THE WATER KIOSK CONCEPT – A SUCCESSFUL

WATER SUPPLY MODEL IN ZAMBIA

3rd Round Table on Water Berlin, Germany, 6th February 2012

Presented by Lubasi Mungandi

First Secretary, EconomicZambia Embassy

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Introduction: Water - Towards the

MDGs

Safe drinking water and basic sanitation are fundamental

to human life. Access to these basic necessities becomes

essential and critical for survival, health, growth and

development of any nation.

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Goal Number 7

•To “Ensure Environmental Sustainability”. Under this Goal, Target

10 demands the halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without

sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

•According to the United Nations one billion people lack access to

safe drinking water and 2.4 billion to adequate sanitation in the

World. To achieve the Millennium target, an additional 1.5 billion

people will require access to improved water supply by 2015.

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• The National Water Policy of 1994.

• The 1994 Policy replaced by the National Water Policy of 2010.

• The Water Supply and Sanitation Act No. 28 of 1997 – Establishment of a Legal Framework– Establishment of a Regulator in 2000: The National Water Supply and Sanitation

Council of Zambia (NWASCO)– Establishment of Commercial Utilities (CUs) for urban and peri-urban service

provision.

• The Constitution of Zambia of 1996 under Part IX, Article 112(d)

stipulates a state obligation “ … to provide clean and safe water”.• The Water Resources Management Act of 2011.

– provides for a decentralized system of managing water resources. – provides for the establishment of the National Water Resources

Management Authority.

Water Sector Reforms in Zambia

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Current Water and Sanitation Situation in Zambia

• Zambia’s population as of the 2010 census stands at just over 13 million

from about 10 million in 2000.

• 61% reside in rural areas while the rest (39%) reside in urban areas.

• The national target for access to clean and safe water 74% by 2015

• Target for sanitation is 42% by 2015.

• Vision 2030 target is universal access.

• About 80% of Zambia’s urban population (3 million) live on the outskirts of

towns and cities

• Nearly half of these people do not have sufficient access to clean drinking

water or sanitation

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Water Supply : Urban•coverage for urban areas stands at 77.5% as at 31st March 2011.•Coverage is projected to be over 86% by 2015.

Water Supply : Rural•coverage in rural areas stands at 57%.

Sanitation: Urban

•coverage in urban areas in terms of sanitation stands at 54.1%.

Sanitation: Rural

•coverage in rural areas, as reported by the MLGH, stands at 38%.

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Water Kiosk

Working Definition:

•A water Kiosk is an outlet through which formal water providers deliver

safe and reliable water at affordable prices to residents of low-income

areas.

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The Challenge

• An escalation in urban migration during the 80s and 90s.

• Mushrooming of unplanned urban settlements.

• No corresponding expansion in WSS infrastructure.

• Majority of households cannot afford to pay for and maintain a

household connection.

• Public standpipes and communal taps poorly maintained.

• high levels of loss of valuable treated water through leaking taps

and pipes.

• Negative impact on other sectors such as health, education as

well as overall development of the country.

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The Solution

• The water kiosks concept has continued to be implemented to cater for the low-income urban population.

• The basic idea is the provision of safe drinking water at affordable prices to low-income urban areas.

• The kiosks supply a larger number of residents (an average of about 1,500 people per kiosk)

• They are usually located within five minutes walking distance( or 100 to 200m radius).

• The price for 20 litres of water at each kiosk is fixed at about 0.01 Euro Cents (approximately K66.00).

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The Solution Cont.

• The price of water at each kiosk is usually cross-subsidized from the sale of water to individual households and commercial connections.

• The price is set by the NWASCO after conducting an ability to pay assessment.

• To ensure transparency, the water kiosk operator is obliged to display this tariff.

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Characteristics

• Fixed roofed housing structure made of concrete blocks

• Usually equipment with 3 taps that can be used simultaneously.

• All water kiosks are metred to ensure proper accounting for the water supplied by the CU.

• The design of the kiosk is in such a way that the kiosk can be used for other income generating activities.

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Ownership and Management

• The water kiosks are owned by the CUs which carry full responsibility for their construction and operation.

• The day-to-day operation of the water kiosk is delegated to a water kiosk operator, usually a woman who has been recruited with the consent of the community.

• The kiosk operator is not an employee of the CU but works on a commission basis and signs a contract with the CU stipulating the rights and responsibilities of all the parties.

• The kiosk operator receives approximately 30 to 40% of sales as commission.

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Ownership and Management Cont.

• The kiosks are designed in such a way that they can be used for other income generating activities.

• The kiosks are equipped with shelves, have adequate space inside and are lockable so that the kiosk operator can use this to sale groceries.

• The kiosks can also be used to display useful messages such as HIV/AIDS awareness posters.

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Summary of Main Elements of the water kiosk System

The WK and related infrastructure are owned by the CU; Each WK is managed by a kiosk operator contracted to the

CU; The kiosk operator is monitored by the peri-urban unit (PUU)

of the CU (a committee of local Residents in that area) The kiosk operator sales water at an affordable price, as

stipulated by NWASCO (the regulator); The kiosk operator deposits all the cash he or she has

collected. Each time a deposit is made the kiosk operator is issued a receipt;

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The kiosk operator has to pay the CU according to the monthly metre readings.

The kiosk operator receives a commission per every cubic metre of water sold;

The kiosk operator may sell other goods at the kiosk with the exception of some products such as meat, fish and certain chemicals

The kiosk operator has to keep the kiosk clean and report damage and poor quality water;

The operator must be present during the opening hours which are agreed with the community;

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Customers are allowed to use very small quantities of water for free in order to clean their buckets;

The community and community based organizations are involved in the implementation of the kiosk system but they do not handle cash. Their role is in the selection of kiosk operators, sensitization and prevention of vandalism;

When a kiosk operator is unable to settle the bill, he or she is given 3 days to pay the outstanding amount. If this period elapses, the contract with the CU is terminated and the operator will be replaced.

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Institutional Arrangements

NWASCO

•Acts as regulator. •promotion of social tariffs to poor low income areas.

•Ensures that the tariff is set according to the kiosk customers’ ability and

willingness to pay.

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Institutional Arrangements

THE DEVOLUTION TRUST FUND (DTF): SUPPORT TO CUs

The DTF was set up in 2003 as provided for in the Water and sanitation

Act of 1997

The primary aim of the DTF is to improve WSS service delivery in peri-

urban areas

Working with CUs to subsidise the cost of service provision to the poor

improve efficiency of Cus in the delivery of services.

As of 31st March 2011, 55 water supply and four sanitation projects have

been funded.

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8 performance enhancement projects have also been funded.

4 pilot sanitation projects funded under 4 CUs.

As of 31st March 2011, 365 water kiosks had been constructed proving

access to water to approximately 550,000 thousand people.

By end of 2010 approximately 828, 336 additional people have been

provided with sustainable access to safe and reliable water supply by DTF in

urban low income areas of Zambia against a 2015 target of 2.85 million

people.

MDG country target was to cover 1 million people by 2010. 22

Support from Cooperating Partners (CP)

• Cooperating Partners in the WSS sector are Germany through KfW and GIZ; Denmark through DANIDA; the EU Water Facility and Australian Aid which joined the funding basket in 2011.

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Germany Development Cooperation (GDC)

• In 2010 GDC disbursed 7,938,654.62 EUR. By March 2011, GDC has disbursed 2,178,675.77 EUR. The projected amount to be disbursed in 2011 is 10,290,000.00 EUR.

• GDC has made the following new commitments to WSS for the period 2012 to 2014:

— Rural Water: 7 million Euros— Urban Water Supply and Sanitation (DTF-IV): 5 million Euros— Urban Water and Sanitation Programme: 5 million— Ground Water Resources: 2 million

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The Zambian Government Commitment

• The water supply and sanitation provisions represented about 3% of the total 2011 GRZ

• Budget. GRZ: 21% CP:79%. So you can see how important the CP are to Zambia in this sector. The budget allocation in the 2012 was increased by 26%. The Zambian Government has committed to further increase the allocation in future budgets.

• According to estimates in the Sixth National Development Plan, K179.9 billion and K270.1 billion is required to reach the MDG target on water and sanitation for both rural and urban areas, respectively.

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Conclusion

• Whilst more people in peri-urban areas now have access to safe and reliable water than 5 years ago, the number without access is still very high. Since poor areas are usually marginalized by traditional service providers pro-poor basket funding such as the DTF offer a better solution to improve access in these areas. Reaching all peri-urban areas in Zambia with a basic service level is very much attainable through the water kiosk system.

• Significant progress has been made in meeting the MDGs for access to safe water. It is therefore highly likely that the target will be met. However, the challenge still remains with accelerating access to sanitation. The focus for Zambia is beyond 2015 to the Vision 2030 which targets universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation. A lot more effort is therefore needed in order to attain the aspirations of Vision 2030.

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THANK YOU

FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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