*1.3.1 Sourcing and distribution of water*

The central question was to establish how water is sourced and distributed in Africa. Different countries use different methods to facilitate water access to the community. Although the categorization of water sources usually takes the form of rural–urban community dichotomy, the sources could also be categorized as natural and artificial/conventional dichotomy. There are mainly two sources of community water supply in Africa, Artificial/Conventional and Natural. Whereas artificial sources include pipes, bore holes, wells and dams, Natural sources include rain, rivers/streams, and ponds. The uniqueness lies in the management of the distribution of the water from the sources to the consumers and the actors involved in the process. The extent to which a large population depends on natural sources is a manifestation of low level intervention of the government, thereby leaving the population to depend on nature. Whereas the natural sources are free, the water quality is unsafe and depends on climate variability. The use of conventional sources, whether fixed point or mobile vendors require investments in pipe, treatment and other means of distribution and abstraction permits for Water service providers (WSPs).

Each of the five countries, in different proportions, has both natural and artificial sources of community water supply. In Kenya, community water projects have been recognized as alternative water Service Providers (WSP) and are registered by Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) after meeting the conditions set by the regulator. The community water supplies are mainly through Individual bore holes, shallow wells, and water connection (kiosks) main utility companies [12]. Whereas some households have shallow wells in their yards, which neighbors are able to access free of charge, others rely on a single tap from which they sell water by the jerry can. In Dar es Salam, Tanzania, some entrepreneurs have constructed small-scale piped networks, supplying water kiosks (canteens) without a piped connection and sell water from Dar es Salaam Water and Sanitation Company (DAWASCO) even in areas that are beyond the reach of the utility's piped network. The Mobile Vendors include water tankers and trucks; pushcart and bicycle vendors who buy from a variety of water sources and resell to households. Another system is where DAWASCO supplies water to a community water public taps, managed by a Water Committee elected by the community for a three-year term [13].

Water shortages in the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, had forced the community to seek for alternative ways of having clean and safe water. In other words, inadequacy in the quality and quantity of water for each of its intended purposes creates need for a communal approach as a coping response. The sources to

**61**

projects [15].

*Community Management and Water Service Delivery in Africa*

community approach to address the unmet needs. Even in cases where the government initiated water projects for the community, the management and sustainability of the project is left at the hands of the community. More often than not, citizens cannot access water without private efforts e.g. by installing water pumps or by colluding with water utility staff, or by tapping into informal networks of neighbors, water vendors and other intermediaries. Setting up a functional community water project takes high costs, a long time, complex processes of mobilizing

Citizens increasingly lose hope and trust towards the government if they have to pay a high transaction costs in terms of time, money and other resources to access official improved drinking-water sources, hence encourage either the proliferation of informal water providers as alternatives or corruption within official providers [14]. Poor communities therefore either resort to buying water from water vendors, water kiosks, and other unapproved sources which inflate their household expenditure. Whereas in settlements with piped water close by, residents walk to fetch water or pay for people to cart water to their residence, where they are far from piped water supply, residents contract small-scale suppliers who deliver water in motorized tanks. To help alleviate the deficit, the government of Ghana encourages the communities to provide services for themselves in the form of self-help

Like in Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi, Nigeria's main sources of community water supplies, are both natural including rain water, rivers, stream and conventional ones which include public tap, borehole, hand dug well, neighbors and Water vendors formal or informal [16]. Daily water supplies either come from the natural sources or modern/conventional supply sources. While relatively over 80% of the rural population depend on the natural sources of supplies, the urban residents are mostly served with supplies whose regularity vary depending on residential areas and other socio-economic characteristics, mostly related with ability to pay as well as the relative influence of certain individuals and groups [17]. Unlike in Kenya and Tanzania, formal water vending in Nigeria is undertaken by formal bodies, such as water utilities themselves or registered associations, or by small scale informal supplies in tankers and the water is obtained either from treated utility supplies or from registered sources. Like in Kenya and Tanzania, informal vendors in Nigeria obtain water from many different sources, protected and unprotected and deliver small quantities of water for domestic use in a variety of ways ranging from carts and cycles to containers or wheel barrows, trolleys and animal-drawn or mechanized carts and tanker trucks [18]. The government does

very little to guarantee safety of the sources of community water.

adequate and safe water supply to most urban centres in Nigeria [16].

In all the countries, the government has acknowledged community water supply sources, irrespective of their safety and quality. In Ghana and Malawi, the government contributes heavily for the establishment of conventional sources. In Tanzania, the government has accommodated community identified sources. In Kenya, the choice of sources to establish is the prerogatives of each community. The fact that natural sources, most of which are unsafe, still form a large portion of

Notwithstanding its intervention, Community water supply in Nigeria is still uncoordinated, mainly done by individuals to address the unmet needs by the government supplied water to the community. Unlike in Kenya, the registered associations do not necessarily supply water to the defined membership but to the market implying that those who cannot afford are still at risk of going without water. In the face of absolute neglect by the government with respect to water provision, water vendors come in as an intervention. Although source is defined as unsafe, it is unlikely that in the immediate future the government will succeed in providing

citizens, government authorities, NGOs, and many other stakeholders.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90746*

### *Community Management and Water Service Delivery in Africa DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90746*

*Resources of Water*

African counties.

partnerships.

providers (WSPs).

**1.3 Results and discussion**

*1.3.1 Sourcing and distribution of water*

of the interactions of the actors involved in community water management systems in each country ranging from source to distribution. Of particular importance was the role of the government in each of the activities and how that impacted on water access to the consumers and with what results. The fundamental question was whether or not community management improved water service delivery in the five

We have discussed in this section, the dynamics of community water management in the five counties namely, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Ghana and Nigeria by evaluating four processes of: sourcing and distribution of water; the role of government; the community membership; and the involvement of public private

The central question was to establish how water is sourced and distributed in Africa. Different countries use different methods to facilitate water access to the community. Although the categorization of water sources usually takes the form of rural–urban community dichotomy, the sources could also be categorized as natural and artificial/conventional dichotomy. There are mainly two sources of community water supply in Africa, Artificial/Conventional and Natural. Whereas artificial sources include pipes, bore holes, wells and dams, Natural sources include rain, rivers/streams, and ponds. The uniqueness lies in the management of the distribution of the water from the sources to the consumers and the actors involved in the process. The extent to which a large population depends on natural sources is a manifestation of low level intervention of the government, thereby leaving the population to depend on nature. Whereas the natural sources are free, the water quality is unsafe and depends on climate variability. The use of conventional sources, whether fixed point or mobile vendors require investments in pipe, treatment and other means of distribution and abstraction permits for Water service

Each of the five countries, in different proportions, has both natural and artificial sources of community water supply. In Kenya, community water projects have been recognized as alternative water Service Providers (WSP) and are registered by Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) after meeting the conditions set by the regulator. The community water supplies are mainly through Individual bore holes, shallow wells, and water connection (kiosks) main utility companies [12]. Whereas some households have shallow wells in their yards, which neighbors are able to access free of charge, others rely on a single tap from which they sell water by the jerry can. In Dar es Salam, Tanzania, some entrepreneurs have constructed small-scale piped networks, supplying water kiosks (canteens) without a piped connection and sell water from Dar es Salaam Water and Sanitation Company (DAWASCO) even in areas that are beyond the reach of the utility's piped network. The Mobile Vendors include water tankers and trucks; pushcart and bicycle vendors who buy from a variety of water sources and resell to households. Another system is where DAWASCO supplies water to a community water public taps, managed by a

Water Committee elected by the community for a three-year term [13].

Water shortages in the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, had forced the community to seek for alternative ways of having clean and safe water. In other words, inadequacy in the quality and quantity of water for each of its intended purposes creates need for a communal approach as a coping response. The sources to

**60**

community approach to address the unmet needs. Even in cases where the government initiated water projects for the community, the management and sustainability of the project is left at the hands of the community. More often than not, citizens cannot access water without private efforts e.g. by installing water pumps or by colluding with water utility staff, or by tapping into informal networks of neighbors, water vendors and other intermediaries. Setting up a functional community water project takes high costs, a long time, complex processes of mobilizing citizens, government authorities, NGOs, and many other stakeholders.

Citizens increasingly lose hope and trust towards the government if they have to pay a high transaction costs in terms of time, money and other resources to access official improved drinking-water sources, hence encourage either the proliferation of informal water providers as alternatives or corruption within official providers [14]. Poor communities therefore either resort to buying water from water vendors, water kiosks, and other unapproved sources which inflate their household expenditure. Whereas in settlements with piped water close by, residents walk to fetch water or pay for people to cart water to their residence, where they are far from piped water supply, residents contract small-scale suppliers who deliver water in motorized tanks. To help alleviate the deficit, the government of Ghana encourages the communities to provide services for themselves in the form of self-help projects [15].

Like in Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi, Nigeria's main sources of community water supplies, are both natural including rain water, rivers, stream and conventional ones which include public tap, borehole, hand dug well, neighbors and Water vendors formal or informal [16]. Daily water supplies either come from the natural sources or modern/conventional supply sources. While relatively over 80% of the rural population depend on the natural sources of supplies, the urban residents are mostly served with supplies whose regularity vary depending on residential areas and other socio-economic characteristics, mostly related with ability to pay as well as the relative influence of certain individuals and groups [17]. Unlike in Kenya and Tanzania, formal water vending in Nigeria is undertaken by formal bodies, such as water utilities themselves or registered associations, or by small scale informal supplies in tankers and the water is obtained either from treated utility supplies or from registered sources. Like in Kenya and Tanzania, informal vendors in Nigeria obtain water from many different sources, protected and unprotected and deliver small quantities of water for domestic use in a variety of ways ranging from carts and cycles to containers or wheel barrows, trolleys and animal-drawn or mechanized carts and tanker trucks [18]. The government does very little to guarantee safety of the sources of community water.

Notwithstanding its intervention, Community water supply in Nigeria is still uncoordinated, mainly done by individuals to address the unmet needs by the government supplied water to the community. Unlike in Kenya, the registered associations do not necessarily supply water to the defined membership but to the market implying that those who cannot afford are still at risk of going without water. In the face of absolute neglect by the government with respect to water provision, water vendors come in as an intervention. Although source is defined as unsafe, it is unlikely that in the immediate future the government will succeed in providing adequate and safe water supply to most urban centres in Nigeria [16].

In all the countries, the government has acknowledged community water supply sources, irrespective of their safety and quality. In Ghana and Malawi, the government contributes heavily for the establishment of conventional sources. In Tanzania, the government has accommodated community identified sources. In Kenya, the choice of sources to establish is the prerogatives of each community. The fact that natural sources, most of which are unsafe, still form a large portion of the community water source, is an indication of the African governments' lethargy towards providing quality water to its citizens. The use of different sources of community water is therefore a coping mechanism to mitigate the failures of the governments to provide adequate water.
