Access to Safe Water: Challenges, Trends, and Transitions

Prepared for: Emory University Conference

Prepared by: Carlos Linares,

Senior Program Officer, IRD Infrastructure

September 30, 2010,

Access to safe water

No access means: • An un-protected spring or

dug well;• Cart with small

tank/drum; • Tanker truck;• Surface water (rivers,

lakes, streams, irrigation channels, etc)

• Bottled water (of unknown quality)

Challenges, Trends and Transitions• Population Growth, Poverty and Service

Deficits• Urbanization • Decentralization and Participation• Privatization and the “Other” Private Sector• Suffering for Water, Suffering from Water• A Community Compact: Harnessing an un-

tapped potential

Population Growth, Poverty and Service Deficits

• 1 billion people don’t have access to safe water;

• 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation;

• Two million children die every year as a result of diarrhea;

• The majority of the world's population living in urban areas;

• One billion urban dwellers are poor and living in slums.

• By 2030, 5 billion urban dwellers (60 per cent of the world’s population);

• A third of these will continue living in poverty;

• Progress made will be offset by population growth.

Urbanization • Cities have continued to

grow at a fast pace;• Urban environmental

degradation = poor governance;

• Transition of government’s role — from “doer” to “regulator” —much more difficult than previously anticipated

• Poverty and lack of services an “institutional” problem.

Decentralization and Participation• Decentralization:

increased role for local governments and increased opportunities for civil society;

• NGO’s are the leaders in designing & implementing participatory development processes;

• The case of FUNDASAL (1970 to 1978)

Privatization• Well-publicized fiascos and derailments of

privatization reduced multinational’s plans for investment in developing countries;

• Public sector utilities and/or private sector utilities/multinationals don’t serve the poor anyway;

• Service deficits have created opportunities for neighborhood groups and the “other” private sector to fill the gaps left by government authorities and multinationals.

The “Other” Private Sector• Entrepreneurs managing piped

networks in agreement with utilities;

• Independent entrepreneurs managing piped networks with their own sources (registered / licensed as well as unregistered / unlicensed);

• Carters or water carriers who deliver water by the jerrycan, and by different means (handcarts, push-carts, push-bikes, wagons, donkey carts, bicycles, tricycles, trolleys)

• Cooperatives managing piped networks with independent sources of water;

The “Other” Private Sector• Private well and or borehole

owner-operators with independent water sources, where bulk water is sold to mobile vendors;

• Residential resellers, selling water through garden hose or garden faucet, domestic taps, elevated tanks or cisterns;

• Community-built and operated piped networks with independent water sources;

• Community-managed kiosks/stand posts selling water to resellers or individuals.

Suffering for Water, Suffering from Water Despite many operational constraints:

• lack of understanding, lack of recognition, hostile attitude from police/bribes;

• lack of secure tenure, no collateral;• lack of access to capital, lack of access to credit;• Lack of access to the law, in legal limbo, no support from regulations

SSPs are thriving – water business is good business! However… The water sold by SSPs is not guaranteed to be safe for

human consumption.

Is the solution to kill-off “the other private sector” already serving the poor?

Harnessing an un-tapped potential via Community Compact

• An approach that merges top-down and bottom-up;

• Barriers need to be eliminated and incentives need to be introduced via a Community Compact.

The Compact will: • a) eliminate barriers (lack of

access to the law, and financial resources, among others); and

• b) introduce incentives (to ensure that water being sold is safe for human consumption).

Thank you