Standardised hand pumps – a good thing?
Paul van Beers of FairWater.Org manufacturer of the ‘Blue Pump’ is frustrated by the process (or lack of it) of standardisation around handpump designs. He has a point. There is a tendency in the rural water sector to assume that standardisation is a ‘good thing’ – because it helps to simplify spare parts chains, allows … Continue reading
The biggest myth of all – rural people want clean drinking water?
During the opening plenary, Richard Carter of WaterAid presents RWSN’s excellent “myths of the rural water supply sector paper”. I’ve liked this paper since it first appeared, capturing as it does in a succinct and pithy form so many of the challenges the sector faces in moving beyond manically sticking holes in the ground and … Continue reading
Water services in the danger zone
During the afternoon session on “post construction support and partnerships for sustainable rural water services” my colleague Jeske Verhoeven makes a presentation based on our latest WASHCost working paper on the costs of providing recurrent support to service providers. One of the slides showed the diagram that I’ve included here. This is a slightly modified … Continue reading
Mr Phiri’s story – bypassing local government doesn’t lead to lasting services
Mr Phiri’s story – bypassing local government doesn’t lead to lasting services An excellent presentation by Mr. Edgar Phiri – district Water Officer from Mwanza District Council in Malawi – during one of the parallel sessions on day one (the proceedings don’t seem to be on the RWSN blog yet – but as soon as they … Continue reading
Handpump functionality: what is the threshold for area mechanics?
My colleague Catarina Fonseca attended the “managing handpump water supplies” session. She says “after three hours of plenary and sessions, we keep hearing about low levels of functionality. 65% of handpumps in Chad being non-functional was the latest figure reported by Philippe Lacour-Gayet from IDO. In the session (again – when links are available we’ll … Continue reading
Rural Water Supply Network’s 6th Forum
NB – this (and all other RWSN forum posts) is a reposting of material that also exists on the page ‘Rural Water Supply Network’s 6th Forum’. I now realise that creating a new page for this was a mistake! Live and learn …. The Opening Sitting at the back of the large and luxurious Speke … Continue reading
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