at theexpense of the people they are trying toserve. It was based on his first handexperience of working for the sewerage andsanitation department of the Government ofa developing country in Africa, where hespent 15 months formulating urban low costsanitation policies and undertook a pitlatrine demonstration project. Conditionshe experienced there were probably not uniqueto that country and in many ways similar tothose found in other developing countries inAfrica.

30. He believed that criticism was rightlylevelled at engineers for being careless ofthe needs of the people they were supposedto serve. Engineers could not always blindlyfollow their governments' policies and expectnot to be held to account at the end of theday if the project failed.

Mr ASHWORTH echoed a familiar cri-de-coeur :projects take too long to fund and get underway. However, having reached the point oftake-off, how to implement the work? - Selfhelp, Government Direct Labour, or Contractorbuilt?

31. Self help schemes had been effective inthe rural areas; not only were the labourcosts practically nil, but the indirectforeign exchange cost element was low. Therewere of course many other positive points forthis mode of development. But the self helpconcept was difficult to translate to the

urban situation.

32. Government Direct Labour seemedattractive as it would appear possible tosave at least the contractor's element ofprofit and some of his overheads. But the'hidden1 costs of direct labour work inmany African countries were becoming moreand more significant. Moreover, theadministrative constraints which were placedon government direct labour organizationsoften led to considerably longer implement-ation periods than planned.

33. Contractors had to allow for an elementof risk in their prices but tried to keepthem as low as possible in competitivebidding, and still make a profit - thelatter being anathema to some policy-makers.However contractors were usually possessedby the incentive of wanting to complete thework as quickly and economically (tothemselves) as possible.

34. It was difficult to compare the costsof the alternative means of implementation,but it appeared at first sight that themost expensive was a contractor builtlatrine. The comparison would depend oncircumstances in a particular country butwould inevitably involve a trade-offbetween apparent high costs and the cost ofdelay in providing the facilities to thepeople - less easy to put a price on.

35. The costs quoted in Mr Ashworth's paperwere high, and "low cost" certainly couldnot be confused with "no cost". The costsshould be regarded cautiously as it wasprobably unrealistic to compare prices acrossnational boundaries when some developingcountries jack up their exchange ratesfor political and other reasons.

36. Mr KUYATHEH observed that thereappeared to be some confusion between directself help labour obtainable within socialistorientated rural areas, and indirect selfhelp labour with the same orientationapplicable to urban areas. The authormentioned the need for contractors in urbanzones with the view to replacing villagedirect self help labour without explainingthe source of finance for the contractor;

in urban areas contributions could beobtained communally to meet the contractors 'costs without nullifying the originalsocialist principles of self help.

37. Mr PEACOCK replied that there was noconfusion in Mr ASHWORTH's paper, andapologised if he had created an incorrectimpression; the author was drawing acomparison between urban and rural situations,and was not advocating abandonment of ruralself help schemes. Previous authors hadtold of the success of such schemes inMalawi, but it was the author's opinion that

99

success with self help, particularly indirect labour schemes was difficult toachieve in urban situations. There was nosuggestion in the paper of utilizingcontractors to construct low costsanitation measures in rural areas; thiswould not appear to be attractive. Theuse of contractors in urban areas wouldrequire funds from government, raisedlocally through rates or other means, orfrom donor agencies.

38. Dr ALUKO drew attention to the unusualpopulation distribution in south westernNigeria; the U.N.O. demographic yearbookof 1963 indicated that of the 23 towns inNigeria having a population of at least100,000, 16 were within a 160 km radius ofIbadan in the south west of the country.The inhabitants tended to be moresophisticated and educated to a higher level,and were thus less amenable to self helpschemes involving manual labour. Much ofthe region, apart from the coastal areas,was on the base complex, where wells andboreholes were not very successful.Government agencies had thus opted forlarge surface water supply schemes designedby consultants and constructed bycontractors in many instances. The controlof direct labour in government departmentsof works had become more and more difficult.

39. Mr PEACOCK thought that it would benice if urban communities could be moreinvolved in developments which had suchprofound effects as water supply andsanitation, and wondered how this particularmode of development would lead to problemsin operating and maintaining the schemes.Greater community participation at thedevelopment stage may lead to differentapproaches and greater success, althoughthere would be problems. He felt that morethought should be given to this matter.

40. Dr LAING made a general comment relatingto improvements in water supply andsanitation. He thought that the existenceof diarrhoea and skin disease were goodindicators by which to evaluate healthimprovements due to water supply andsanitation, with any improvements beingobvious in one or two years. Diarrhoeamorbidity and mortality were good indicatorsof nutritional levels, that is, high ratesreflected poor nutrition. Very few peopledied directly from malnutrition, but manydied from diarrhoea due to weakness frommalnutrition.

100

Conference: San/tat/on and water for development m Africa: HARARE: 7983

INSTITUTION BUILDING FOR THE DECADE: THE ROLE OF CONSULTANTS

by P A BATCHELOR, K STARKEY and D PARISH

1. The investment programme now beingplanned and implemented, in pursuit of thegoals of the UN Water Supply andSanitation Decade, are, by their veryscale, giving rise to an urgent need tostrengthen the institutions responsible forplanning, developing, operating andmaintaining water supply and sanitationschemes. In some cases it is necessary tocreate entirely new institutions to carryout these tasks.

2. The terms institution building andinstitutional strengthening provide aconvenient umbrella for much of the workmanagement consultants carry out in waterutilities. They are terms coined by themajor lending agencies to cover our workas advisers, analysts and catalysts forchange.

3. The nature of the institutional problemsvaries widely. In the case of small ruralsupply schemes or basic sanitationprogrammes, the emphasis is often on theachievement of grassroots communityparticipation, the development of simplebut effective measures to ensure the propermaintenance and protection of facilitiesonce built and, in some cases, theidentification of some means of costrecovery or cost sharing to cover on-goingoperating and maintenance costs. At theother end of the spectrum, In dealing withlarge scale urban schemes, the range oftechnical options involved may extend fromlow-cost technology sanitation programmesto complex modern water treatment anddistribution and piped sewerage with fulltreatment and disposal. The institutionaland management framework will need to matchthis and may necessitate the adoption ofsophisticated management systems andprocedures, including, increasingly, theuse of computers.

4. In tackling these problems we have toavoid pre-conceptions. While technologytransfer, in a management sense, may beimportant we cannot impose pre-packagedsolutions derived from experience in Europeor North America. It is necessary tounderstand local circumstances and to deriveappropriate management solutions, tailoredto local cultures, manpower availability,political and social objectives and financialconstraints.

5. We do not offer an off-the-shelfpackage because, despite superficialsimilarites, each situation is differentand our work has to be tailored accordingly.We are not retained to provide instantsolutions but to bring to bear techniquesand experience to tackle institutionalproblems and to find solutions. We attachgreat importance to the process of gainingacceptance for and commitment to thesolutions proposed and to the provision ofassistance in implementation. In order toachieve this, we have developed a step-by-step approach in which we aim to understandthe problems involved, develop solutions andhelp carry them out In a practical way.

6. Accordingly the remainder of this papercan be divided into three parts dealing inturn with the DIAGNOSIS of institutionalproblems, the DESIGN of new or improvedarrangements and the steps needed forIMPLMEMTATION.

7. The approach and techniques we shall bediscussing apply broadly both to situationsin which we are called upon to help designnew institutions and to those where we arerequired to reorganise or strengthenexisting ones. What varies very much, fromcase to case, is the balance betweendiagnosis, design and implementation andthe relative importance of differenttechniques depending on the local situation,the time available and the amount of detailrequired.

Diagnosis

8. Experience has taught us that effectivediagnosis is the key to success. Ourapproach to diagnosis has four key elements:

- understanding the environment

- defining institutional objectives

- estimating available resources

- reviewing existing institutionalcapacity.

9. We attach great importance to carefuldiagnosis since this lays the foundation forsubsequent work. Understanding theenvironment in which water utility servicesmust operate and unravelling the complexinterrelationships often involved isparticularly Important. We are also specially

101

concerned to ensure that institutionalobjectives are defined in a way which iscompatible with the financial and humanresources available. Many of theinstitutions we have been asked to helpface an acute shortage of skilled manpower;very often the scarcity is most acute, notin engineering but in planning, finance andother management skills. Moreover, sincewater and sanitation utilities are so often'the poor relation' they find it difficultto attract and retain good quality staffeven when such skills are available.

10. In assessing the capacity of existinginstitutions we are very often concernednot only to evaluate their currentperformance (using a variety of performancemeasures and efficiency audit techniques)but also to estimate their capacity toadapt to change, to take on newresponsibilities and to face new challanges.

11. In comparing the efficiency andeffectiveness of one institution withanother, either within the country orelsewhere, it is never sufficient to adopta merely mechanistic approach. Informedjudgement and a keen awareness of political,social and economic factors are essential;this frequently calls for a blend of localand international expertise. The formerbring a close understanding of local culture,expectations and constraints; the lattercan bring relevant experiences from othercountries who have tackled simiidilar problemsin the past.

12. What we try to achieve, during thecourse of the diagnosis, is a detailedunderstanding of the current situation anda realistic interpretation of whatobjectives are being pursued and what canrealistically be achieved. We need to knowwhat capacity exists for absorbinginstitutional change and what basicconstraints will limit the rate and directionof such changes. Many ambitious developmentprogrammes have foundered not so much for lackof funds as for lack of manpower anddifficulties in adapting to the demands ofa major investment programme.

Design

15* Institutional design has becomeall-embracing. It involves far more thanthe design of a suitable organisationstructure. A sound legal framework isneeded to provide the foundation and, inaddition to recommendations fororganisation structure (organisation charts,job descriptions etc), the design shouldalso encompass the specification ofmanagement systems, the development ofappropriate schemes and conditions ofservice and the recruitment, deploymentand training of manpower.

14. The approach to institutional designtherefore needs to be a multi-disciplinaryone. It frequently involves severalindividual specialists with skills indrafting legislation, designingorganisation structure, manpower planning,personnel policy, management information,systems design, stores and procurement,operational management and training.The process of specifying and designingmanagement systems should go hand in handwith the definition of the legal frameworkand organisation structure; the threeelements are closely interrelated.

15. In defining an appropriate legalframework, organisation structure andmanagement systems for water utilitiesa number of key issues repeatedly arise:

- how much institutional changecan be accomplished within agiven time span?

- should all aspects of managementof the water cycle be integrated?

- is there a case for greaterdecentralisation?

16. Our experience suggests that there isno universal blue-print for success andthat imported solutions to institutionalproblems rarely work. Our search oftenleads us to narrow down the options toseeking local solutions which have provedworkable but which demonstrate the capacityto adapt to change. The needs of largescale urban systems and small informally-managed rural systems differ dramaticallybut similar basic techniques can be appliedin designing suitable management systems solong as needs and objectives have beenthoroughly understood.

17. We attach particular importance toensuring that the institutional arrangementswe propose fit the Institution into itsenvironment and do not attempt to isolateit from it. Effective mechanisms must beestablished for the management of externalrelationships and steps must be taken toobtain commitment to and appropriateinfluence for the institution.

Implementat ion

18. Successful implementation must be basedon general acceptance of the validity ofthe proposed changes and whole-heartedcommitment of those who are charged withpiloting them through. A careful balancemust be struck between the need to preparethoroughly for the changes to take placeand the need to keep up momentum once adecision to make changes has been taken.

19. In an effort to manage theimplementation of major projects, frequentuse is made of Project Implementation Units

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as a means of short-cutting some of the"bureaucratic obstacles to change. Ourexperience suggests that they are by nomeanB an unmixed blessing and may createnew problems of coordination or even inviteobstruction from existing institutions.

Some Key Lessons

20. Our work In institution building inthe water sector has enabled us to graspsome of the complexities of managingchange. In order to achieve success,institutional issues should be addressedas early as possible in the planning cycle.This enables options to be fully explored,allows account to be taken of alternativelevels of resources and gives recognitionto the fact that institutional design isan iterative process. It also providestime to design institutional arrangementswhich are compatible with the environmentin which they must work and which cansecure the acceptance and commitment ofthose who must make them work.

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9th n^Û^ Conference: Sanitation and water for development in Africa: HARARE: 7983

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

by EPHRAIM M CHIMBUNDE

Project implementers must chooseTechnologies that are acceptable to theuser. In most cases people will have seenideas that have not worked and implementersshould demonstrate the viability of theTechnology in question.

Implementation embraces socio-cultural andsocio-economic aspects and therefore cannotbe discussed in isolation of Technologyoptions.

While this topic is very often discussed ingeneral it is very important to rememberthat very often the exercise may need tobe project-specific. Equally important isthat the implementers must have the goalsand objectives of the programme very clearfrom the beginning, eg is the programmefully funded by the Government o£ otherAgencies or orientated towards self-reliance?

Training

Training is an essential component of anyprogramme. People who are going to beinvolved in the programme should be acquaintedwith the technology to be used in theexercise and very often the training isproject specific.

Motivation

The success of any sanitation programmedepends to a large extent on how motivatedthe community is and how much awareness hasbeen created in the community about thesanitation programme.

Awareness is achieved in many ways.Normally information is communicated to thepeople by radio or television. Very oftenfilms and videos are used to conveyinformation. This method can be veryeffective although not all the necessarydetails can be included. Information canalso be passed through political channelsby asking politicians to promote sanitationduring their rallies.

By far the most effective method ofconvincing the people is by settingdemonstrations in central positions andasking local people to take part in thesedemonstrations. Demonstrations have manyadvantages attached to them.

They convincingly show the simplicity ofthe design and its adaptability.Motivation is a temporary factor which willnot last long unless there is quickresponse while it is still burning. Oncelost it takes a lot of effort to beregained.

It is extremely important to be able todemonstrate the diversity of the Technology,showing how materials available locallyare made use of. Equally effective is todemonstrate how Technologies locally knownto the people are harnessed into theprogramme.

In a way of persuasion people should bemade aware of the relationship betweencertain diseases and unsanitary conditions,and be enlightened on the health benefitsconnected with technologies being advocated.

Community Involvement

Community or individuals should be involvedin the programme from its onset. Peopleroust feel it is their programme or theirinstallation and the success of a programmehinges very often on this point. Trainedpersonnel must play the roll of advisers,the local people playing their part asimplementers even in the Administration andManagement of the programme.

The involvement of local people at alllevels also helps to ensure continuationof the programme.

Incentives

Incentives are an essential component ofany programme and very often they help tospeed it up. These incentives should beprovided by Governmental Agencies in theform of imported materials that are notavailable locally.

Ideally people should be involved inplanning and implementing programmes, aswell as using and evaluating any improvementsin water supply and sanitation.

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Maintenance

Constant supervision should be maintainedduring the course of the programme. This isafforded by making frequent visits toensure that implementers are not going astraywith the technology.

There should never be a breakdown ofcommunication between technologists andimplementers during the course of aprogramme as this may cause unnecessarydelays.

Obviously no technology is designed to bemaintenance free. It is therefore advisableto choose technologies that work with theminimum of maintenance and have a long life.Maintenance must be at least affordable bythe user.

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9 th (fflgJJQ Conference: Sanitation and water for development in Africa: HARARE: 1983

TRAINING OF TREATMENT PLANT OPERATIVES

by J MCKENDRICK

INTRODUCTION

Local authorities, governments and inter-national funding agencies throughout theworld hav/B in the past spent, and will infuture spend, vast sums of money on the de-sign and construction of water and sewagetreatment plants both in urban and ruralareas. Now that we are in the "WaterDecade" more interest is being shown andfunds being madB available to provide deve-loping countries with satisfactory andhygienic water supplies and safe waste watertreatment systems, especially in rural areas.

Notwithstanding past developments and futureproposals, the sums of capital money spenton thesB systems have VBry often been nega-ted both in developed and developing count-ries. This has not been because of thelack of professional staff and skills butbecause of a severe shortage of trained andcertified operators capable of understandingand carrying out the day-to-day routinefunctions necessary to maintain and operatesuch plants in an efficient manner so thatthe plants produce the goods for which theyare designed, and ensuring that the capitalmoney spent is not wasted and that the publicare assured of a safe, hygienic supply ofwater, a safe and hygienic waste water treat-ment system and a healthy environment wherepeople can carry out their normal duties inlife without fear of disease,

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF TRAININGIN ZIMBABWE

Training of sewage works attendants was intr-oduced into this country in 1962 by the thenInstitute of SewagB Purification (SouthernAfrica Branch). The parent institute is aUnited Kingdom-based organisation with worldwide recognition for the high standards ofits aims and objectives in this field.

The system of staff engagement in those dayswas to employ an artisan qualified in mecha-nical skills and train him on sitB to operatea sewage or water treatment plant. The proposedcoursB in 1962 adhered to this principle butthe course aimed at giving those employed inthe field of sewage treatment the opportunityof formal training on a national basis resul-ting in ths cer .ification of successfulstudents. Unfortunately, a similar COUTSBfor training attendants in the water treat-ment fiold was not available at that time.

The Institute selected various centresthroughout Southern Africa wherB professio-nally trained and experienced members of theInstitute were willing to offer their servi-ces in the training of sewage treatmentplant attendants. Harare was chosen as oneof the centres and thB offer was snapped upbecause of interest in the training and cer-tification of attendants both in the fieldsof sewage treatment and water treatment.

Local authorities, government agencies andmining companies were then informed of theproposed training scheme and askBd to sub-mit the names of potential candidates to theInstitute as well as the name of the train-ing centre of their preference for thetraining of their staff. In that firstyear, nine attendants chose to be trained inthe then City Engineer's Department of thisCity.

Upon rsgistration, the candidates were senta training handbook for sewage works atten-dants compiled by associate members of theInstitute. After some six to nine monthsof home study they then spent one week inthe Department where they were given formaltuition in theoretical and practical aspectsof sewage treatmsnt. At the end of thatweek the candidates were given an oral exa-mination by the local centre and approxima-tely one month later were required to sit awritten examination which was sent to andmarked at the Southern Africa Branch Head-quarters. Those who were successful wereissued with a certificate signed by thePresident of the parent body in London,

This system of training sewage works atten-dants continued until 1972. The pass rateduring this time varied from 40% to 60$,with many First Class Passes being recordedin this country.

In 1972 The Instituts of Water PollutionControl (Southern Africa Branch) decidedthat future training in South Africa wouldbe done through technical colleges and thattraining in sewagB treatment would be combi-ned with training in water treatment.Although we agreed that the proposals werebasically sound, they would not have beenpractical in this country for the followingreasons:-

(l) Many of the smaller works in thiscountry were controlled by only

106

one attendant and it would havBbeen impossible to release themfrom their duties as mould havebeen required by the technicalcollege system.

(2) There were only two technicalcolleges in this country atthat time and these collegesfelt that the numbers involvedwere too small for them to con-sider this type of training.

(3) There were no experienced orqualified lecturers in thisfield to lecture to studentson a full-time basis.

Because of this, an approach was made to theInstitute by the Department for permissionto continue the Sewage Works OperatorsCourse in this country based on the pastsystem. This request was granted and sincethen this course has been held every eighteenmonths or two years with the examinationsbeing set and marked by thB Chief Chemist inthe Department, the results being sent tothe Branch Headquarters who then organisesthe certificate signed by the President ofthe parent body in London to be sent to suc-cessful candidates.

MINISTRY OF WATER DEVELOPMENT:SUB-COMMITTEE - OPERATOR TRAINING

In the mid-1970s concern was felt in theDepartment about the lack of qualified arti-sans applying for posts as attendants inCouncil's water and sewage treatment plants*Enquiries showed that the same pattern wasemerging in other local authorities wherethe same concern was being expressed.

An approach was made to the then Ministry ofWater Development which resulted in the for-mation of a sub-committee in 1978 to studythe problem and attempt to find satisfactorytraining and certification of operators andattendants both for employees on sewage treat-ment plants and water treatment plants.Enquiries were made locally and as far afieldas the United States of America. No defi-nite conclusions were reached by this commit-tee and because of pressure of work, shortageof staff, emigration and the war the sub-committee ceasBd to exist in 1979.

TRAINING OF WATERWORKS ATTENDANTS,CITY OF HARARE.

Since the inception of a training scheme fol-lowed by certification for sewage worksattendants, it was noted that the turnover ofstaff on Council's sewage treatment plantsfell considerably, while at the same time itwas noted with concern that the turnover ofstaff on Council's water treatment plantsremained alarmingly high.It was obvious that the training and

certification of sewage works attendantswas providing job satisfaction, and a sur-vey confirmed this and also highlighted thefact that the attendants no longer consi-dered themselves to be uninterested, un-skilled workers but now looked upon them-selves as highly-trained, skilled workerswithin the community, akin to any artisan,A similar survey carried out among water-works attendants produced exactly oppositeresults, and it was felt that training andcertification of waterworks attendants on apar with sewage works attendants had nowbecome a necessity.

Enquiries throughout the world for such atraining and certification programme forwaterworks attendants failed to produce anypositive results at that time. Undeterred,however, the staff in the Chemical TreatmentSection of the laboratory set about the longand arduous task of preparing a syllabus andcourse for waterworks attendants based onthe same standards as that operated by theInstitute of Water Pollution Control forsewage works attendants. Unfortunately, arecognised certificate could not be foundfor this courss; however, a certificatewas designed and issued under the auspicesof the City of Harare, signed by the ChiBfChemist and the Director of Works. Atleast now the waterworks attendants had atangible goal to look forward to which hadnot existed for them in the past.

The first examinations were held in 1979but had only one successful candidate.Further examinations were held in 19B0 but,again, produced only one successful candi-date. Because of the apparent lack ofresults, it was decided to run a series oflectures and demonstrations for a period ofnine months before the next examinations.This appeared to be the answer to the pro-blem, as when the next examinations wereheld in 1982 three out of seven candidateswere successful.

IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING AND CERTIFICATIONOF ATTENDANTS IN THE CITY OF HARARE

Apart from the obvious advantage of moreefficient operation of Council's Water andSewage Treatment Plants, a certain degree ofjob satisfaction and standing in the commu-nity was given to the attendants. Success-ful attendants were awarded an upgrading oftheir posts thereby creating financial sti-mulus at the same time. It is now laiddown in Council's employment regulationsthat Superintendents and Assistant Superin-tendents of Council's Water and TreatmentPlants must be in possession of a recognisedcertificate, thus adding another incentivefor the attendants to sit and pass theseexaminations.

107

IN-SERVICE TRAINING SCHEME,DEPARTMENT OF WORKS

Towards the Bnd of 1979 it was forecast thata critical situation regarding trained andqualified staff would arise in the Departmentin 1982 due to resignations and retirementof superintendents and attendants employedon Council's Water and Sewage TreatmentPlants.

With the failure of the sub-committee in theMinistry of Water Development to produce anapproved scheme for the country as a whole,it was decided that plans for an in-servicetraining scheme be made within the Depart-ment. This scheme got off the ground in1981 when Council agreed to increase theestablishment in the Water and SewerageBranch of the Department of Works by fifteenposts, Grade 22, to be used solely for thepurpose of training.

SELECTION TESTS

Because of the lack of skilled mechanicalartisans, the Bntire scheme was based on thBtraining of existing operators and labourersto bring up to the standard of attendants1

training and certification those who provedto be capable. Throughout the works therewere over four hundred employees and theselection of those capable of advancing them-selves proved to be extremely difficult, soit was decided that every one of these em-pluyeBS should be given a chance. Selectiontests based on basic mathematics, basic useof tools and a simple aptitudB test weredevised and these were given to all workerson 30th Dune, 19B1. 150 marks were awardedfor this series of tests and those obtaining70 marks or over were selected to participatein the Part 1 of the actual In-Service Train-ing Scheme. Although 21 candidates obtainedthe necessary number of marks, i.e. approxi-mately 5,056, it was felt that the number tobe trained was enough for the first part ofthe exercise, as everything being done waspurely experimental, no qualified trainingofficer in this field being available. Also,under thesB circumstances those selected wereconsidered to have the ability to be trainedat a faster rate.

At this stage no advice could be obtained asto what subjects should be on the syllabusfor Part 1 of this training. Past expe-rience with the training, examination andcertification of attendants had shown thatthe weakest points of even the most skilledartisan had been mathematics, chemistry andbiology. It was therefore decided thatPart 1 of the training would consist of thesesubjects, thus enabling successful candidatesof the In-Service Training Scheme as a wholeto be better prepared for examinations in thefuture. Suitable lectures in thBse subjects

were prepared and issued to the selectedcandidates. At this stage the scheme wasin danger of falling into difficulties be-cause of a rapid loss of trained staff inthe Department over a short period and can-didates could not be given the amount oftuition intended. To their credit, thestudents continued the course, receivingtuition in a very haphazard manner.

Examinations for Part 1 of the training wereheld in February, 1982, and those obtainingan average of over 45$ were selected to par-ticipate in Part 2 of the training scheme.Nine candidates were successful, represen-ting 42,8$ of those who participated inPart 1 of the scheme, and approximately 2,5$of the total work force. The nine success-ful candidates were immediately upgraded toGrade 22 and withdrawn from their normalduties to commence intensive training inPart 2 of the above scheme. At this stageit was realised that it would be impossibleto carry out the training as envisaged with-out the assistance of a training officer.The Department was fortunate in obtainingthe services of a retired sewage works super-intendent to assist with the training. Thesyllabus drawn up for Part 2 of the trainingwas as follows:-

Unity Operation (Theory); First Aid;Unit Operation (Practical); Sources ofWater; Workshop Practice; Characteristicsof water; Applied Mathematics; TradeEffluent Control; Applied Chemistry;Water Cycle; Applied Biology; Safety,

As can be seen, this part of the traininglaid emphasis on practical training.

Every student was asked to operate eachunit on a sewage or water works ranging fromraking screens to anaerobic digester controland from chemical dosing to pump-house con-trol respectively for at least two months.At the same time they were given lectures onthe theory of each unit. Lectures andpractical training were also given on theother subjects on the syllabus. Because ofthe ability and aptitude of the students,the assistance given by a person with apractical bent, and taking into account theworsening situation of certified attendantson the works, Part 2 of the training schemewas conducted intensively and final examina-tions in all subjects were carried out inDecember, 1982. During the training periodone of the students dropped out because ofillness, but of the eight who sat the exami-nations seven were successful, representing87,5$ of those who participated in Part 2 ofthB scheme and approximately 1,75$ of thetotal work force. Three of the candidatesobtained over 70$, thus gaining First ClassPasses, which was a very pleasing feature ofthe training scheme.

108

Certificates have been designed by the Dept, 'for presentation to the successful traineesand a plaque has been designed which will bepresented to the trainee with the best over-all performance.

An interesting aspect of the selection me-thods and the training scheme is that apartfrom one trainee,the performance of thetrainees participating in the scheme wasuniform throughout Bach section of thescheme, as is shown by the positions of eachtrainee at the end of each section:-

Trainee

ABCDEFGH

PositionSelectionTests

31553662

PositionPart 1

2175364B

PositionPart 2

12345678

These results confirm that the selection andtraining methods used in the In-Serv/iceTraining Scheme were successful and could beused to supply the City with suitably-trainedstaff to operate water and sewage treatmentplants efficiently in the forseeable future.Ths seven successful candidates will be up-graded to Grade 18 and should be able tocarry out the duties of a works attendant.They will be encouraged to study for certifi-cation examinations with the Institute ofWater Pollution Control in the case ofsewage works attendants, and with a recog-nised institute (the matter is currentlybeing negotiated) in the case of waterworksattendants.

THQUGHTS FOR THE FUTURE

Now that the first part of the In-ServiceTraining Scheme has been successfully com-pleted, it is the intention of the Depart-ment to look again at the employees whoscored between 6D and 70 marks in the origi-nal selection tests. Already the lectureshave been distributed to fifty-six employeeswho obtained the above marks. It has beenfound necessary to move this second phase oftraining at a much slower pace, and the train-ing officer has given them more lecturing andcoaching than the first group.

This phase 2 of the training scheme is now inprogress and it is hoped to examine the newPart 1 candidates sometime in January orFebruary, 1983, and repeat Part 2 of thescheme with the successful candidates.

After the second phase has been completed

it is felt that the source of material inthe Department capable of being trained tothis level will have been exhausted. Inthis event consideration will be given toadvertising training posts within theDepartment so that training in this fieldwill become a continuing exercise, thusproviding the City Council and even theentire country with a pool of trained andqualified attendants and operators.

CONCLUSION

Because of the difficulties experienced inobtaining the services of skilled artisansas sewage and waterworks attendants andbecause of the failure to establish anational training scheme in 1978, theDepartment of Works in the City of Hararedecided to establish its own In-ServiceTraining Scheme designed to produce its ownskilled manpower so that capital expendi-ture spent in the past and that to be spentin the future will be protected by efficientoperation of Council's sewage and watertreatment plants.

Although some difficulties have been expe-rienced it is felt that the scheme has beensuccessful, and becausB of it it is hopedthat the citizens of Harare will continue toreceive a safe supply of water for bothdomestic and industrial use and that allwaste water produced by the City willreceive efficient treatment and that ahealthy environment will bs maintainedwithin the City.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thanks is given to the Director of Works andthe City Council of Harare for assistancein the formation of the In-Service TrainingScheme and for permission to present thispaper.

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ill9*1Conference: Sanitation and water for development in Africa: HARARE: 1983

TRAINING THROUGH WORK EXPERIENCE

by W K TAYLER

INTRODUCTION

The goals of the Water Decade are veryambitious and considerable commitment andcareful planning will be required if theyare to be even approached. It is importantto identify the factors which inhibitdevelopment and to allow for these factorsin Decade programmes. Two common inhibitingfactors are lacK of finance or materialresources and the shortage of trainedpersonnel. These factors present a seriousobstacle to the development of waterservices in urban areas in Southern Sudan.The present paper argues that attempts totackle the problems posed by the lack ofmaterial resources and the shortage oftrained personnel separately have beenunsuccessful. It describes the Author'sexperience in working with a small teamof Sudanese engineers on works to improveurban water supplies, points out the draw-backs encountered because of lack ofresources and suggests an approach to aidwhich will result in improved water supplyfacilities and at the same time provideSudanese staff with valuable workexperience. A proposed developmentprogramme is outline , which will givework experience to water engineers andmaintenance technicians. It will alsomake correct operation of water supplysystems possible and hence prepare theway for on-the-job training programmesfor operational staff.

THE BACKGROUND SITUATION

It is necessary to give some backgroundinformation on Southern Sudan and its urbanwater supplies in order to put the ideasand arguments presented in the paper intoperspective. Sudan is the largest countryin Africa and the Southern Region, with anarea of approximately 650,000 squarekilometres, includes about a quarter of theland area and has a population of about 4million. The population is predominantlyrural but Juba, Wau and Malakal, withapproximate populations of 120,000, 80,000and 60,000 respectively, are sizeable towns.Several other towns have populations in therange 10,000 to 20,000. Juba, the seat ofthe Regional Government, is over 1200 kmfrom Khartoum and communications aredifficult, both within the Region and

with the rest of the country.

Like other African countries, Sudan hasbeen adversely affected by the recessionin the world economy and it is currentlyfaced with severe financial problems. Atthe same time, there is a shortage oftrained manpower, particularly in theSouthern Region where development wasseriously set back by the civil war thatended in 1972. In view of these facts,it is inevitable that the Region reliesheavily on the assistance of aidorganisations and this is certainly true inthe case of urban water supplies.

Urban water supply facilities

The water supply systems at Juba, Wau andMalakal are based on river abstractionwith rapid gravity sand filtration andwere originally designed to servepopulations of around 10,000. Althoughthere have been additions to the originalsystems, facilities have failed to expand tomatch the growth of the towns so that largeareas in each are without piped water. Thesystems are in a poor state of repair, duepartly to the difficulties in obtainingparts and materials and partly to the lackof well trained maintenance staff. Some,but not all, of the smaller towns havepiped water supplies. In areas withoutpiped water supplies, a variety of watersources is used, ranging from boreholes torivers and streams. Water carriers operateextensively in Juba and Malakal and the priceof water from these carriers is up tofifteen times the official rate for pipedwater.

Consultants have prepared reports on watersupplies to Wau and Malakal which will leadto large reconstruction schemes if financecan be arranged. The reports recommendmeasures to be taken to improve watersupplies to the towns in the interimperiod. A feasibility study is alsoplanned for Juba where GTZ, the Germantechnical aid agency are carrying out aprogramme of interim measures. GTZ havealso been involved with water supply schemesfor Yambio and Maridi, two of the smallertowns.

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Organisation of urban water supplies

Until recently, urban water supplies werethe responsibility of the Public Electricityand Water Corporation (PEWC), a publiccorporation based in Khartoum. The southernarea of PEWC was based in Juba and coveredthe whole of the Southern Region. Waterand electricity services are in the processof being decentralised but the newarrangements have not yet been finalised.The Regional Ministry of Housing and PublicUtilities (RMH&PU) has been involved withthe schemes for water supply improvements,particularly those funded by GTZ. TheSouthern Area has an operational deficitwhich has been met partly by PEWC, Khartoumand partly by the Regional Government. Apriority of any development programme mustbe to take measures to reduce this deficit.

EXISTING FORMS OF ASSITANCE

Assistance to Sudan in the fields of urbanwater supply and sanitation has until nowtaken two forms. The first is theprovision of finance for consultants tocarry out feasibility studies, intended tolead to the detailed design and thenconstruction of new facilities. Aconsultant's report can provide a usefulstatement of the overall strategy to befollowed but the procedure has drawbacks fora poorly developed area like Southern Sudan.It tends to concentrate development intodiscrete periods of intense work at widelyspaced intervals, precluding the substantialinvolvement of local institutions andensuring heavy dependency on expatriatepersonnel. Thus, the procedure does nothingto build up local expertise and increase acountry's self-reliance. The concentrationon construction also tends to push the needfor correct operation and maintenanceprocedures and training into the background.Two effects of this approach are that localengineers and technicians are underworked,quickly becoming demoralised and losinginterest, and that the inflexibility of theprocedure leads to delays in execution whileproblems remain unsolved and water servicesdeteriorate.

The second form of assistance, scholarshipsfor academic study abroad, has littlerelevance in a situation such as thatdescribed above. All technical disciplinesrequire a combination of practical experienceand theoretical knowledge and the knowledgegained through study is rapidly lost if notput into use. Lasting development can onlyoccur if steps are taken to fully involvelocal personnel in schemes to improve waterand sanitation facilities. Aid programmesmust operate as far as is possible through

local institutions which must bestrengthened and supported where necessaryto enable them to function effectively.

THE SOUTHERN SUDAN PROGRAMME

The programme which is the subject of thispaper is an attempt to apply the principlessuggested in the previous paragraph. Thefirst stage has been to set up a small teamof engineers within the RMH&PU to work onthe planning, design and construction ofwater supply projects. Support and guidanceis provided by an experienced engineerrecruited by VSO, the British volunteerorganisation, and employed by the RMH&PU.The Author, the first such engineer,started work in March 1981 and is due tobe replaced in early 1983. There will bean overlap period of at least two monthsto ensure continuity. Both the Author andhis replacement have been recruited fromBritish water authorities.

Plans are in hand to extend the programmeto include the training of mechanical andelectrical maintenance technicians. VSOor the organisation Water Aid, based in theBritish water industry and intended as aresponse to the Water Decade, will be usedto recruit experienced technicians to assistin this part of the programme. The firstpriority will be to improve and repairexisting facilities. This will enablecorrect operational procedures to beintroduced so that the training programmecan be extended to include operational staff.As the reliability of water services isincreased, their profitability will improveand it should be possible to reduce theoperating deficit. Some attention will alsohave to be given to the training ofaccounting and administrative staff. Oncethe present position has been consolidated,it will be possible to start to expandservices. The various elements in theprogramme are described in more detail below.

New works team

The team is directly responsible to theDirector of the RMH&PU and consists atpresent of the Author, two graduate civilengineers and a draughtsman. All theSudanese members of the team have previousengineering experience but none directlyrelated to water. One of the engineersattended a water resources course in Britainin the first half of 1982 and it is hopedto send the second engineer to Loughboroughfor the MSc course in 1983. The aim of theteam is to give engineers and techniciansa grounding in the principles and practiceof water supply work and, at the same time,improve the state of water supplies in the

Ill

Southern Region. Training is given as faras is possible through the work of the teambut inevitably there are gaps in theknowledge gained in this way and directedreading and design examples are used to fillthese gaps. A task which has been carriedout by one member of the team may be repeatedby another if it illustrates importantprinciples. The intention is to cover arange of subjects including the planning ofoverall water supply strategy, hydraulicdesign of waterworks units and water mains,the layout of waterworks and distributionsystems, a knowledge of the available plantand materials, preparation of workingdrawings, drawing office procedures andconstruction techniques.

To date (October 1982) most of the work ofthe team has concerned Juba. The immediateneeds are largely covered by the GTZ interimmeasures programme, for which a German firmof consulting engineers is responsible forsupervision and procurement of materials.The work in hand also includes theinstallation of three pre-fabricated steelsedimentation tanks. The team has takenover responsibility for this work and it isalso planned to involve team members in theGTZ programme.

The disadvantage of working alongside analready established programme is that workcannot be followed through from beginning toend. The important decisions as to whichwork is required, how it should be executedand which materials are required have alreadybeen made. A more comprehensive approach ispossible for Wau and Malakal. Programmes ofessential work are being prepared by theteam, based on the consultant's immediatemeasures proposals but including other items,identified after examining the water supplysystem in each town.

A good example of a measure to improve thefunctioning of a system without incurring alarge expenditure occurs at Malakal. Thetown is flat and extends about 5 km alongand an average of 1 km back from the RiverNile. At present, the distribution systemis fed by gravity from a 15 metres high tankat the waterworks. The main features of theoriginal distribution system were 4" and 6"mains running paralled to the river. An 8"main, laid in the early 1970s also runs thelength of the town but the number ofconnections to it are not in proportion toits size. Water pressures throughout thetown are extremely low. Approximatecalculations indicate that they can beimproved by dividing the distribution systeminto two zones, that nearer the waterworksserved by gravity from the high-level tankwhile new pumps with a delivery head of

around 40 metres supply the further zonedirectly via the 8" main. Some newconnections will be required, both at thewaterworks and in the distribution system.This improvement provides a useful exercise,requiring estimates of demand, approximatehydraulic design, pump selection and somedetailed design. If implemented successfullyit will also provide greater income sinceimproved pressures will bring an increaseddemand for house connections and publicwater points.

Operations and maintenance

At present, water operations in SouthernSudan are affected by a serious shortageof maintenance technicians and welltrained staff for the day to day super-vision of water treatment and distributionoperations. If the proposed programme is tobe effective, it is essential that itincludes provision for the training ofoperations and maintenance staff. As afirst step, agreement has been reached withthe British Council to provide funds toenable up to six students to attendtechnicians courses. The Kenya Polytechnicruns sandwich courses for water, electricaland mechanical technicians and it is hopedthat Sudanese students will be accepted forthese courses. The required practical workexperience will be given partly through theimprovement programme and trainees will alsospend some time working in a programme toimprove and standardise operationalprocedures. Some specialist assistancewill be required and discussions have beenheld with Water Aid on the possibility ofproviding both short term and longer termassistance.

Operator training As a first step, WaterAid is recruiting for an experienced water-works superintendent to visit the SouthernRegion to advise on operational andmaintenance procedures. Part of his taskwill be to put forward ideas on an overalltraining programme for operations staffwhich will be implemented when some stepshave been taken to facilitate the correctoperation of existing systems. The trainingprogramme will include a sizeable elementof training at the workplace. Part of thepractical work experience of the waterengineering technicians will be to assist inthis training and to implement and recordimproved operational practices.

Electrical installation The electricalarrangements at the Juba, Wau and Malakalwaterworks are inadequate and there isconsiderable scope for improvement andstandardisation. In each case, a completere-wiring is probably advisable. The

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proposed improvement programmes will includeprovision for this work which will be carriedout by Sudanese trainees in conjunction withan experienced electrical technicianrecruited through VSO or Water Aid.

Mechanical maintenance Mechanical workrequiring attention includes the repair ofpumps, filter control mechanisms and bulkmeters and the maintenance of tools andvehicles. Routine and maintenance schedulesmust be established. As with the electricalinstallation work, it is planned that thiswork will be carried out by Sudanesetrainees working alongside experiencedexpatriate volunteers.

which can be implemented over a period asa series of small contracts combined, whereappropriate, with the use of direct labour.This will ensure development, albeit at aslow rate. If arrangements are made forthe supply of imported materials such aspipes and fittings, much of the work can becarried out by local contractors, thusadding to the knowledge and experienceavailable for continued development. Unlessthere is this emphasis on starting in asmall way and involving local institutionsand manpower, the Water Decade will fallfar short of its aims in urban areas inmany countries in Africa.

PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

The most obvious problem in Southern Sudanis the difficulty experienced in obtainingmaterials for even the most basic improve-ment schemes. Apart from the physical factof distance when ordering and transportingmaterials, there is the problem of lack offinance which is particularly acute becausemany materials require foreign exchange fortheir purchase. Manufacturer's cataloguesand other technical information are beinggathered in the Juba design office to assistin ordering equipment and materials butthere remains the problems of financing andtransporting purchases, particularly thosewhich must be imported. One attractivepossibility is that of providing importedmaterials through commodity aid, thematerials required being specified by thenew works engineers or maintenance personnelin accordance with their own plans andestimates. Several aid donors have beenapproached about the possibility of makinga small amount available each year to assistthe proposed work programme. An initialmaterials and equipment expenditure ofperhaps £100,000 per annum is envisaged,increasing as the capability of the implement-ing personnel increases to a ceiling whichmight be set at about £250,000 per annum.Locally available materials and labour wouldbe supplied by the Regional Government sothat the rate of progress would very muchdepend on Sudanese commitment. The firstwork to be implemented if some assistanceis forthcoming will be the immediatemeasures at Wau and Malakal.

The problems caused by inadequate finance willundoubtedly continue to occur in manycountries through the Water Decade andbeyond. Repayment of interest on large loansmay be difficult and hence there will be areluctance to implement large scale projects.Changes should be made in the terms ofreference for feasibility studies so thatconsultants are asked to produce proposals

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Session 5Chairman: Mr John Pickford,

WEDC Group Leader,Loughborough University ofTechnology, U.K.

DiscussionP Batchelor, K Starkey and D Parish

institution building for the decade:the role of consultants1. Mr PARISH explained that the investmentprogram envisaged in the InternationalWater Supply and Sanitation Decade wasgiving rise to an urgent need to strengthenthe national institutions responsible forimplementation of the programmes. He lookedat important factors, and concluded thatinstitutional issues must be approached asearly as possible in the planning cycle.

2. Professor OLUWANDE observed that manydeveloping countries tended to overdepartmentalize activities which madecoordination extremely difficult. He quotedthe example of a city in which one departmentwas responsible for removing solid wastefrom surface drains, and another departmentfor collecting and disposing of the waste;such an arrangement was totally ineffective.He asked which type of institutionalstructure promoted maximum coordination.

3. Mr PARISH replied that it was mostimportant to take account of existinginstitutional arrangements, as excessivechange may not produce the desired result.In Tanzania, institutions were parastatal,and therefore the water utility was set upalong parastatal lines.

4. Engr OBADINA quoted at length from anunfortunate experience he had with onegroup of management consultants who had notperformed along the lines suggested by theauthors. He found it heartening to hear theauthors state that pre-packaged solutionsfrom the West should not be imposed.

5. Mr PARISH responded by suggesting abetter firm of consultants.

E M ChlmbundeProject implementation management andcommunity participation6. Mr CHIMBUNDE discussed aspects of projectimplementation in Zimbabwe, with specialreference to the problems of training,motivation, community involvement andincentives.

7. Mr PICKFORD suggested that a moregeneral discussion of motivation might beappropriate after the formal presentationsand questions had been completed.

J McKendrickTraining of treatment plantsoperatives8. Mr McKendrick outlined the historicaldevelopment of training in Zimbabwe, andexplained how training programs foroperators and waterworks attendants wererun. The scheme operated by the Departmentof Works was described, including selectionprocedures and performance.

9. Professor OLUWANDE asked what were thebasic qualifications for accepting peopleon the training programs, and whether schooland university graduates were accepted.

10. Mr MCKENDRICK replied that no basiceducational qualifications were required;every operator and labourer was permittedto attempt the selection test, although allsuccessful trainees had Form 11 or bettereducation. Secondary school and universitygraduates were employed by the Council fromtime to time and were trained in the fieldof water and sewage treatment. It wasenvisaged that when no more suitablecandidates were available as operators,secondary school graduates would beemployed as trainees within the trainingscheme.

11. Engr OBADINA asked whether theexcellent training scheme was onlyavailable to Zimbabwean staff, andcommented that he thought it would bebetter to split the superintendent levelinto grades 1 and 2 corresponding to levels17 and 18.

12. Mr MCKENDRICK replied that the presentscheme was exclusively for employees ofthe city of Harare. The Department ofWorks was appointing a training officer,and at a later date, the scheme mightperhaps be more generally available. Thetraining scheme for operators was run underthe auspices of the IWPC, and was open toother institutions within Zimbabwe.

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W K TaylerTraining through work experience

13. Mr TAYLER described the situation inJuba in Southern Sudan regarding watersupply, and suggested that aid programsshould operate as far as possible throughlocal institutions. He listed trainingrequirements for operations and maintenance,and for electrical and mechanicalinstallations.

14. Engr KEELING asked whether there wasanyone within the appropriate institutionwho could motivate organization andtraining.

15. Mr TAYLER replied that lack ofmotivation was probably one of the biggestproblems in Southern Sudan. The waterworkswas almost inoperable in Juba, and it wouldbe better for morale if people could seethings actually working correctly; youngerpeople from school were often keener.

General Discussion

16. Mr McKENDRICK observed that littleadvice was provided by consultants andsuppliers on operating equipment, and therewere rarely, if ever, follow up visits tosee whether the system worked.

17. Mr BINNIE emphasized that the terms ofreference were important; many clientsaccepted the lowest priced tender, and itwas up to the client to make certain thatmoney was available for follow up.

18. Mr HARRIS thought that it came backto cost constraints; for example, theWorld Bank recommended the evaluation ofbids on a cost basis; it was difficult topredict costs two years ahead, and clientspreferred fixed costs and not inflationlinked packages.

19. Mr BINNIE stated that a wide range ofcomplexity could be built into design; therewere insufficient talks between client andconsultant, and more feedback from clientson the availability of staff to operate theworks was necessary.

20. Mr GREENACRE asked why consultants didnot design for the lowest level of operation.

21. Mr BINNIE suggested that if clients didnot automatically choose the lowest costbid, this would be possible.

22. Mr FAULKNER noted that the client oftendemanded a high technology solution;hitherto, this had been the case with theWorld Bank.

23. Brother CHARLES wished to know of anyinformation which delegates had on the useof biogas.

24. Mr McKendrick said that some units hadworked for a time in Zimbabwe but stoppedbecause of the lack of back-up facilities.

25. Mr WILSON reported that compostinglatrines in Botswana did not work becauseit was difficult to get the correct carbonto nitrogen ratio; there was one biogasunit which required one expatriot to run it.

26. Professor NATH said that sewage sludgecould be digested to produce methane, andthat in rural India, there were many biogasunits which used cow dung as a fuel, someof which worked. There were some pilotscale studies using solid waste and excreta.

27. Mr PICKFORD told a cautionary talefrom India concerning biogas. The peasantsused to use cow dung as a fuel, which theywere allowed to have free of charge. Afterthe introduction of a biogas unit, whichthe landowner possessed, he thencommandeered all of the cow dung for hisunit, leaving the poorer people with nosource of fuel at all; it had, in suchcases, benefited the rich at the expenseof the poor.

28. Mr JOGI, as a planner, thought thatthere should have been a much largercontingent of planners attending theconference, so that all of the ideas couldbe shared, as engineers and planners wereoften working towards the same goal, butwithout sufficient communication.

29. Mr PICKFORD thought that in itsclosing stages, the conference shouldconsider the problem of how people couldbe motivated in practice.

30. Dr CUBAJEE said that in Ghana, thehealth programs with which she worked hadused the media, posters, visits, and theselection of influential groups, with somesuccess.

31. Engr KEELING wondered if seminars wouldwork in a more formal setting.

32. Mr TAYLER replied that to be effective,motivation had to be on a long term basis.Such techniques would work with individuals,but not with governments and institutions.He felt that one must encourage peoplerather than order them, and look at reasonsfor the lack of motivation. It could bevery difficult when plant never worked; itwas much harder for local people who hadto live with such situations, compared withexpatriots who could come and go.

33. Mr GORASIA thought that a severe

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problem was that people were never sackedfor incompetence, and also that it wasdifficult to sustain interest when thingsdid not work.

34. Professor OLUWANDE said that lack ofpromotion prospects reduced incentives.

35. Mr JOGI thought that in addition tosalary motivation, good deployment of staffwas essential; one should find out whatpeople liked doing best, and give themplenty of it to do.

36. Engr KEELING said that there was toolittle opportunity to transfer across toprovide movement of jobs within anorganisation.

37. Mr BINNIE quoted the problem of manymonths salary arrears causing lack ofmotivation.

38. Mr TAYLER concluded by stating thatmany agencies now by-passed governmentinstitutions; this was an undesirabledevelopment. Government institutions shouldbe worked with and be strengthened so thatpeople could see things which werehappening. Although corruption wassometimes stated to be a problem, hepersonally had not encountered it in Sudan.

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VALEDICTORY ADDRESS

Dr PSWARAYIDeputy Minister of Health

I am most grateful for the honour you haveconferred upon me in asking me to be yourGuest Speaker on this important occasion.But I am unhappy that I might spoil anexcellent dinner by an unsatisfactory speechon an out-of-place subject - Sanitation.Brevity should therefore be the watchwordfor me. But I am told that an after-dinnerspeech should be like a lady's dress - shortenough to be interesting yet long enough tocover the essentials.

As you know water and sanitation always gotogether so in discussing one I shall haveto discuss the other as well, since likeSiamese twins the two are difficult toseparate.

It is because of this complementaritybetween water and sanitation (certainly asfar as health is concerned) that the decadewe talk about is not, as it is often wronglycalled, the Water Decade, but the Water andSanitation Decade. Also it does not seemto be generally known that the Ministry ofHealth has the same great interest in wateras in sanitation. Perhaps this is why Iwas asked to speak on Sanitation! ActuallyI am conscious of the fact that a couple ofyears ago it would have been unusual for aMinister of Health to be a Guest Speaker onsuch an occasion as this, with an engineeringbias. But now when heaflth is understood assomething positive and not the mere absenceof disease; and it is fully realised that,in the final analysis, all the varied effortsof mankind have only one goal - that mankindshould live healthily - it may seem rightand fitting that I should be here after all.

Indeed the greatest goal that internationalcommunity has set for itself this centuryis health for all. It is in this contextthat I speak to you this evening.

It is also in pursuance of this line ofthinking that when the Decade was to beformally launched in Zimbabwe by the Hon.Cde.Prime Minister in November last year, myMinistry was rightfully given the leadershiprole in this multisectoral activity. TheSecretary for the Ministry of Health wasselected as the Chairman of the NationalAction Committee. It has been said thatZimbabwe has been unusually logical (if not

the only logical country) in giving theleadership role for the decade to theMinistry of Health.

We in Zimbabwe are doubly happy that wewere called upon to host this conferenceso soon after the launching of the Decade.

Firstly we are honoured and secondly I amsure this will give a great impetus to ourDecade programme. Though we are a youngnation we have, I am sure, contributed morethan our share towards the development ofappropriate technology in Africa, and mayI make bold to say, in the world. OurBlair Pump and our Blair Latrine are by nowhousehold words in the Third Worldtechnical circles. Many may not be awarethat the Blair Institute falls under thejurisdiction of the Ministry of Health.

I realise that I owe you an apology forbringing up subjects such as pit latrinesaround a banquet table. But we areprofessionals and, despite the glamour andglitter around us and the scrumptiousfood within us, it should not beinappropriate for us to discuss sanitationand water.

A further token of my Ministry's interestin your workshop was the large number ofparticipants we arranged to come in for it.I am sure they have benefited tremendouslyfrom the exposure to the great wealth ofinternational expertise you have madeavailable to them. I would like to thinkthat, at the same time, our participantstoo may have made some contribution towardsthe success of the workshop.

Before I close let me suggest one thing,I have already referred to Siamese twins.Let me now refer to a Trinity. Pleasedo not be alarmed that I am going tolaunch on a sermon. The Trinity I amreferring to is the composite feature ofwater, sanitation and hygiene education.From the Health point of view the provisionof water and sanitation would of themselvesbe ineffective unless hygiene educationmakes the people appreciate the need to usethese amenities properly. I referred, atthe beginning of my speech, to the ladythat I had to clothe. Let me conclude with

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reference to her. You may wash this ladyin scented water and clothe her in sanitarygarments but if she does not have theculture and poise that comes from propereducation she will not be fit companyaround this table.

We in Zimbabwe are following a vigorouseffort of separating man from his waste;providing clean potable water andmaintaining an aggressive Health EducationProgramme. Already, in certain areas,our efforts are bearing fruits in thatthe Communities themselves are clamouringfor further aid to complete their sanitationand protected-wells programmes. Thesevere drought covering more than 50% ofthe country does not help, but it means wemust dig deeper wells to reach thedepressed water-table and so in futurebetter rainfall years our wells shouldnever run dry. We are proving that withbetter understanding our rural people areable to appreciate what is in their bestinterests and respond with enthusiasm andeagerness that sometimes outstrips ourability to provide the materials neededfor our programmes.

Finally let me propose a toast to theorganisers of this workshop. In doing soI request you not to raise your wineglasses but those that contain the elixirof health - good clean water. Ladies andgentlemen - with water, sanitation andhygiene education, towards health for all.

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