OR/17/056 Governance of water supply and sanitation in peri-urban areas

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Lapworth, D J, Stuart, M E, Pedley, S, Nkhuwa, D C W, and Tijani, M N. 2017. A review of urban groundwater use and water quality challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. British Geological Survey Internal Report, OR/17/056.

Introduction

Rapidly growing, unplanned peri-urban areas are not served effectively by centralised systems and are characterised by a lack of infrastructure. At the same time the peri-urban interface is associated with both rural and urban features and consists of highly heterogeneous and rapidly changing socio-economic groups (Allen et al., 2006a[1]). This diversity means that the needs of local populations and producers of water and sanitation services are also diverse and change over time. The identification of these needs can be more complex than in either urban or rural areas due to the particular mix of newcomers and long-established dwellers, and also because farming, residential and industrial land uses often coexist. Current practice, as proposed for example by Montgomery and Elimelech (2007)[2], is to recommend a decentralised approach that relies on household water treatment and sanitation technology. Closas et al. (2012)[3] also argue for a more integrated and sustained approach to water and sanitation in African cities using the principles of Integrated Urban Water Management, which can encourage innovative solutions to water supply problems. Montgomery and Elimelech (2007)[2] illustrate the high child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa relative to other areas. Sources which meet their definition of ‘improved’ include a household connection, borehole, protected dug well, protected spring or rainwater collection. Improved sanitation includes connection to a sewer or septic tank, or VIP latrines.

Closas et al. (2012)[3] categorise a number of large African cities on how well they perform against several urban water management indicators (Table 3.1): urbanisation challenge (growth rate and percentage informal area); solid waste management (percentage collected and disposed in controlled sites); water resources availability (including runoff and baseflow); water supply service (percentage coverage, water consumption, percentage billed); sanitation service (percentage with access to improved sanitation and of wastewater treated); and flood hazard (frequency). For the cities within the scope of this review, relative to the total, the issues are urbanisation and water supply services.

In many countries, peri-urban areas generally lie outside the coverage of formal networked water and sanitation systems, which are, in most cases, restricted to a relatively small metropolitan core. Part of the reason for this is that many peri-urban settlements develop outside existing formal regulations, affecting their formal right to these basic services. Within this environment, complex systems of water delivery flourish including self-supply from hand dug wells on the householder’s plot; collection from local wells, springs and surface water; collection from stand-pipes; and purchase from mobile water vendors. However, if adequate land policies and official control procedures are in place, the goal of improving access to water and sanitation by the peri-urban poor should not necessarily require formal land or housing tenure, but might instead focus on collective land rights and responsibilities for paying for these basic services (O'Hara and Shanahan, 2006[4]).

Isunju et al. (2011)[5] discussed the reasons for the lack of progress on water supply and sanitation to meet the Millennium Goals. They set out the reasons as:

  • Lack of prioritisation of sanitation
  • Inadequacy of public funds
  • Lack of appropriate technical solutions
  • Shared responsibilities
Table 3.1    Urban water management indicators for selected
cities in Sub-Saharan Africa (after Closas et al., 2012[3]).
City Urbanisation challenge Solid waste management Water resources Water supply service Sanitation Flood hazard
Accra 1 NA 2 2 1 1
Brazzaville 1 NA 3 0 0 1
Dar-es-Salaam 3 1 1 2 2 1
Douala 1 3 3 0 1 0
Harare 3 1 1 1 1 0
Ibadan 1 1 1 0 1 1
Kampala 1 1 1 2 3 3
Kano 0 0 1 0 1 2
Kinshasa 2 NA 3 1 1 1
Kumasi 3 1 0 0 3 0
Lagos 2 1 1 1 3 1
Lusaka 2 1 1 1 1 0
Maputo 0 2 1 0 2 1
Yaoundé 3 1 3 1 1 0

Note: Urbanisation and flood hazard are pressures and scored oppositely to the other factors which reflect how well the city copes.
0 = below average, 1 = average, 2 = above average, 3 = well above average

Water supply

Niemczynowicz (1999)[6] summarises the problems of water management associated with the majority of urban areas. These are storm water management, drinking water supply and consumption, water for sanitation, wastewater for irrigation and recycling of wastewater nutrients, water for urban agriculture and water to recharge depleted aquifers. But there are other factors that contribute to the problem of delivering of water supplies, including a high rate of population growth, a lack of investment in water supply infrastructure, and the limit posed by the availability of water resources. Added to this within the delivery systems are high levels of unaccounted for water, wastage, low tariffs, and poor billing, which all contribute to poor service delivery (Mwendera et al, 2003[7]). Some analysts suggest that a stable regime is required to tackle these problems, often not found in developing countries (Van der Bruggen et al. (2010)[8].

Showers (2002)[9] examine urban-rural water linkages in African cities. Many cities obtained water from groundwater during the 1970s and, except for North Africa and the Sahara, relied on sources that were nearby. By the 1990s this pattern had changed, the percentage dependency on groundwater had declined (from 73% to 54% from the example studies), many cities had developed a water ‘deficit’ and water supplies were brought in from much further afield. Lusaka, for example, began obtaining supplies from the Kafue River, 45 km from the city.

Economic pressures and macro-level water resources management have contributed to the slowdown of overall growth in water usage to sustainable levels in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (Mwendera et al., 2003[7]). However, in poorer areas communities are not managing to secure adequate supplies to allow them to live healthy lives. Mwendera et al. (2003)[7] suggest that equity in resource allocation and the implementation of water demand management (WMD) can go a long way towards optimal water use. Under WMD water price should reflect water quality (Niemczynowicz, 1999[6]).

In rural and peri-urban areas communities need to be at the forefront of their own water development activities, to be able to select appropriate technology and to be provided with operation and maintenance skills (Nkhuwa, 2009[10]). A number of authors set out mechanisms for improvement of supply to poor urban dwellers. Mwandu Siyeni (2008)[11] assessed if provision of water supply to the peri-urban areas of Lusaka could be achieved through the partnership between the water utility and small scale water providers. The two providers were found to have complementary strengths which when combined would enhance service provision.

Sanitation

Improved sanitation is a key component of the Millennium Development Goals, but its targets for access will not be met in most countries of SSA (Isunju et al., 2011[5]). Sanitation brings both health related and non-health related outcomes. Isunju et al. (2011) [5] argue that providing sanitation in slum areas is more complex than is generally recognised. Factors that are often ignored are land tenure, social structure, demand and the drivers for this, the segmented nature of the sector and on the provision processes, and the lack of clarity on the definition of improved sanitation; indeed, in many countries of SSA there is no legal definition of basic sanitation on which to develop any rights-based approach to provision (Payment and Locas, 2011[12]). In slum areas sanitation coverage is often lower than the average for urban areas (Ashbolt et al., 2001[13]; Gleeson and Gray, 1997[14]).

Von Münch and Mayumbelo (2007)[15] assessed sanitation improvement options in three peri-urban areas of Lusaka. Unlined pit latrines were the most common sanitation provision observed, despite the use to boreholes and shallow wells for water supply. They shortlisted VIP latrines with downstream processing and an ecological option with urine-diversion, dehydrating toilets also with down-stream processing as the best options for improving sanitation. Converting these options into sustainable sanitation provision is not straightforward as the demand for sanitation in these areas is often low. Stimulating demand for sanitation is a significant challenge for workers in the water and sanitation sector and has attracted the attention of researchers and NGOs. Demand for sanitation has been described as a social and behavioural process that goes through a number of stages and that an appreciation of this process can inform the use of social marketing tools (Leclerc et al., 2001[16]).

References

  1. ↑ ALLEN, A, DAVILA, J, and HOFMANN, P. 2006a. Governance of water and sanitation for the peri-urban poor: A framework for understanding and action in metropolitan regions. Dev. Plan. Unit, UCL, London.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 MONTGOMERY, M A, and ELIMELECH, M. 2007. Water and sanitation in developing countries: including health in the equation. Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 41, 17–24.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 CLOSAS, A, NAUGHTON, M, and JACOBSEN, M. 2012. The future of water in African cities : Why waste water? Diagnostic of urban water management in 31 cities in Africa, Companion Volume.
  4. ↑ O'HARA, A M, and SHANAHAN, F. 2006. The gut flora as a forgotten organ. EMBO reports, Vol. 7, 688–693.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 ISUNJU, J B, SCHWARTZ, K, SCHOUTEN, M A, JOHNSON, W P, and VAN DIJK, M P. 2011. Socio-economic aspects of improved sanitation in slums: A review. Public Health, Vol. 125, 368–376.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 NIEMCZYNOWICZ, J. 1999. Urban hydrology and water management — present and future challenges. Urban Water, Vol. 1, 1–14. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Niemczynowicz 1999" defined multiple times with different content
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 MWENDERA, E J, HAZELTON, D, NKHUWA, D, ROBINSON, P, TJIJENDA, K, and CHAVULA, G. 2003. Overcoming constraints to the implementation of water demand management in southern Africa. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Vol. 28, 761–778.
  8. ↑ VAN DER BRUGGEN, B, BORGHGRAEF, K, and VINCKIER, C. 2010. Causes of water supply problems in urbanised regions in developing countries. Water Resources Management, Vol. 24, 1885–1902.
  9. ↑ SHOWERS, K B. 2002. Water scarcity and urban Africa: An overview of urban–rural aater linkages. World Development, Vol. 30, 621–648.
  10. ↑ NKHUWA, D C W. 2009. Water supply provision for poverty alleviation in rural areas of Zambia. Groundwater and Climate in Africa (Proceedings of the Kampala Conference, June 2008), IAHS, Vol. 334, 9–14.
  11. ↑ MWANDU SIYENI, Y. 2008. Expanding water service delivery through partnership between water utility and small scale water providers in Lusaka, Zambia: A case of Lusaka’s peri-urban areas. Linköping University, Sweden.
  12. ↑ PAYMENT, P, and LOCAS, A. 2011. Pathogens in water: value and limits of correlation with microbial indicators. Groundwater, Vol. 49, 4–11.
  13. ↑ ASHBOLT, N J, GRABOW, W O K, and SNOZZI, M. 2001. Indicators of microbial water quality 289–316 in Water Quality: Guidelines, Standards and Health: Assessment of risk and risk management for water-related infectious disease. FEWTRELL, L, and BARTRAM, J K (editors). (London: IWA Publishing.)
  14. ↑ GLEESON, C, and GRAY, N O. 1997. The Coliform Index and waterborne disease. Problems of microbial drinking water assessment. European Water Pollution Control, Vol. 2, 92–93.
  15. ↑ VON MÜNCH, E, and MAYUMBELO, K. 2007. Methodology to compare costs of sanitation options for low-income peri-urban areas in Lusaka, Zambia. Water SA, Vol. 33, 593–602.
  16. ↑ LECLERC, H D, MOSSEL, D A, EDBERG, S C, and STRUIJK, C B. 2001. Advances in the bacteriology of the coliform group: their suitability as markers of microbial water safety. Annual Reviews in Microbiology, Vol. 55, 201–234.
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