Community-managed water supply system changes lives

By Steven Shalita, World Bank Africa Region
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Oct. 5, 2007 -- Next to Jitihada Primary School, in the Kitunda Settlement of Tanzania's Ilala District is a community-managed water supply system that has changed the lives and work of the Kitunda community.

Apart from providing water to the surrounding four schools and a local health center, the project has led to a dramatic improvement in hygiene, virtually eliminated waterborne diseases and made it possible for people who previously spent time and energy looking for water to engage in more constructive economic activities.

"Before the project came into being, we used to buy water from mostly shallow, privately-owned boreholes and from private vendors," said Yesaya Chambo, Chairman of the Biblia Relini Water User's Association, commonly known as JUWABERI, the group that manages the project. "Apart from being unreliable, some of this water was not clean and was very expensive."

Before the project started, private vendors sold water at prices upwards of TSh500 or $0.40 cents for 20 liters, a prohibitively expensive amount for much of the population. Today, everyone in this community enjoys reliable, affordable clean water paying only Tsh20 or about $0.02 cents for 20 liters of water.

JUWABERI manages the water supply project on behalf of the state-owned water utility, the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewage Authority (DAWASA). The association, which boasts 340 members, employs 20 people who manage the revenues and administer the public standpipes. The project is a successful example of a community managing its own water provision and subsequent income. Members of the community contributed TShs.2.5 million (about US$2,000), about 5 percent of the total cost of the project.

"This project has dramatically decreased the number of cases of water borne diseases at our local health center but it has also led to less time being spent by the community looking for water," said Chambo. "They now have time to do their business and children can go to school without having to fetch water."

The Kitunda community water project is part of the Government's Community Water Supply and Sanitation Program, implemented through DAWASA. A total of TSh117 million (US$90,000) was invested into the project, which serves about 18,000 residents in the Kitunda community. Through the project, 180 households have received their own connections, while the rest are serviced through 17 domestic public water kiosks spread around the community.

With the income from the project, the water committee has managed to save approximately TSh4 million (US$3,200), including the cost of repairing a pump. They are now developing plans to expand the system and increase coverage, as demand has far outstripped supply.

Apart from the Kitunda project, there are many others funded under the Dar es Salaam Water Supply and Sanitation Project, a $164 million utility rehabilitation project co-financed by the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank. So far, a total of 66 communities have been mobilized and construction of 13 subprojects has been completed. More than TSh.53 million (about US$43,000) has been collected from the communities as part of their five percent contribution to the total project cost. Upon completion more than 250,000 residents of the city are expected to be served by the program earlier estimated to serve about 170,000 residents.

"Seeing the way that the availability of water has been connected to the education in this community is clearly an indication that Tanzania is heading in the right direction for the achievement of the MDGs, one of which is access to clean water and sanitation," said World Bank Africa Region Vice President Obiageli Ezekwesili, who visited the project along with the Jitihada Primary School, also a World Bank project, next door. "Access to water that I see in this village means that the people have more time to concentrate on productive business activities instead of spending time on something that can easily be provided."

Ezekwesili praised the effort as one that would improve economic activity as well as the health of Dar es Salaam's residents.

"Less health problems will occur because of this clean water access, the children will find more time to do their studying, because of this water provision, the mothers who would spend too much time looking for water would spend that time doing some microeconomic activity of one kind or another," she said. "This kind of community is the kind of community we want to see all over Africa."

To express their appreciation for the funding provided by the International Development Association, the JUWABERI members asked Ezekwesili to plant a memorial tree under which they plan to continue holding their weekly community meetings in the coming years.

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