University of Oklahoma College of Engineering - WaTER Center Speaker Series http://www.ou.edu/coe/centers/water.html

1. Rethinking VLOM …Rethinking VLOM …
WaTER Center
University of Oklahoma
Ned Breslin
Water For People
April 17 2008

2. The ChallengeThe Challenge
< 1 billion globally without
safe water (JMP 2008)
2.6 billion globally without2.6 billion globally without
hygienic sanitation (JMP
2008)

3. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Reduce by half the
percentage of people
without access to improved
water supply by 2015 (1990
baseline, ON TRACK
EXCEPT AFRICA, JMP
2008)2008)
Reduce by half the
percentage of people
without access to hygienic
sanitation by 2015 (1990
baseline, OFF TRACK,
JMP 2008)
Millennium Development Summit, 2000,
Johannesburg South Africa

4. Water For People and the Global Watsan CrisisWater For People and the Global Watsan Crisis

5. Conventional Approach - VLOMConventional Approach - VLOM
Village
Level
Operation &Operation &
Maintenance

6. Principles of VLOMPrinciples of VLOM
Appropriate Technology
Community Responsible for
Operation, Maintenance and
Replacement (finance, repairs,
etc.)
Community-Driven (planning,
decision-making, ownership,
control)
Newer ideas to emerge that use
VLOM Principles: Capital Cost
Contributions, Demand Driven
Approach (DRA), and big push
on technology choice

7. Baskets of LOCAL Tech Options - Real Choice!
Demand-Driven Labor ,
Materials
AND Cash

8. The Rarely Discussed Elephant in the Room:
Water Supply Failure!
The Rarely Discussed Elephant in the Room:
Water Supply Failure!

9. Broken….Broken….

10. BrokenBroken

11. Back to Traditional SourcesBack to Traditional Sources

12. No spares
Inappropriate/Imported
Technologies
Weak/Rushed Training
Changing
water
quantity/water
Poor water-point
citing
Poor water
quality
Lack of
finance for
O&MCommittee Turnover
Vandalism/Theft/Conflict
right conflicts
Population
transience
Unpaid
user fees
Tech
problems
beyond
community
capacity

13. RealityReality
Significant sector finance
goes to rehabilitation of old
projects rather than new
projects
50,000 water points, $360
million lost (Financial Times)million lost (Financial Times)
Outbreaks of disease in
places with new water
systems – example, cholera
and typhoid in South Africa
Arsenic in Bangladesh, India
and Honduras

14. Why Water Flows in North AmericaWhy Water Flows in North America
Government
Civil
Customer – pays, tacit contract
Utility – finance, staff,
capacity, planning,
technical skills
Private sector – spares, technical
skills, contracted as needed
Government
– regulations,
oversight,
finance
Civil
Society –
tariff
setting,
IWRM

15. Why Water DOES NOT Flow in Developing
Countries
Why Water DOES NOT Flow in Developing
Countries
Government
Civil
Customer – pays, tacit contract
Community – finance,
staff, capacity,
planning, technical
skills
Private sector – spares, technical
skills, contracted as needed
Government
– regulations,
oversight,
finance
Civil
Society –
tariff
setting,
IWRM

16. Time – Recent Program in Kerala, India (WSP)Time – Recent Program in Kerala, India (WSP)
Activity Time taken
from Start
Community Mobilization 4 months
Formation of Committee 4 months
Capital Cost Contributions 8 months
Overall Support to
Handover 36 months

18. COMMUNITY CAPACITY
60
70
80
90
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 39 40 42
Months
Capacity
natural decline

19. COMMUNITY CAPACITY
60
70
80
90
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 39 40 42
Months
Capacity
natural decline
death / move

20. COMMUNITY CAPACITY
60
70
80
90
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 39 40 42
Months
Capacity
natural decline
death / move
retraining

21. PROGRAMS, NOT STAND-ALONE PROJECTSPROGRAMS, NOT STAND-ALONE PROJECTS
Success:
Rethinking Partnerships –
build capacity rather than
contract
Enabling Environments for
Projects to Thrive
Supply Chains
Get Finance Right – get
communities and
government to pay
Training – on-going, not
an event
Monitoring – Learn and
Improve!!!!
Scale and Replication!

22. Why Monitoring Matters?Why Monitoring Matters?
Honduras – Water Quality
Challenges
Bolivia – Rethink Sanitation
India – Menstrual HygieneIndia – Menstrual Hygiene
Malawi – Moving from labor to
cash
Mozambique – where has all
the water gone?

23. Rethinking Private Sector – India and MalawiRethinking Private Sector – India and Malawi

24. Sanitation – a Whole Different StorySanitation – a Whole Different Story

25. Focus on ImpactFocus on Impact