Newsletter – October 2015 If you are having trouble reading this then download the more readable PDF version: ENGLISH /

FRANÇAIS. Pour les francophones - Si vous souhaitez recevoir le bulletin trimestriel en français,

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English

WORD FROM THE CHAIR .............................................................................................................................................. 2

HEADLINES .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all ............................ 3

Late 2015 Webinar series – register now! ...................................................................................................... 3

2015 Member Survey – thank you! ................................................................................................................... 4

WEDC Conference update.................................................................................................................................... 5

World Water Week in Stockholm update ...................................................................................................... 6

Investing in rural water supply delivers results ............................................................................................ 6

THEME NEWS ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Equality, Non-Discrimination and Inclusion (ENDI) .................................................................................... 7

Sustainable Groundwater Development ......................................................................................................... 8

Accelerating Self-supply ....................................................................................................................................... 8

Sustainable Services ............................................................................................................................................... 9

Mapping and Monitoring .................................................................................................................................. 10

PROGRAMME NEWS .................................................................................................................................................... 11

UPGro – Unlocking the Potential of Groundwater for the Poor ......................................................... 11

RAIN - Rainwater harvesting for rural water supply and food security ........................................... 12

MEMBER NOTICE BOARD........................................................................................................................................... 14

RWSN ONLINE ................................................................................................................................................................ 16

WEBINARS ........................................................................................................................................................................ 16

FACE-TO-FACE EVENTS ............................................................................................................................................... 16

PRACTICAL GUIDELINES ............................................................................................................................................. 18

LATEST RESEARCH ........................................................................................................................................................ 19

RWSN MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION .................................................................................................................... 21

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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WORD FROM THE CHAIR

New Horizons: towards universal water access by 2030

The world has signed off on the Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 6 is the big

water and sanitation goal and includes targets for water services and water

resources: universal access to a safe and affordable water supply, but also targets for

water quality, water use efficiency, water related eco systems and water resources.

On top of that there is a target to increase community participation and a goal to

expand international cooperation and capacity building support. Compared with the

MDGs the ambition level has gone up enormously. Imagine these goals will be

achieved, than we may be the last generation to witness people having to take

water from rivers and people dying of diarrhoea.

Achieving these targets is not just a counting exercise; these targets cannot be

achieved by tweaking here and there, spending a bit more money, building

capacities here and there, adapting policies. These targets will force governments

and development partners to do business differently. They will force governments

to take public service delivery seriously, take citizens and their demands seriously

and invest public finance in water supply. Not only in the hardware but in particular

in the systems to keep the hardware going.

That is not news, intellectually we all know that. And actually looking at the

economic growth figures of many countries in Africa and Asia, it should be feasible

in the 15 years to come. But do governments really care? Are they really willing to

take up the responsibility and invest in water and sanitation, in the institutions, the

people, the systems to ensure sustained water supply from sustained water

resources? Will we really see economies grow simultaneously with reliable access to

water for everyone?

Will Development Partners reserve parts of their funding for the national systems,

for building capacities of people and institutions and engage with country sector

reform for 10 years and more? Will they challenge but align with government

priorities and planning? Or will they continue counting boreholes in projects of 5

years or less?

This is not to say that this is not happening already, but it is a moment in time to do

more and overcome institutional hurdles. Goal 6 and its targets offer great

challenges and great chances. In fact, the targets are an extra push to transfer from

water supply driven mainly by aid funding and aid directives to water supply driven

by confident and motivated governments planning a prosperous and healthy future

for their citizens - jointly with critical but engaged Development Partners. That may

be a dream, but that is the great thing about the Goals: they not only show the real

values of mankind and what mankind potentially is capable of achieving, they also

trigger the imagination and our creative forces to make this happen. Have a great

15 years and let us know what you encounter and learn on the way.

Ton Schouten, Chair

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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HEADLINES

Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all

The Millennium Development Goals are yesterday’s news – for better or worse. At the Sustainable

Development Summit at the end of September, the new Sustainable Development Goals were

agreed. For Goal 6 on water sanitation there are the following targets:

By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open

defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable

situations

By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing

release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and

substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable

withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the

number of people suffering from water scarcity

By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through

transboundary cooperation as appropriate

By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands,

rivers, aquifers and lakes

By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries

in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting,

desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies

Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation

management

Details on all the goals can be found at: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment

Late 2015 Webinar series – register now!

RWSN is launching its next series of ten webinars (online seminars) on topics related to rural water

supply, among them equality, sustainable services, groundwater, self-supply approaches, rainwater

harvesting and human rights. Presenters from more than 15 different organisations, working in over

15 countries will share their practical experiences and research findings. Participants will have the

opportunity to ask questions and meet others with similar interests.

You can register for one or several webinars by following the link: http://tinyurl.com/nephass

The webinars will take place every Tuesday from 6th October to 8th December. Nine of the ten

webinars will also be in French and one will be in Spanish (see table below). Except for the first

webinar, there will be a French webinar at 9.30 (GMT) and an English one at 13.30 (GMT). The

sessions will last 90 minutes. Please note that all times are indicated in GMT, so your local starting

hour may be varying throughout the series.

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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Date Time/Heure Title/Subject

Oct 06 8:00 GMT ENGLISH: From building infrastructure to creating support mechanisms for rural

water supplies

16:00 GMT ESPAÑOL: Desde el desarrollo de infraestructura hacia la creación de mecanismos

de apoyo a sistemas de agua potable en zonas rurales

Oct 13 09:30 GMT FRANÇAIS: Des forages qui durent toute un vie

13:30 GMT ENGLISH: Boreholes that last for a lifetime

Oct 20 09:30 GMT FRANÇAIS : Les conceptions inclusives et les habitudes de travail inclusives 1

13:30 GMT ENGLISH : Inclusive ways of working and inclusive designs 1

Oct 27 09:30 GMT FRANÇAIS : Les citoyens s'expriment sur l'eau

13:30 GMT ENGLISH : Citizens speak out on water

Nov 03 09:30 GMT ENGLISH : Inclusive ways of working and inclusive designs 2

13:30 GMT FRANÇAIS : Les conceptions inclusives et les habitudes de travail inclusives 2

Nov 10 09:30 GMT FRANÇAIS : Dépasser le scandale de la corrosion des pompes manuelles dans

l'approvisionnement rural en eau

13:30 GMT ENGLISH : Overcoming the Rural Water Supply Scandal of Handpump Corrosion

Nov 17 09:30 GMT FRANÇAIS : Déployer la collecte des eaux de pluie par les toitures domestiques

13:30 GMT ENGLISH : Domestic Roofwater Harvesting at Scale

Nov 24 09:30 GMT FRANÇAIS : Les droit de l'homme et l'auto-approvisionnement – un paradoxe?

13:30 GMT ENGLISH : Human rights and Self Supply – a paradox?

Dec 01 09:30 GMT FRANÇAIS : La magie et le mystère des données sur les eaux souterraines

13:30 GMT ENGLISH : The magic and mystery of groundwater data

Dec 08 09:30 GMT FRANÇAIS : L’eau pour les bergers et les troupeaux

13:30 GMT ENGLISH : Water for Pastoralists and Livestock

We look forward to meeting you on-line.

Please note that you will need to register for the events to be able to take part. The process takes

one minute: http://tinyurl.com/nephass

2015 Member Survey – thank you!

Thank you to everyone that took part in the 2015 RWSN Member Survey. Responses were received

in three languages, from 70 countries and from across government, NGOs, academia, the private

sector and development partners. From it, we have a much better idea of who you are, what

problems you are facing and how well (or not) we are doing. There were many great examples of

how information, publications, films and webinars have been used to improve the quality of rural

water supply training, consulting and implementation.

The number one challenge being faced by members is the sustainability of rural water services, in all

its diverse forms, from maintaining the physical quality and quantity of water supplied to the

challenges around financing, management and regulation.

What would you say is the main problem that you are currently facing, in relation to rural

water supply? (most common words)

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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What is RWSN doing well? (most common words)

What could be strengthened in RWSN?

We got 279 ideas! We can’t respond to all them individually, but we are taking them seriously and

generally the feedback focused on extending what the network already does – Expanding member

engagement and outreach to others; Advice & support for funding / fundraising; More training;

Expanding thematic content & scope; Expanding Geographic Scope; Provide information in more

languages; More publications and to Update manuals.

You can download a 2-page summary and a full report from the RWSN website

WEDC Conference update

At the 36th WEDC Conference, in Loughborough, UK, the lead from RWSN was taken by Andrew

Armstrong (Water Missions International) who organised two side events:

“I want to thank you all for the opportunity to collaborate on these events and for your support

(particularly from André Olschewski) during their development. I felt that the solar pumping

workshop was especially valuable to the participants and WEDC, and have received much positive

feedback. I have even received a request from one of the workshop participants to co-organize a solar

pumping workshop in Zimbabwe.”

Andrew has prepared a synthesis report on both sessions, which you can download the from the

RWSN website:

Elements of Sustainable Solar Water Pumping System Design

Managing Cash Reserves for Capital Maintenance Expenses

Thanks to Andrew, André, Richard Carter for organising and facilitating these workshops, and to the

speakers: Kwabena Nyarko (KNUST), Paul Hutchings, (Cranfield University) and Jim Gibson

(Maluti GSM Consulting)

Your can find many useful papers and abstracts from this year’s WEDC conference on their website

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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World Water Week in Stockholm update

This year, we decided to take the plunge and have a stand at the World Water Week in Stockholm.

This was made possible thanks to funding and support from the UPGro (Unlocking the Potential of

Groundwater for the Poor) programme and from UNICEF, through the RWSN collaboration on

professionalising water well drilling. Unsurprisingly then, the dominant theme for the stand was

groundwater. However, we designed the stand in such a way as to be a networking and presentation

space.

Throughout the week we hosted a number of mini-presentations from Prof. Richard Carter

(Richard Carter & Associates), Dr Jenny Grönwall (SIWI), Susan Davis (Improve International)

[watch her film], Fabio Fussi (University of Milano Biococca), Maria Bestemann (Basic Water

Needs), André Mergenthaler and Craig Williams (Water Missions International) [watch their

film] ,Virgina Roaf and Hannah Neumeyer (WASH United). Sadly, we couldn’t always guarantee

the audience as there was a lot going on, but the people that came were really engaged and there is

a lot of potential for interesting collaborations in the future.

Over the course of the week we met several hundred RWSN members – and recruited many new

ones (welcome!). We learned so much from colleagues from Zambia, Jordan, Argentina, Cambodia,

Lebanon, India, Nigeria, Ghana and many other diverse places and organisations – a huge thanks to

everyone!

Investing in rural water supply delivers results

“The number of people without access in rural areas has decreased by over half a billion” (1990-

2015), concluded the Joint Monitoring Programme of the UNICEF and WHO. We have produced a

2-page graphic summary of latest JMP report results that relate to rural water supply. Overall the

message is of positive progress, but 4 out of 5 people who lack access to safe water live in rural

areas. Under the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the push will be for universal access

by 2030, and a lot more focus on water quality. This is a challenge for all of us.

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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THEME NEWS

Equality, Non-Discrimination and Inclusion (ENDI)

Join at: dgroups.org/RWSN/equality_rwsn

Theme Leaders: Louisa Gosling, WaterAid (LouisaGosling @ wateraid.org)

Jane Wilbur, WaterAid (janewilbur @wateraid.org)

Reducing inequalities in WASH

Under the equality, non-discrimination and inclusion theme there is a work stream on reducing

inequalities in WASH. Project aims are to 1) find out what information, guidance, and support is

available on practical ways of working and designs of infrastructure that can be applied to reduce

inequalities in WASH; 2) generate shared learning and discussions on approaches and solutions with

RWSN members with the intention of assisting members to ‘do inclusion better’.

We will be holding e-discussions on:

Practical ways of working for more inclusive WASH (Week of 12th October)

Design of infrastructure that can be applied to reduce inequalities in WASH access and use

(Week of 26th October)

Information, guidance and support for inclusive ways of working and infrastructure

design. (week of 9 November)

Plus, 2 webinars on the 20th October and the 3rd November.

The webinar topics will cover:

1. Integrating gender dialogue mechanisms in community mobilisation processes

2. Small scale private water and sanitation enterprises in Indonesia, Vietnam and Timor-Leste.

The focus is on economic inequalities in in remote locations in rural Vietnam

3. inclusive ways of working from the perspective of a Disabled Persons Organisation

4. Applying the rights based approach in WASH with a focus on menstrual hygiene

management and people with disabilities in Nepal

5. How training people with disabilities to collect survey data enhanced responses from

disabled respondents

6. School WASH in Tanzania

We hope that you’ll be able to engage in the e-discussions and the webinars. There’s so much

scope to reducing inequalities in WASH so we’re looking forward to a really rich and stimulating

discussion on the subject.

Please register here: http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/projekts/details/79.

If you would like to present or want more information please email janewilbur@wateraid.org.

Putting Women at the centre of development for achieving hygiene

behaviour change

7th October, 12.45-4pm, side event at the PHASA (Public Health Association of South Africa)

Conference 2015, in Durban, South Africa. Hosted by Dr Juliet Waterkeyn of Africa Ahead.

www.phasaconference.org.za

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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Sustainable Groundwater Development

Join at dgroups.org/RWSN/groundwater_rwsn

Theme Leaders: Kerstin Danert (kerstin.danert @ skat.ch) Cost Effective Boreholes &

Manual Drilling; Sean Furey, Skat, (sean.furey @ skat.ch) Handpumps and Water Source

Protection

For UPGro see page 11

“A borehole that lasts a lifetime” RWSN films are hits

The RWSN collaboration between UNICEF, Skat and WaterAid has made ground with the two

animated films in English and French on professionalising drilling. As well has being viewed over a

thousand times in the first couple weeks since being launched, through the membership survey you

have been telling us how you have been using the films:

“I had to educate a client on the need for proper siting of borehole and the need to use the

right expertise using the informative and educating Video of RWSN released in the first quarter

of this year on borehole siting.” Moshood N. TIJANI, Department of Geology, University of

Ibadan, Nigeria

“I did a presentation [of] a video of drilling well to our WASH partners”, anon. Afghanistan

“The videos explaining the need for proper well locations using geologists and surveyors, as

well as the need for a quality controller were good resources.” Christelle Kwizera, Water Access

Rwanda, Rwanda

You can find the films in both languages together on our “Professional Drilling - animated series”

channel. We are looking at getting more produced soon.

Evaluation of Hand Augered Well Technologies’ Capacity to Improve

Access to Water in Coastal Ngöbe Communities in Panama Panama is not a country that comes up in RWSN discussions very often, so it is great that this MSc

thesis has shown that affordable access to groundwater is important in Central America as well.

Young researcher, Sarah Hayman, compared different low cost drilling and water lifting

technologies, including the EMAS pump: “Evaluation of Hand Augered Well Technologies’ Capacity

to Improve Access to Water in Coastal Ngöbe Communities in Panama”.

Accelerating Self-supply

Join at dgroups.org/RWSN/selfsupply_rwsn

Theme Leader: André Olschewski, Skat (andre.olschewski @ skat.ch)

For Rainwater harvesting see page 12

TAF 2.0?

Interest in the Technology Applicability Framework (TAF) for assessing new WASH technologies has

been growing steadily, with it being used by more organisations in a growing number of countries,

including Zimbabwe, South Sudan, and Afghanistan.

Through this learning process, ideas are coming back for an update to the TAF. Efforts are even

underway to adapt the TAF to renewable energy technologies. If you have any ideas or feedback,

then please contact André Olschewski

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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Tanzania TAF

One major achievement is that in Tanzania the TAF has been formally adopted and been included in

the Project Implementation Manual (PIM), which is the formal guideline for the implementation of

the rural water and sanitation development plan. Every WASH project in rural areas should use the

PIM and its tools during the relevant stages of project planning and implementation.

The TAF is an open-source tool available at washtechnologies.net/, along with interesting case

studies of where it has been used.

SMART Centres are growing

SMART Centres are active in promoting smart, affordable water technologies through market based

approaches. In Tanzania, about 45 Rope pump producers and well drillers have been trained by

SHIPO in past 8 years. Their drilling companies have drilled over 2000 hand drilled wells. Meanwhile

rope pump producers installed over 10,000 pumps - of which some 4,000 pumps were sold to

families for self-supply.

Better documentation and exchange between SMART Centres and similar initiatives such as in Sierra

Leone by Welthungerhilfe is needed to support initiatives for further development of local private

sector in providing WASH products and services. Please follow up on www.smartcentregroup.com a

new initiative supported by Aqua for All and with MetaMeta as lead parties.

Sustainable Services

Join at dgroups.org/RWSN/sustainable_services_rwsn

Theme Leader: Marieke Adank, IRC (adank @irc.nl)

Conference on improving water security for the poor, 9-11 December

2015

REACH is a new 7-year research programme to make at least 5 million poor people water secure.

Oxford University leads the programme with UNICEF and heavy input from RWSN, Skat, IRC and

many more. The initial focus will be on three countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Kenya.

To get things moving, there will be a conference on water security held at Oxford University

between 9-11 December 2015. Part of this will include the launch of a funding opportunity for

innovative water security and poverty collaborations. To find out more visit:

www.watersecurity2015.org

E-discussion: the role of local government in rural water supply

Thank you to everyone who participated in the lively e-discussion on local government and rural

water supply. The synthesis report is currently being compiled by IRC and Water for People. To

access all contributions and the weekly summaries of the discussion, joint the Sustainable Services

D-group and see: https://dgroups.org/RWSN/sustainable_services_rwsn/library.

New resource: Developing micro-finance products for WASH

This summer Water.org and MicroSave completed a series of toolkits to provide information and

tools for financial institutions to develop microfinance products for WASH investments. The suite

consists of five individual toolkits that present step-by-step information, principles, and practices for

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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the successful development of WASH financial products. The toolkits are designed to be applicable

across a variety of markets, lending methodologies, and business models. You can find our toolkits

here: www.WASHmicrofinance.org

New resource: Benin – Innovative public private partnerships for rural

water services sustainability - A Case Study Over the past decade, the Government of Benin has made great strides to professionalize the management of

piped water systems (PWS) in rural areas and small towns. This case study provides evidence of the

possibilities for attracting private sector engagement in piped rural water systems, and also clearly lays out

some of the on-going sustainability challenges. It can be found on:

http://www.wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/WSP-Benin-Innovative-Public-Private-

Partnerships-Rural-Water-Services.pdf

New blog: Understanding water services in India, house by house How much does the support and community mobilisation work cost that is needed to make

community-managed rural water programmes work? That’s the question that the Community Water

Plus Project is trying to answer, as addressed in the blog on IRC WASH.

Mapping and Monitoring

Join at dgroups.org/rwsn/mapping_rwsn

Topic Leader: Joseph Pearce (pearce @ircwash.org)

Comparing successes and failures in rural water services

Over the past twelve months WaterAid, Itad and IRC have been conducting desk research and

analysis to better understand why some ICT initiatives improving water supply in rural areas succeed

where others don’t. Download the report “Testing the Waters: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of

the Factors Affecting Success in Rendering Water Services Sustainable Based on ICT Reporting”

These research findings were presented at a webinar on 8 September. Download the webinar

presentation.

“What Can Your Data Do For You? Moving Beyond Reporting”

You can find the recordings and presentation slides of the all three webinars, including Using Data

for Learning and Sharing, and other resources here from SustainableWASH.org

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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PROGRAMME NEWS

UPGro – Unlocking the Potential of Groundwater for the Poor

Knowledge Brokers: Sean Furey, Kerstin Danert, Richard Carter, Bertha

Camacho

UPGro – Unlocking the Potential for Groundwater for the Poor is seven year research programme that takes a

social and natural science approach to enabling sustainable use of groundwater for the benefit of the poor.

During 2013-14 there were 15 ‘Catalyst’ projects that are one year studies. This year five ‘Consortium’ projects

will get underway for the following 4-5 years. UPGro is funded by the United Kingdom through the Natural

Environmental Research Council (NERC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the

Department for International Development (DFID).

Smart handpump for groundwater monitoring wins at Stockholm

Patrick Thomson, from the Oxford-led UPGro project “Gro For Good”, has won the prize for the best

poster at World Water Week 2015 for the work that he and colleagues at the Institute of Biomedical

Engineering at Oxford have been doing on shallow groundwater monitoring using Smart

Handpumps in Kenya. This work will continue under the UPGro Consortium phase.

A briefing note based on the information presented in the poster can be downloaded here:

Thomson P., Greeff H., Colchester F, Clifton D. and Hope R. A.(2015): “Distributed Monitoring of

Shallow Aquifer Level using Community Hanpumps” Smith School of Enterprise and the

Environment, Water Programme, August 2015

Hidden Crisis: Borehole failure highlighted in Uganda Sector Performance

Report

The UPGro Hidden Crisis project, led by Prof. Alan MacDonald at BGS, has already made an impact

in its first study country – Uganda. Each year, the Ministry of Water and Environment coordinates a

Joint Sector Review (JSR) and produces a Sector Performance Report (SPR) which reports on

progress in the water and environment sectors and identifies the priorities head. The 2014 report

picked up on the work in the Catalyst phase and the further investigations by WaterAid into the

problem of high iron levels in borehole water – largely due to inappropriate pump and pipe

materials. The installation of cast iron or galvanised iron materials in acidic groundwater (ph <6.5) is

largely preventable but all too common in many areas of the world. It leads to premature failure of

the pump and makes the water unpalatable, or even unusable.

► Read the Hidden Crisis catalyst phase final report

►Register for the RWSN webinar (10 Nov): “Overcoming the Rural Water Supply Scandal of

Handpump Corrosion”

T-GroUP gets underway in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda

Lead, by Dr Jan Willem Foppen at UNESCO-IHE, in the Netherlands, the T-GroUP study is looking at

novel, non-linear ways of how urban groundwater use and management can be improved in slum

and peri-urban areas. To date, the project has had exploratory visits to Dodowa and Arusha and a

kick-off meeting in Delft.

► Visit t-group.science to find out more

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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UPGro Catalyst Researcher recognised as a leading ‘Innovator under 35’

by MIT Technology Review

Dr Sharon Velasquez Orta (Newcastle University) has been recognised by the MIT Technology

Review as one the leading “Innovators under 35” for 2015 for her work on developing a low-cost

biosensor of measuring groundwater quality. In the UPGro Catalyst project (INGROUND), she and

colleagues from Newcastle University and Ardhi University have been developing the sensor in the

lab and trialling it in Tanzania.

Collecting Water With Roads – ground-breaking research wins Global

Environment Award

Water is short in many places but roads are everywhere – and when it rains it is often along these

roads that most water runs, as roads unknowingly either serve as dike or a drain. By harvesting the

water with these roads, water shortage can be overcome and impacts of climate change can be

mitigated. This was the idea behind the UPGro Catalyst Grant research[1],[2] project undertaken in

2013-2014 in Tigray Regional State in Ethiopia, which has been really successful. MetaMeta of the

Netherlands, together with its partners Mekelle University and Tigray Government have been

awarded the prestigious Global Road Achievement Award for Environmental Mitigation[3] by

the International Roads Federation.

RAIN - Rainwater harvesting for rural water supply and food security

Co-ordinators: Robert Meerman (meerman @ rainfoundation.org), Hans Merton

(hans @ merton.nl). Join the rainwater harvesting community on Dgroups:

dgroups.org/rwsn/rainwater and follow on twitter at @rainwater4food.

Webinar 29 September: Water-Smart Agriculture in East Africa

RAIN and TWC are organizing the first webinar within the upcoming webinar series

(RAIN/RWSN/TWC) on 30 September. Alan Nicol (IWMI) will present the major outcomes of the

sourcebook on Water-Smart Agriculture in East Africa published in March 2015 with contributions

from IWMI, FAO, SEI and WaterHealth.

The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion on the Addis Ababa Symposium Declaration

on Unlocking the Potential of Rainwater. There will be room for input from the participants during

the panel discussion.

Please go to http://www.thewaterchannel.tv/produce/webinars to find out how to attend the

webinar and other useful information.

Annual Report RAIN 2014

This Annual Report sheds light on RAIN’s progress made in 2014. It has been a very exciting year for

several reasons: a merger took place; new services were developed; we decided to continue our

work in the Dutch WASH Alliance beyond 2015; and we expanded to a new region. We are very

proud to present our results of 2014 in this report, click here to read the full annual report 2014.

Rainwater discussions are in full flow!

There are now around 700 members in the Rainwater Harvesting community and it has become one

of the most active and supportive sharing spaces in RWSN.

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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Trick #1: For those who are finding their inboxes getting filled, the best way to manage email group

discussions is to set a rule in your email software so that any email with [rainwater] in the title is

moved to its own folder. That keeps your main inbox clear and but you can still follow the

discussions.

Trick #2: (1) Log on to https://dgroups.org/rwsn/rainwater; (2) go to “My account” in the top right

on the web page; (3) select “Preferences” (4) Select the email frequency that suits you – immediate,

daily, weekly or monthly. For more help on getting the most out of Dgroups download the RWSN

quick guide in English or French.

RAIN is evaluating its projects under the Dutch WASH Alliance

programme (2011-2015)

RAIN and five other Dutch NGOs work together in the Dutch WASH Alliance (DWA) with local

partners in eight low-income countries in Africa and Asia. Its five-year programme, funded by the

Netherlands Ministry of Foreign affairs, started in 2011 with the aim to achieve increased sustainable

access to and use of safe water and sanitation services and improved hygiene practices for women

and marginalised groups.

With the end of the programme in sight, RAIN has hired a consultant to carry out an external

evaluation of its programme results during the past 5 years (2011-2015) within the DWA. The

purpose of the evaluation is to look at RAIN’s contribution to the implementation of the FIETS

sustainability criteria (Financial, Institutional, Environmental, Technical and Social), in particular

Environmental and Financial sustainability, of RAINs country programmes in Nepal, Uganda,

Ethiopia and Mali.

RAIN's Country Brochures

RAIN has published six country brochures on Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Mali & Burkina Faso, Nepal

and the Andean region. These publications show RAIN’s work and the potential on rainwater

harvesting within these specific countries or regions

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

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MEMBER NOTICE BOARD

RWSN Member and Member Organisation news, jobs, surveys & requests

of for help

Please note that RWSN Secretariat passes on requests for help community organisations and local

NGOs in good faith but we don’t have to do thorough background checks. It is our intention is that the

valid grassroots organisations can be connected with RWSN members from implementation or donor

organisations that can help.

MSABI: Country Director, Tanzania

MSABI develops and validates new business models for water and sanitation service delivery in

Tanzania. The rapidly growing organisation is looking for a new country manager. For more

information please visit http://msabi.org/jobs

“The closer you are, the more sustainable it gets”

The African Development Bank (AfDB), through its Rural Water and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI), was

the first donor to support the Senegalese initiative “PEPAM” (Programme Eau Potable et

Assainissement du Millénaire) in 2004 and has maintained the close partnership ever since. Jochen

Rudolph from AfDB reports on progress in Senegal on the RWSN Blog.

Towards water security in Sierra Leone

For the last 2-3 years an initiative has been under way in Sierra Leone, led by the Ministry of Water

Resources and supported by consultants, to bring about improved water security for everyone from

the domestic water user in a village to the large industrial, hydro-electric and urban water users. The

programme has begun by strengthening the knowledge base and improving monitoring of water

resources. Much has been learned about what and how to monitor water resources, the roles of the

public, the private sector and the national institutions, and the complexities of water security even in

a relatively well-watered country. In April 2015 at a meeting led by the Ministry, the programme

launched its dedicated website www.salonewatersecurity.com If you are interested in the wider

issues of water security, water resources monitoring, hydrological understanding, and the

implications of all these matters for rural water supply services, the website will be relevant to

you. Please also feel free to contact me, Richard Carter at richard@richard-carter.org for more

information.

Improving WASH sector learning in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has an active WASH learning partnership involving many of the Government and non-

Government organisations with interests in rural and urban water, sanitation and hygiene. Earlier

this year the WASH Learning website was re-designed, and it was formally launched in April 2015 at

a meeting in Freetown, led by the Ministry of Water Resources. If you are active in Sierra Leone, or if

you are interested in how learning resources can be brought together in a national WASH learning

website, please look at www.washlearningsl.org

Basic Water Needs launches new Tulip FLOW technology

Basic Water Needs has launched a new simple and affordable water filtration product: the Tulip

Siphon FLOW filter. This portable, high-volume gravity powered water purifier is based on a micro

membrane technology. The name ‘FLOW’ refers to the high flow rate of the product, which is over

20 liters per hour. However, the product is already nicknamed the ‘jerry can filter’, as the filter

element will fit into almost any jerry can, allowing customers to use the product with their own water

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

15

containers. Thanks to the simple backwash system, the product can purify over 30,000 liters of water,

lasting an average family for > 3 years, for a price of less than $0,001 per liter.

Read more on the product here, or contact Basic Water Needs at

www.basicwaterneeds.com/#contact

Water for People welcomes Eleanor Allen as new CEO

Eleanor Allen is the new head of Water for People, taking over from Ned Breslin who left the role

earlier in the year. For more information, please visit Water for People's announcement here.

Update from Waterlines

From Clare Tawney, Editor: “I’d like to bring to your attention two offers – and an invitation.

1. Waterlines now offers authors the option of making their articles gold open access from our

online host: http://www.developmentbookshelf.com/loi/wl Usually authors are now offered this

at the time of publication (http://practicalaction.org/open-access), but you may like to consider

making an article published several years ago gold open access. We can offer a reduced rate

(£375, $675, E450) for any article published up to and including 2013. Please get in contact if

you’d like to take up this offer.

2. As a Waterlines author you are entitled to a discount of 25% on all book purchases from our

site: http://developmentbookshop.com/ Please have a look, there are plenty of books in the

field of WASH there.

I have recently stepped down from being Managing Editor of Waterlines, and my colleague Stacey

Davies (Stacey.Davies@practicalaction.org.uk) is the new contact in our office. Richard Carter

(richard@richard-carter.org) and Sue Cavill (suecavill@hotmail.com), as Editor and Deputy Editor,

continue to provide brilliant leadership to the journal and would be delighted to hear from you about

new articles.”

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

16

RWSN ONLINE

RWSN in numbers

RWSN membership has reached 8,055 people from 147 countries LinkedIn group membership is

up to 2,574 . At the beginning of 2012 there were around 1,500 RWSN members, so thank you to all

for your continued support and commitment to improving rural water supply services.

Recent RWSN/UPGro blog posts:

Jordan reaches out for support at the World Water Week in Stockholm 2015 – a water crisis that

needs action (Kerstin Danert, Skat Foundation)

Imagine there is access to improved water sources but people don’t use it? Imagine there is no

water supply, what are people going to do? (Andre Olschewski, Skat Foundation)

13 ways to provide water and sanitation for nine billion people (Summary of Live Q&A discussion

on the Guardian Development Professionals Network, which included RWSN input on the expert

panel.)

Zambia: Borehole Drilling Harming Ground Water

Engineering for Change article: How to improve the adoption of innovative technology in

developing countries

Investment in rural water supply delivers results – NEW RWSN briefing note on the new

JMP report

A borehole that lasts for a lifetime

Fancy a swig? Water quality in shallow wells in Kisumu, western Kenya

Hidden Crisis: Borehole failure highlighted in Uganda Sector Performance Report

UPGro win at Stockholm World Water Week

Zambia: Study Finds Shallow Groundwater Unsafe.

UPGro Catalyst Researcher recognised as a leading ‘Innovator under 35’ by MIT

Technology Review

Merti aquifer: Kenya’s largest water source faced with resistance

Collecting Water With Roads – ground-breaking research wins Global Environment Award

Threats to groundwater supplies from contamination in Sierra Leone, with special reference to

Ebola care facilities

WEBINARS

Recordings from the Early 2015 series

Links to the presentation files and recordings can be found on the RWSN website and the RWSN

webinar channel.

Non-RWSN webinars

USAID webinar series on water and development strategy are available to watch again.

Recent WASH Sustainability webinars are available from SustainableWASH.org

“Demystifying science: Building farmer knowledge networks for productive and climate resilient

agriculture” is the most recent webinar from theWaterChannel.

Recent webinars from Engineering for Change (E4C) can be found on their YouTube channel.

FACE-TO-FACE EVENTS

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

17

Conferences

19-22 Oct: IWA Development Congress & Exhibition, Jordan

26-30 Oct: Water & Health Conference, USA

2-6 Nov: Amsterdam International Water Week, Netherlands

17-18 Nov: International Water Conference: "Securing Sustainable Water for All", Karachi, Sindh,

Pakistan,

9-11 Dec: REACH Water Security Conference, Oxford, UK

tbc Jan: Arab Water Week 2015, Jordan

tbc Jan: India Water Week, India

tbc Jan: 2016 Zaragoza UN Water Conference, Spain

tbc Mar 2016: WASH Sustainability/SuSanA Conference

16-20 May: WASH Futures Conference, Brisbane, Australia

tbc May 2016: Africa Water Week, Tanzania

11-15 Jul 2016: 39th WEDC International Conference, Kumasi, Ghana,

Oct 2016: Water & Health Conference, University of North Carolina, USA

23-28 Aug 2016: Stockholm World Water Week, Sweden

late 2016: 7th RWSN Forum

Courses & MOOCs

“Low Cost Water Treatment with Biochar: 10 day intensive training course for practitioners”

January 3-12, 2016, Location: Pun Pun Centre For Self Reliance, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, Cost:

Us-$750. More details at: www.aqsolutions.org

MOOCs are ‘Massive Open Online Courses’ which are generally free and comprise video lectures,

tests and sometimes group assignments based around online interaction with other participants.

They are a good way of learning new topics or refreshing old knowledge.

When? Title Organiser Languages

Starts 29

September (6

weeks)

Agua en América Latina: Abundancia en medio de la

escasez mundial | Water in Latin America: Abundance amid

scarcity

Inter American

Development

Bank

Spanish

Starts 29

September (5

weeks)

The Biology of Water and Health - Sustainable

Interventions

Tufts University English

16 Nov – 13

Dec

Financing for Development World Bank English

2 Jan - 30

Sep 2016

Water Harvesting for water management in rural areas

(Online course: €300 fee)

University of

Florence

English

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

18

PRACTICAL GUIDELINES Practica Foundation has launched www.watercompass.info. This decision-support software contains

almost seventy water management methods applicable in asset-poor, developing region contexts. Grouped

from source protection to household water treatment and storage, these methods comprise the current

best practice in developing water sectors.

Inter Aide have a selection of useful resources in English and French on their online Pratiques Network:

Notebook for the diagnosis and maintenance of gravity-flow systems (IA Ethiopia)

Water points maintenance in Malawi - Inter Aide

Définitions de la maintenance des systèmes hydrauliques en zones rurales / Definitions of

maintenance (Fr & En)

A notebook for the diagnosis and maintenance of gravity-flow water systems

Guide pratique pour le captage de source et la construction de petits réseaux - chaîne des montagnes

noires, Haïti

Optimiser la répartition et la distribution de l’eau avec des technologies simples pour des petits

systèmes gravitaires d’adduction d’eau potable : Boîtes de répartitions sans vannes & réservoirs

compartimentés

Présentation de l'appui au développement de Service Communaux de l'Eau et de l'Assainissement à

Madagascar

UN Water: Water and sanitation is central to sustainable development and the post-2015

development agenda, with strong linkages to many of the other proposed Sustainable

Development Goals. Learn more through this infographic.

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

19

LATEST RESEARCH Prof. Jamie Bartram at the University of North Carolina (UNC) has launched a “WaSH Policy

Research Digest” to link science with high level decision-making. The first one (July 2015) is on

sanitation but you can find out more and register for future editions on the UNC website.

Note that access to many papers is restricted and has to be purchased. Some are open access so

that articles are free to download:

[OPEN ACCESS – paywall on journal site] Hope, R. (2015) Is community water management the

community’s choice? Implications for water and development policy in Africa. Water Policy, 17: 664-

678.

[OPEN ACCESS] “Microbiological and Chemical Quality of Packaged Sachet Water and Household

Stored Drinking Water in Freetown, Sierra Leone”, PLOS ONEm Published: July 10, 2015, DOI:

10.1371/journal.pone.0131772

[OPEN ACCESS] Can improved agricultural water use efficiency save India's groundwater?

Environmental Research Letters, Volume 10, Number 8

[OPEN ACCESS] Assessing the returns to water harvesting: A meta-analysis. Agricultural Water

Management, Volume 163, 1 January 2016, Pages 100–109

[OPEN ACCESS] Complex adaptive systems as a valid framework for understanding community level

development, Development in Practice, Volume 25, Issue 6, 2015

[OPEN ACCESS] Coping with household water scarcity in the savannah today: implications for health

and climate change into the future. American Meteorological Society. DOI: 10.1175/EI-D-14-0039.1

[OPEN ACCESS] Hypertension and Fluoride in Drinking Water: Case Study From West Azerbaijan,

Iran, Fluoride: Quarterly Journal of the International Society for Fluoride Research Inc

[OPEN ACCESS] Integrated approach to assessing streamflow and precipitation alterations under

environmental change: Application in the Niger River Basin, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 4

(2015) 571–582

[OPEN ACCESS] Levers of Change in Senegal’s Rural Water Sector [EN] / Leviers de changement dans

le secteur de l’hydraulique rurale au Sénégal [FR], WSP/World Bank

[OPEN ACCESS] Negotiating water governance: Why the politics of scale matter. Ashgate. 340 pp.

ISBN: 978-1-4094-6790-8

[OPEN ACCESS] Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene in Bangladesh: An Investigation of

Lohagara Upazila, Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2656086 or

http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2656086

[OPEN ACCESS] Strengthening Water Supply and Sanitation Planning and Monitoring Systems in

Niger [EN] / Renforcer les systèmes de planification et de suivi de l’alimentation en eau potable et de

l’assainissement au Niger [FR] WSP/World Bank

[OPEN ACCESS] Upgrading domestic-plus systems in rural Senegal: An incremental Income-Cost (I-C)

analysis, Water Alternatives 8(3): 317-336

[OPEN ACCESS] Viewpoint - Paradigm shift of water services in Finland: From production mentality

to service mindset Water Alternatives 8(3): 433-446

[OPEN ACCESS] Water quality, brawn, and education: the rural drinking water program in China

(English) no. WPS 7054. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.

[PAYWALL] A regional approach to optimizing the location of rural handpumps Abstract | Full Text

PDF | doi:10.2166/washdev.2015.128

[PAYWALL] Agents of institutional change: The contribution of new institutionalism in understanding

water governance in India, Environmental Science & Policy, Volume 53, Part B, November 2015, Pages

225–235

[PAYWALL] Development of cost functions for water supply and sanitation technologies: case study of

Bahir Dar and Arba Minch, Ethiopia Abstract | Full Text PDF | doi:10.2166/washdev.2015.067

[PAYWALL] Effectiveness of solar disinfection (SODIS) in rural coastal Bangladesh In Press, Uncorrected

Proof, Abstract | Full Text PDF | doi:10.2166/wh.2015.186

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

20

[PAYWALL] Interactive institutional design and contextual relevance: Water user groups in Turkey,

Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, Environmental Science & Policy Volume 53, Part B, November 2015, Pages

206–214

[PAYWALL] Long-Term Functionality of Rural Water Services in Developing Countries: A System

Dynamics Approach to Understanding the Dynamic Interaction of Factors, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2015,

49 (8), pp 5035–5043

[PAYWALL] Monitoring and evaluation of WASH in schools programs: lessons from implementing

organizations, Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development Vol 5 No 3 pp 512–520

[PAYWALL] Pioneering water quality data on the Lake Victoria watershed: effects on human health

Abstract | Full Text PDF | doi:10.2166/wh.2015.001

[PAYWALL] Project owners – Overlooked factors of uncertainty in the example of a water

infrastructure improvement project? Environmental Science & Policy, Volume 53, Part B, November 2015,

Pages 236–245

[PAYWALL] Projected impacts of climate change on water availability indicators in a semi-arid region

of central Mexico, Environmental Science & Policy Volume 54, December 2015, Pages 81–89

[PAYWALL] Trends and perceptions of rural household groundwater use and the implications for

smallholder agriculture in rain-fed Southern Laos, International Journal of Water Resources

Development, DOI: 10.1080/07900627.2015.1015071

[PAYWALL] Understanding handpump sustainability: Determinants of rural water source functionality

in the Greater Afram Plains region of Ghana” Water Resour. Res.. Accepted Author Manuscript.

doi:10.1002/2014WR016770

[PAYWALL] Understanding social acceptability of arsenic-safe technologies in rural Bangladesh: A

user-oriented analysis, Uncorrected Proof, Abstract | Full Text PDF | doi:10.2166/wp.2015.026

Abstract | Full Text PDF | doi:10.2166/washdev.2015.026

[PAYWALL] Groundwater in hard rocks of Benin: Regional storage and buffer capacity in the face of

change, Journal of Hydrology, Volume 520, January 2015, Pages 379–386

[PAYWALL] Operation And Maintenance (O&M) And The Perceived Unreliability Of Domestic

Groundwater Supplies In South Africa, South African Journal of Geology 10.2113/gssajg.118.1.17

Other

Viet Nam: Central Region Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Resettlement Plan,

Asian Development Bank

RWSN Newsletter – October 2015

21

RWSN MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION Find your way around

We have produced two maps to help guide you around the new RWSN website and the various RWSN online platforms,

including http://tinyurl.com/c2ducks. If you are still having problems then the new “Help!” page has a video tour of the

website: http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/websitehelp

Join the debates

Our expanded online network means that more and more of you are sharing ideas and experiences, which is fantastic –

please keep it up! Here are main discussion communities:

Accelerating Self-supply; Complex Systems and Rural Water Supply; Country-led monitoring; Sierra Leone WASH; Equality,

Non Discrimination and Inclusion (ENDI); Solar Pumps; Sustainable Groundwater Development; Sustainable Services;

Rainwater Harvesting; Mapping and Monitoring; Rwanda WASH Working Group; Handpump Services

Thank you to everyone who has put in their time, enthusiasm and knowledge.

Membership and Subscription

RWSN is free to join, all you have to do is register on the RWSN area of Dgroups: https://dgroups.org/rwsn

Organisations can become members of RWSN too. To find out more visit: http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/rwsn-

members

There are no subscription fees. The RWSN Secretariat is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC)

and Skat with co-funding from a range of partners for secretariat and thematic work.

Unsubscribe

If you do not wish to continue to receive this newsletter, please let us know by sending an email to ruralwater@skat.ch

with the heading unsubscribe.

Acknowledgements

The RWSN Newsletter is compiled by the RWSN Secretariat (hosted by Skat Foundation) and supported financially by the

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), WaterAid, Skat, UPGro (DFID/NERC/ESRC) and RAIN Foundation.

RWSN is supported in cash and in-kind by a number of organisations, which in 2014 included: the Global Programme

Water Initiatives of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Austrian Red Cross; British Geological

Survey (BGS), Department for International Development (DFID) - including through WASH Facility Sierra Leone, Natural

Environment Research Council (NERC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) - (through the UPGro programme);

IRC, RAIN Foundation, Skat Consulting Ltd., UNICEF, Volkart Stiftung, WaterAid, The World Bank, Water and Sanitation

Program – WSP, World Vision, and ZH2O.