Operation & Maintenance Costs of Rural Water Supply Schemes in

South Africa

J. Gibson (Maluti GSM Consulting Engineers),

Pumps Pipes and PromisesIRC Symposium

The HagueNovember 2010

Contents:

• Introduction• Background• Methodology• Findings/Observations• Conclusion

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Opening Remarks• High levels of dysfunction are often observed in Rural

Water Supply Schemes.• What does it really cost to operate rural water supply

schemes?– Level of service is not known– Costs are not clearly ring-fenced

• What methods of budgeting / forecasting costs are appropriate?

• What are the influential cost drivers?– Energy– Materials– Major repairs– Salaries– Travel

Table 11: Service Standard Compliance

Area Water Quality

Continuity of Supply

CHDM 98% 96% ANDM 83% 84%

The Support Service Agent Programme

• It was identified that CBO’s would be an appropriate mechanism for providing water services in rural areas.

• Support would be needed – included in the water services act

• Maluti GSM was involved in two projects– Pilot project in Alfred Nzo DM (2001 – 2005)– Refurbishment, Operation and Maintenance

Programme in Chris Hani DM (2004 – 2009)• After these programmes both municipalities

internalised the support role

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• Scattered rural villages • Service provided to:

– 27,154 Households in ANDM– 40,283 Households in CHDM

• Role of the SSA:– Support local operators in carrying out repairs and maintenance– Service and repair mechanical and electrical equipment

(mech/elec), – Deliver diesel where required– Procure and deliver material and spares– Prepare monthly reports– Provide technical support (engineering)– Facilitate the functioning of the CBO’s.– Train local operators Maluti GSM

Level of Service:• Mixed, but approx 200m

walking distance• Variety of infrastructure• RDP guidelines

– (walking distance = 200m, national water quality specs (SANS 241), continuity = 95%)

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Scheme Village Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08Aliba Aliba 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Macangceni Macangceni 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Nkunzaneni Nkunzaneni 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Taleni Taleni 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Xonya Xonya 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Galili Galili 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Lahlangubo Lahlangubo 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%New Rest New Rest 100% 75% 100% 100% 100% 100%Sidakeni Sidakeni 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%Tsengiwe Tsengiwe 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Village Parameter units Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08Aliba e-coli no/100ml 0 0 0 0 0 0Macangceni e-coli no/100ml 0 0 0 0 0 0New Rest e-coli no/100ml 0 0 0 0 0 0Nkunzaneni e-coli no/100ml 0 0 0 0 0 0Taleni 1 e-coli no/100ml 18 0 0 0 0 0Taleni 2 e-coli no/100ml 4 0 0 0 0 3Xonya e-coli no/100ml 0 0 0 0 0 0Galili e-coli no/100ml 0 0 0 0 0 0Galili e-coli no/100ml 0 0 0 0 0 0Lahlangubo e-coli no/100ml 0 0 0 0 0 0

EQUITABLE SHARE (central govt grant)• number of indigent h-holds (census 2001)

ENGINEERING ESTIMATES:DWAF benchmarks (scheme size):• very small (less than 200 h-holds)• small• medium • large (more than 1,000 h-holds)DPLG• infrastructure type and size

ACTUAL COSTS AND ACTIVITY BASED COSTING:• technical support and travel (hrs, km’s and rates)•cbo’s (hours and rates)•materials, chemicals, fuel etc

Findings:Annual

CostH-Holds Served

Cost perH-Hold

Cost per m3

Alfred Nzo DM USD 0.89m 27,154 USD 33.05 USD 0.91Chris Hani DM USD 3.1m 40,283 USD 76.91 USD 2.11

• Consumption assumed to be 100 litres per family per day (water carried 200m)

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Findings:

• Support costs are a high proportion of the total.

• Note the low proportional contribution of fuel

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Travel41%

Office expenses

2%

Tech Support

14%

Energy1%

Material8%

CBO 5%

Major repairs

1%

HO Support

20%

Major repairs

2%

HO Support

20%

Travel42%Office

expenses3%

Tech Support

12%

Energy2%Material

7%

CBO 5%

Caprivi

Kavango

Comparison with RWSS in Namibia:

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Findings: engineering estimates

O&M Cost EstimatesProject Area DWA Method DPLG Method

Chris Hani DM 18.7% 2.2% Alfred Nzo DM 19.8% 1.5%

Findings: activity based costing

• Demonstrates – economies of scale– Sensitivity to infrastructure types

Findings: comparison of methods• Wide variance between methods• Substantial difference from actual costs• No consistency in variation between methods and project

areas

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Chris Hani vs Alfred Nzo• Households served = 1.5 times greater in CHDM.• Civil infrastructure in CHDM exceeds that in

ANDM in proportion to the additional households served.

• Mech/Elec installations is five times greater in CHDM.

• Equitable Share allocation to CHDM is only 16% greater than that for the ANDM

• Actual cost of service provision in CHDM is 3.5 times greater than in ANDM.

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Observations:• Delivered fuel costs• Repair of hand-pumps• Unavoidable leakage could be as

high as 30% of input volume• Reliability vs Repair-ability• It is difficult to repair equipment

(mech /elec) in remote settings.

0.001.002.003.004.005.006.00

2 5 10

USD

per

litr

e

delivery sites per day

Diesel Powered Rural Water Supply(Delivered Cost of Fuel)

Conclusions• Infrastructure drives the type of support needed(and hence the costs)

– Type (mech/elecvs civil)– Size, utilisation and number– Level of technology– Location

• This means $/cap or $/m3 can vary widely• Only skilled and experienced people should use the ‘costed norms’ approach

to undertake budget determination. (they should still be cautious)• Focus on repairability in the project concept phase• Suggested approach

– Make realistic estimates of manpower and travel requirements based on identification of the work required (dictated by infrastructure types)

– Make a percentage provision of this time as extra resources required to attend to breakdowns

– Make a provision of CRC for maintenance (eg 3%)

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• Adoption of appropriate technology needs to be coupled with effective strategies for operation and maintenance to ensure that water services are sustained. Such strategies must include effective management models, technical support to communities, sustainable financing mechanisms, and development of sustainable supply chains.

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There are no Panacea’s

Support is clearly needed,-- but we are unlikely to find ‘blueprint type’ solutions to complex

social-ecological systems

Adapted from E Ostrom(a diagnostic approach for going beyond panaceas, 2007, Indiana University)

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