Full Description

Africa's unmet needs in water supply are enormous andwidespread, especially in rural settings. This article looks ata basic type of water supply: low-yielding point sourcestapping groundwater through boreholes and hand-dug wells. Datawere obtained from three projects in a high-rainfall nation inWest Africa and one project in a country in the arid Horn of Africa.The four projects comprised a total of 603 water points (thecollective term for boreholes and dug wells tapping groundwater).Analysis of detailed financial and engineering data from bothproductive and unproductive water points helped pinpoint aprincipal problem in establishing even basic water supplies, i.e.,their low success rate and resulting high costs.Simple engineering, economic, and human guidelines aresuggested to reduce the costs of rural boreholes and wells andto improve success rates. The study suggests that rural waterpoints should cost approximately $200/m ($61/ft). Althoughevidence from several other African nations indicates that pricesare often considerably higher, the author attributes much of thisincrease to the fact that central authorities, rather than theusers themselves, assume responsibility for supply implementationand maintenance. The four projects led to the privatizationof the rural water supply in the West African country andopened up the sector to competitive bidding in the Horn ofAfrica nation. Includes tables, figure.

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Edition: Vol. 95 - No. 8 Published: 08/01/2003 Number of Pages: 12 File Size: 1 file , 200 KB