Online learning on groundwater – strengthening capacity in African member states and beyond

Professional Drilling Management & Groundwater Resources Management

Thanks to funding from the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in Germany, 2022 saw Ask for Water GmbH, together with the Africa Groundwater Network, Cap-Net UNDP and other partners develop and run two online courses on groundwater. The courses strengthened the capacity of the staff of governments, NGOs, the private sector and academia in African member states and beyond. 

The courses, hosted by Cap-Net UNDP, and offered free of charge to participants, were entitled Groundwater Resources Management and Professional Drilling Management. Each course was specifically developed for professionals working on these issues, or responsible for decision making.

Professional Drilling Management Course

Drilled water wells are vital to achieving universal clean drinking water, providing safe, affordable, reliable and available water sources. To ensure that the water wells or boreholes are built to last, they must be drilled, developed and completed in a professional manner. Key elements of a professional drilling sector are robust procurement, contract management, siting, borehole design, construction, and supervision. Furthermore, the management of the groundwater resources must also be considered and support provided to long-term maintenance if services are to last. Unfortunately, in many countries it is difficult to develop skills in these areas due to a lack of training and mentoring opportunities.

The 2022 online course on Professional Drilling Management provided participants with a comprehensive overview of the different aspects of drilling management, specifically (i) groundwater data and siting; (ii) procurement and contract management (including costing and pricing; (iii) borehole drilling and supervision and (iv) legal and institutional frameworks. In the last of five modules, participants were encouraged to reflect upon and share actions that they as individuals and as organisations could take to raise drilling professionalism in the context in which they work. From the 781 people who applied for the course, 314 were selected, of which 209 were active participants. A total of 162, equivalent to 78% of the active participants passed the course. 

You can access the 2022 course report, manual and key training materials here.

If you would like to learn about what alumni of previous online courses on Professional Drilling Management have done with their knowledge, check out the short film below or the short report of their testimonials.

Groundwater Resources Management Course

An estimated 50% of the global and 75% of the African population rely on groundwater for their drinking water supplies. Groundwater supports social and economic development and will become increasingly important in the face of climate change, as groundwater resources are often less affected than surface water by climate change impacts. If groundwater is to provide reliable, safe and sustainable water supplies now and for future generations, the resource must be well-managed. This requires consideration of the entire system of policies & laws, strategies & guidance, monitoring & management as well as investments & projects. Good groundwater management needs sound capacities in water authorities. But at same time, as many elements of groundwater management fall in other sectors, a general understanding of groundwater management principles in sectors like agriculture and urban planning is key for its successful implementation. 

The 2022 online course on groundwater resources management provides participants with a comprehensive overview of the multiple factors that impact upon groundwater. It was a self-paced course and was hosted on the virtual campus of Cap Net/UNDP.

The course comprised 5 modules; each with a short introduction, goal, learning objectives and orientation video, as well as mandatory videos and reading materials: 

  • Module 1: Characterization of Aquifer Systems from a Management Perspective
  • Module 2: Groundwater monitoring and data/information management & communication
  • Module 3: Groundwater quality and source water protection
  • Module 4: Groundwater regulation, licensing, allocation and institutions for aquifer management
  • Module 5: Transboundary aquifers in Africa: Approaches and mechanisms

You can access the 2022 course report, manual and key training materials here.

What next?

Ask for Water GmbH, the Africa Groundwater Network (AGW-Net), Cap-Net UNDP and partners would like to offer these courses on an annual basis. We are currently looking for sponsors/funders to make this possible. In case you are interested, please contact us via ask@ask-for-water.ch. Should we manage to get these courses off the ground, we will announce them through the Africa Groundwater Network, Cap-Net UNDP and the Rural Water Supply Network as well via LinkedIn.

Zambia’s groundwater regulation implmentation

By Kerstin Danert

Zambia only withdraws an estimated 1.5% of its total renewable water resources and thus, at the national scale not, water scarce. However, the population, currently 18 million, is expected to be between 60 and 110 million by the end of the century. Increased water use is important for raising the agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers and reducing rural poverty, Zambia’s mining industry, is central for the country’s exports and generating foreign exchange and large scale irrigated agriculture plays an important role for the economy and livelihoods. These realities, coupled with droughts and future climate change impacts will all contribute to increased pressure on Zambia’s water resources.

There are also risks of pollution from mining, agriculture and the lack of sanitation infrastructure. This all illustrate the centrality of water resources in Zambia, which, ¨if not properly managed, could place fresh water availability at risk.

The year 2018 witnessed the commencement of regulation of groundwater development and use in Zambia. Regulations, of any kind, are essentially control systems with specific capacities that set standards, gather information (or monitor) and modify behaviour. The recent Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) publication documents the achievements and lessons learned of implementing these regulations. 

Participants of a UNICEF-supported drilling supervision course in 2018 (credit: Dotun Adekile)

The Water Resources Management (WRM) Act, 2011 was the basis for establishing the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA). The Act contains 64 instances requiring regulation, which were grouped, providing a basis for eight Statutory Instruments (SIs). The three SIs that were promulgated[1] in 2018 are an important step towards protecting Zambia’s aquifers and regulating abstraction, while supporting the sustainable development of the country’s groundwater resources and protecting the interests of the general public. The three SIs define tariffs and charges for water use (SI 18), require drillers to be licenced and set borehole standards (SI 19), and require groundwater users to apply for permits (SI 20). 

The process of developing the regulations illustrates the importance of partnership and wide consultation. Since the promulgation of the three SIs in March 2018, a considerable amount of data has been collected by WARMA alongside the generation of substantial revenue. There has also been valuable learning about legal pitfalls alongside the practicalities of regulating – including administration, human resources, physical presence, and the need for suitable Information Technology (IT) systems.

The study found an appreciation among of the importance and need to regulate groundwater, alongside a recognition that, particularly given the size of the country, that this is a huge undertaking for WARMA. However, the regulations have been politicised, and even labelled “the borehole tax”, which could affect implementation going forward. In Zambia, water is recognised, by law, as having as an economic value, and the cost of facilitating its use is recognised as having a significant administrative cost. It is essential that this, and that the associated permit, licence and use charges are widely understood, particularly by water users.

While there is widespread awareness of the new regulatory requirements there are concerns that more is needed to communicate with water users who may not yet be aware of the regulations. While there is evidence of goodwill towards the regulation, there are concerns that while these three new SIs are generating revenue for WARMA, the process of translating the WRM Act, 2011 into regulations is not yet fully complete. Important gaps remain with respect to groundwater pollution and protection, as well as local governance of water resources and allocations at catchment and sub-catchment levels. The SIs concerning these components of the Water Act, 2011 have not yet been issued, undermining the holistic and integrated approach of Zambia’s WRM Act, 2011 will be fully enacted as envisaged. 

While over 30,000 existing boreholes were registered within the first year, and over 1,000 new permits to drill have been issued subsequently, it is taking time for digitisation of this information. This means that these data, and other data (e.g., drilling logs) has not been as readily available as hoped. 

If you want to read more, you can download the publication (in English and French) from here: https://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/1040


[1] Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect (Wikipedia, 2021).

Stop the Rot III: Handpump standards, quality and supply chains with Zambia case study

Handpumps have revolutionised access to safe, reliable water supplies in low-income countries, particularly in rural areas. They provide a viable alternative to contaminated surface water, open wells and unprotected springs. It is estimated that almost 200 million people in SSA (18.5% of the total population) rely on about 700,000 handpumps to provide them with their main drinking water supply. Handpump reliance is highest in Malawi, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Guinea and Burkina Faso, ranging from 42% to 61%. The India Mark II pump and the Afridev pump are the two most common community handpumps, while the Vergnet pump is probably the third most common pump. The people of Zimbabwe rely on the Bush Pump. 

Published or grey literature in the public domain on handpump component quality is limited, but physical audits undertaken in Burkina Faso in 2013 and 2014, as well as recent studies in Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda, indicate non-conformance issues in components for between 32% and 90% of samples. While no conclusions over wider prevalence within these four countries or beyond can be drawn from these figures, they do provide a stark warning of potential widespread risk. This is particularly concerning given that participants of the 2021 RWSN groundwater survey expressed concerns about the quality and durability of handpump parts in 13 SSA countries. 

Broken hook on Afridev pump in Malawi, source: Larry Bentley

Concerns about handpump component quality collated by this study concern riser pipes, pump rods, the steel plate, cylinder assemblies, centralisers, seals, joint to hook or eve, hook, eye, plunger and foot valve, centraliser, head assembly, bearings and flanges – in fact most handpump components. Inexpensive, poor-quality and fake/counterfeit parts, cost-cutting measures and corrosion-related issues were the most common issues cited by respondents to the recent RWSN survey.

Estimates for component life of the Afridev components are available, and the expected fast-moving parts for India Mark handpumps are documented. However, in the three decades of experience of handpump installation since the end of the UN Water Decade in 1990, field data on the service life of handpump hardware and different components remains lacking. This may reflect the lack of asset management and lack of preventative maintenance with respect to handpump technology and services in SSA.

Weld failure in riser pipe, source: Tony Beers.

In order to improve the supply chains of spare parts, many countries have standardised on a few public domain and/or propriety handpump models. In the case of public domain handpumps developed for community use, international specifications are available freely in the public domain. However, analysis of the international specifications for the Afridev and India Mark handpumps as well as the Indian Standards for the India Mark pumps reveals five concerns: (i) documents that are difficult to navigate; (ii) errors in the current specifications, including reference to international standards that have been withdrawn; (iii) gaps, particularly in relation to rapid corrosion; (iv) potential difficulties in interpreting the specifications; and (iv) high levels of lead in some of the brass/bronze components. 

There have been attempts to improve the design of the India Mark and Afridev handpumps, including making use of modern manufacturing techniques and limited field testing. However, a lack of formal oversight mechanisms for the international handpump specifications, which have essentially been frozen since 2007/8, coupled with very limited interest in funding handpump technology development makes it extremely difficult to address or validate these problems, or to incorporate design innovations.

Guidance is available for quality control and inspection of the Bush Pump, Afridev pump and India Mark pump. More guidance materials are available on quality assurance for the Bush Pump, including manuals in written form for end inspection as well as photo illustrations and videos. Although there are no inspection videos for the Afridev, the guideline document for quality control is detailed and extensive, covering manufacturers, independent inspection agencies and buyers. Unlike the more recently published Bush Pump inspection manuals, the Afridev guidance contains very few photographs. Of the three pumps, the India Mark pump has the least number of guidance materials available to support quality control. The international specifications for the India Mark and Afridev both contain a section on visual and dimensional tests, routine tests and conformity criteria. Short training modules on quality control are also available.

Screen shot of video explaining Bush Pump components and installation
Source: Peter Morgan, Aquamore, Zimbabwe.

The guidelines for quality control and quality assurance of the Afridev provide details on: 

(i) internal quality control (for manufacturers); 

(ii) external quality control/quality assurance/pre-delivery inspection by an inspection agency; and 

(iii) end inspection of delivered goods.

The guidelines also emphasise:

(iv) pre-qualification of suppliers; and 

(v) the placement of a clearly defined purchase order.

The 2021 RWSN survey of groundwater pumps found that of the 33 responses by those that buy handpumps directly, there are a diversity of practices, with 33% having no procedures in place. Of the 25 respondents that buy handpumps as part of a borehole drilling package, only 36% stated that they inspect the pump before and after installation, while 48% only inspect the pump before installation and 12% only inspect it after installation. Only one respondent did no inspection. A total of 22 out of 32 respondents (69%) have received feedback or complaints about pump quality, indicating that there are feedback mechanisms in place for some handpump buyers, as well as quality concerns. What was striking in the survey were the variety of opinions, even for the same country of government regulation and activity of regulators, indicating varying levels of awareness and understanding. The Government of Zimbabwe does undertake quality control of the Bush Pump, including inspections at the premises of the manufacturer. In 2020, these inspections raised concerns about various components and resulted in the replacement of non-conforming parts.   

Figure: Organisational procedures for checking handpump manufacturing specifications
Source: Furey and Danert, 2022

Despite the RWSN’s previous long involvement in handpumps since it was established in 1994, very little effort to examine or strengthen handpump supply chains have been undertaken since the mid-2000s. Documentation or knowledge sharing on handpump supply chains appears not to have been undertaken by the World Bank, The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) or any other organisation operating in SSA or beyond after 2014. 

Most handpumps seem to be manufactured in India, with pumps or pump components also imported into SSA from France, the USA and China. There is also manufacture in Zimbabwe and Tanzania. There are at least five links in the supply chain of handpumps or handpump spares – raw materials, handpump manufacture, in-country retailer, drilling contractor, community – and there may be more. There are dozens of handpump manufacturers in India, some of whom claim to be certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Anecdotal evidence indicates that poor-quality handpumps and components do enter markets in SSA. Given the importance of quality control at point of manufacture, questions remain regarding the responsibilities and activities of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and factory inspection (if any), the issuing of licences (and potential blacklisting) and incentives to ensure quality of exports. 

An ideal supply chain would have quality assurance mechanisms in place at manufacture and a secure tracking of goods throughout, with only certified suppliers allowed to import. However, the case study from Zambia illustrates that this is not the case, with numerous importers and retailers operating, and regulation and quality control procedures are weak or non-existent. According to a small number of stakeholders interviewed, there are both high-quality and poor-quality handpumps available on the market, and capacity among buyers to tell the difference is limited.

Figure: Schematic representation of ideal handpump supply chain – from import to distribution in country X

Complementing the recommendations from Report II of the Stop the Rot initiative on rapid handpump corrosion, this report recommends that:

  • RWSN, other global platforms and funding agencies should:
    • Raise awareness and understanding of the important yet under-recognised issue of poor handpump quality with network members and (in the case of funding agencies) grantees.
    • Encourage organisations to produce user-friendly guidance in the form of illustrative manuals and videos for ensuring quality, including end inspection by buyers.
    • Document and share good procurement practices and feedback mechanisms, including evidence of their effectiveness.
    • Encourage investment in raising the capacity of handpump buyers (i.e. governments, drilling contractors, non-governmental organisations and private users) to identify key defects and quality in accordance with specifications and standards.
    • Undertake a study to document quality controls at point of manufacture and export from India, including the setting out of responsibilities and activities of the BIS and factory inspection, the issuing of licences and other incentives to ensure quality for export.
    • Encourage rigorous research on the expected service life of handpump components, with the results published and available in the public domain. 
  • Lead international agencies should establish an action group on handpumps (perhaps incorporating other groundwater lifting methods). In addition to the recommendations outlined in Report II (Danert, 2022b), the action group should provide a platform for exchange on mechanisms of improving handpump quality, and could include the issue of brass/bronze components containing high levels of lead. The action group force should also engage organisations that have been working (with very limited funding) to improve handpump design and ensure that handpump manufacturers and standards agencies are brought into dialogue to develop improvements.
  • Skat Foundation, which published the international specifications, or another suitable organisation should:
    • Republish international handpump standard specifications to address errors and make them more accessible and searchable online.
    • Issue recommendations on alternatives to the India Mark handpumps with galvanised iron for areas where there is corrosive groundwater (especially low pH, salinity and chloride), including information regarding experiences, concerns and unknowns about these alternatives to date.
    • Develop detailed guidelines for end inspection of India Mark handpumps to include, for example, guidance around component weight and make reference to X-ray dispersive analysis, which is a standard test for measuring coating/plating composition and thickness and other mechanisms.
  • National governments should
    • Explore how to start or improve the regulation of handpump imports, in-country fabrication (if appropriate) and in-country supply chains, drawing on examples from other industries. Initiatives should be documented so that others can learn from them.
    • Establish an effective feedback mechanism for communities and users to register their experiences of poor handpump quality and use this information in efforts to improve handpump quality.
    • Ensure that rehabilitation programmes systematically collect data on the reasons behind handpump failure, including data on hardware problems such as – but not limited to – corrosion. 

Explore asset management mechanisms that can incorporate expected component lifetime to support preventative and reactive maintenance programmes, thus helping to alleviate unrealistic burdens on communities.

For more details, you can access the full report: Stop the Rot Report III: Handpump standards, quality and supply chains with Zambia case study. Action research on handpump component quality and corrosion in sub-Saharan Africa’. Ask for Water GmbH, Skat Foundation and RWSN, St Gallen, Switzerland

This is the third of a series of three reports to bring about action to Stop the Rot.

All three reports are also available in French.

Stop the Rot Report II: Rapid corrosion of handpumps

Corrosion is the attack of the surface of materials by chemical processes and affects concrete, glass, plastic and materials that contain iron. In water supply distribution systems, corrosion is the partial dissolution of the materials that make up the treatment and supply systems. In certain circumstances, all water can be corrosive. Corrosion may lead to structural failure and leaks, as well as deterioration of chemical and microbial water quality. The World Health Organization (WHO) does not provide guideline values for iron in drinking water. The WHO acknowledge that corrosion control is an important aspect of the management of a drinking water system but does not explicitly refer to corrosion concerns in the case of handpumps or sources that rely on other groundwater water-lifting technologies.

Rusted pipe on an India Mark II handpump (Source: Larry Bentley)

Research into corrosion in West Africa within the Handpumps Project of the World Bank in the 1980s concluded that: (i) total iron concentration in natural groundwater is rarely greater than 1 mg/l; (ii) corrosion is usually the cause of the red water (iron) problem in handpump-equipped wells; (iii) galvanisation does not protect rising mains and pump rods from corrosion under the prevailing groundwater conditions in the subregion (pH < 6.5); and (iv) the less a corrosion-affected handpump is used, the more serious the iron problem becomes. All of these observations still hold true. In addition to low pH levels, high salinity and high chloride levels can also accelerate handpump corrosion, but less documentation on these phenomena is available. Recent research indicates that there may also be leaching of lead into groundwater from brass/bronze components.

This study finds that communities in over 20 countries in SSA still face the problem of rapidly corroding handpumps (see Figure S1 below). Evidence includes academic research, reports (both old and more recent) and observations that have been shared. To date, there have been relatively few systematic studies of this problem. 

There may be cause for optimism in some countries where, despite aggressive groundwaters, the ‘iron problem’ seems to have been addressed (notably The Gambia and Ghana). In some countries governments are taking action to prevent rapid corrosion, such as by banning or trying to prevent the use of galvanised iron (GI) pipes (e.g. Uganda, Zambia and Chad). However, the problem seems to be continuing in many other countries, with varying levels of documentation and research. In Niger, for example, there was a corrosion problem in the past but the current status is simply not known. In Burkina Faso the rapid corrosion problem is well documented but there is a lack of action. There are numerous other countries where the phenomenon has been observed and documented to a limited extent.

The combination of GI pipes or rods and water with low pH will cause the GI components to rapidly corrode. There have been observations of components requiring replacement within a few months to a couple of years, whereas they should last eight to 10 years. While there has been confusion about whether iron observed in groundwater is coming from the aquifer, or caused by the corrosion of the pump itself, simple tests do exist to determine the source. These involve measuring the change of colour in the pumped water. 

Preventing rapid corrosion of handpumps may not be as simple as it may appear. A key aspect is ensuring that materials other than GI for riser pipes and pump rods are used in water with low pH levels. Alternatives include certain grades of stainless steel (SS) or, for riser pipes only, unplasticised polyvinyl chloride (PVC). However, the International Specifications and Indian Standards for the India Mark pumps do not include these options and so guidance is quite limited. Furthermore, there are indications that the SS option may cause rapid corrosion of the water tank, while PVC can break and problems are faced with maintenance due to rethreading challenges. Where water levels allow, the corrosion-resistant option of the Afridev pump provides an alternative to the India Mark pump. There are also alternative corrosion-resistant propriety handpumps on the market (i.e. designs that are not in the public domain). Motorised pumps may also be an option, provided that non-corrosive riser pipes are installed. However, introducing a new pump into any setting requires consideration of capital and maintenance costs, supply chains for pumps, and spares and maintenance skills.

Despite its prevalence, rapid corrosion of handpumps is a topic that has remained on the margins of many in-country water supply policies and programmes. Despite the fact that handpumps will continue to remain important for decades to come – particularly for remote, rural populations – the rapid corrosion problem barely features in global discourse. The realities faced by many users have simply not been sufficiently heard. If the ‘iron problem’ continues to be ignored, those living in areas where groundwater has a low pH, high salinity or high chloride will simply be left behind and countries where this is widespread may actually witness drinking water supply coverage levels declining over time.

Rapid corrosion is not only an issue for handpumps, but also potentially for the riser pipes in motorised pumps used for point sources, or which feed into reticulated systems. The realities of rapid corrosion of all groundwater systems need to be better understood and taken into consideration in project design and implementation. Notably, corrosion is not simply confined to rapid or early-life corrosion. All components that are submerged in, or and out of, water will eventually corrode, and so corrosion must be considered as part of the long-term maintenance of handpump (or motorised pump) water supplies. 

In order to take the issues raised by this study forward, it is recommended that:

  • RWSN, other global platforms and international agencies should use the information in this report, as well as the other two reports from the Stop the Rot initiative, as a basis for raising awareness of:
    • The ongoing reliance on handpumps in SSA, despite growing interest in groundwater systems that use other energy sources, including solar, and in piped supplies.
    • The phenomenon of rapid handpump corrosion, including the causes, effects, impacts and mitigation measures (together with their ongoing challenges).
    • The importance of determining whether rapid handpump corrosion takes place in all SSA countries. 
    • The need to consider corrosion as part of the long-term maintenance of all water supplies that rely on groundwater, including handpumps.
  • Donor/funding agencies should:
    • Ensure that their grantees are aware of rapid corrosion of handpumps, report on it when it is observed or suspected (through monitoring or when undertaking rehabilitation programmes) and support the grantees to understand more about the extent of the problem and actively seek solutions. 
    • Support academic organisation(s) to develop a continental map and national maps that illustrate the likelihood of low pH values in SSA, incorporating data on population densities where this is available. 
    • Consider funding organisations and/or consultants to:
      • Document what has reduced or mitigated handpump corrosions in those countries where it has been addressed.
      • Investigate the performance of handpumps whereby components have been replaced in order to prevent rapid corrosion and examine whether the new solutions are viable in the short, medium and long term. Studies should include examination of possible galvanic corrosion of tanks and cylinders or failing UPVC. 
      • Document what is happening in countries where there is limited evidence of rapid handpump corrosion, which may be currently ignored. 
    • In all cases, the information should be made available in the public domain. 
  • National governments and their development partners, as well as other implementing organisations should:
    • Ensure that assessment and post-construction monitoring mechanisms incorporate questions about user perceptions of water quality such as taste, smell and appearance and, if concerns are raised, follow up with studies to identify the cause of the problem (which may include rapid corrosion). Ensure that any studies are placed in the public domain.
    • Consider the options available to prevent rapid corrosion or to mitigate its effects, such as installing a corrosion-resistant option of the Afridev pump (if required pump depth allows), installing another corrosion-resistant pump, use of SS pump rods and riser pipes or use of UPVC riser pipes and SS pump rods for the India Mark pumps, use of a motorised pump with non-corrosive riser pipes. If there is no option but to use GI pipes and rods, these need to be replaced more frequently. 
    • It may be necessary to review handpump standardisation policies and standards across the country. In case changes to the components are made that are not in the International Standards, there should be monitoring of pump performance before widescale rollout. Note that any changes in standardisation policy will require investments and support to ensure the availability of spare parts, and to ensure that handpump mechanics, drillers and pump caretakers are trained in the installation and maintenance of variants of existing pumps or new types of pump.
    • In the case of new sources, or for rehabilitation, always undertake water quality testing (including pH, electrical conductivity and turbidity) prior to installation to determine whether the groundwater source is aggressive and likely to cause rapid corrosion of GI pipes, pump rods and the pump cylinder. 
  • Lead international agencies should form an action group on handpumps (perhaps incorporating other groundwater lifting methods). The action group should comprise not only international agencies, but individuals and organisations that are trying to preventing rapid corrosion of handpumps in-country. The action group should: 
    • Provide a platform for learning and exchange on handpump issues (including corrosion) and advocate for investments into studies that examine the effectiveness of alternatives to the installation of GI riser pipe and pump rods. 
    • Engage in policy dialogue with governments, donor agencies, non-governmental organisations and academics that are working in the countries where rapid corrosion has been identified as a problem.
    • Where appropriate, make policy recommendations. 
  • The WHO should expand its guidance on corrosion control to include corrosion mitigation measures for handpumps (and other groundwater lifting installations) in their next update of the ‘Guidelines for drinking- water quality’ and incorporate this issue into the next edition of their ‘Guidelines for small drinking-water supplies’.

For more details, you can access the full report: Danert, K. (2022) ‘Stop the Rot Report II: Rapid corrosion of handpumps. Action research on handpump component quality and corrosion in sub-Saharan Africa’. Ask for Water GmbH, Skat Foundation and RWSN, St Gallen, Switzerland. 

This is the second of a series of three reports to bring about action to Stop the Rot.

All three reports are also available in French.

Stop the Rot Report I: Handpump reliance, functionality and technical failure

Handpumps have revolutionised access to safe, reliable water supplies in low-income countries, particularly in rural areas. They provide a viable alternative to contaminated surface water, open wells and unprotected springs. The India Mark II pump and the Afridev pump are the two most common community handpumps in SSA, while the Vergnet pump is most likely the third most common handpump in SSA. The people of Zimbabwe rely on the Bush Pump. Based on analysis of the most recent data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) through the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), it is estimated that almost 200 million people in SSA (18.5% of the total population) rely on about 700,000 handpumps to provide them with their main drinking water supply. Of this, urban reliance is estimated to be 7.3% whereas rural reliance is 25.9%. Reliance is highest in Malawi, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Guinea and Burkina Faso, ranging from 42% to 61% of the population. 

Figure: Percentage of rural population using a borehole or protected well as their main drinking water supply 

PERCENTAGE OF RURAL POPULATION USING A BOREHOLE OR PROTECTED WELL AS THEIR MAIN DRINKING WATER SUPPLY

Despite their merits, much criticism has been directed to handpumps. Limited ability to transport large quantities of water, coupled with a lack of storage capacity at the home, means that water from handpumps is usually fetched on a daily basis. Handpumps have also made the headlines: in 2010, only an estimated two out of three handpumps in SSA were working; a decade later it was estimated to have only improved to three out of four. When water services fail, there are negative impacts on health and other human development gains, not to mention the burden on users of finding alternative sources.

Interest in other technologies, particular solar pumps and motorised piped schemes for SSA, is growing. However, the handpump asset base in SSA remains considerable and makes a significant contribution to safe and reliable water supplies. An estimated 23% of the SSA population (about 230 million people) still rely on unsafe and distant water sources and many could benefit from a handpump. Moreover, not all hydrogeological settings can support abstraction rates that are much higher than that of a handpump; motorised schemes may consequently be even more challenging to maintain than handpumps. To avoid backsliding in terms of drinking water access, handpumps should be considered alongside alternatives. 

There is ongoing interest in water point functionality, with a number of national estimates available that are based on different methods of collection and calculation. Despite the headline figures of non-functionality, there is need for caution in undertaking cross-country benchmarking. The headlines generated by the commonly used binary indicator (functional/non-functional) have stimulated interest and studies on handpump management and maintenance. However, functionality estimates do provide information on how handpumps are actually performing, or why sources are failing. 

Tested ways of measuring performance include assessing a sample of sources and using a tiered approach that considers yield, reliability and water quality. In a sample from Ethiopia, for example, although 82% of pumps were working, and thus considered functional, only 59% provided sufficient yield and only 45% were also reliable. Grading water point sources in terms of water availability and other sub-categories is another means of measuring performance. In a sample from within Sierra Leone, 56% of water points were found to be functional, with 17% functioning poorly and in need of repairs or replacement of parts, and 27% of water points were without water and categorised as having a problem with either the pump or the well.

A handpump breaks down for a very specific technical reason (such as the breakage of the chain or an O-ring failing) whereas its repair depends on the ability of the community to raise funds, organise a mechanic and source spare parts. In turn, these depend on other factors within the locality and country. 

Particular cause for concern is the sizeable drop in functionality in the first one to two years after installation, which is a common occurrence. This represents a premature technical failure, as even the fastest wearing parts in a handpump should last for the first year. Premature failure means that something went wrong with the engineering – such as the borehole siting, design and/or construction, pump quality or installation, or the pump use – or that there was vandalism or theft. Alternatively, the installation may have been rejected by the users from the outset (e.g. due to the handpump location, or the appearance or taste of the water).

There is a perception among sector stakeholders that handpumps, alongside community management, have not been performing as well as they should have, but to date there is no conclusive evidence or consensus as to which factors are most important for good performance. While there have been many studies into the causes of non-functionality, this report finds that engineering and hardware issues – handpump hardware issues in particular – have not been sufficiently considered in the literature. Based on anecdotal evidence shared by practitioners and some limited studies, premature handpump failure has continued to occur since the 1980s, with rapid corrosion and the installation of poor-quality handpump components among the key causes. However, these issues are not prominent in the global discourse on achieving universal access to safe water. Policy dialogue and political action to tackle these issues is lacking. Notable exceptions include Uganda, where the government has taken measures to militate rapid handpump corrosion. 

Rigorous examination of the quality of handpump hardware is not within the scope of assessment tools used today. Removal of the handpump from the ground and its inspection, alongside follow-up of user perceptions of water quality (taste and appearance), would provide useful insights into component quality, rapid corrosion and whether a handpump has actually reached the end of its service life. Not doing so has significantly compounded our understanding of the extent of the problem.  

This ongoing lack of emphasis on the physical condition of handpumps may be due to the shift of focus away from infrastructure towards service delivery in the rural water supply sector. With a few exceptions, handpump hardware quality seems to be largely taken for granted. 

For more details, you can access the full report Stop the Rot Report I: Handpump reliance, functionality and technical failure. Action research on handpump component quality and corrosion in sub-Saharan Africa’. Ask for Water GmbH, Skat Foundation and RWSN, St Gallen, Switzerland

This is the first of a series of three reports to bring about action to Stop the Rot.

All three reports are also available in French.

Stop the rot – action research on handpump quality in sub-Saharan Africa

Handpump use in Sierra Leone

Premature corrosion and failure of water supply hardware, particularly handpumps, is widespread in countries within Sub-Saharan Africa, but evidence is limited and largely anecdotal. If drillers are not assured of quality handpumps in country, how can they install pumps that provide water users with the services that they deserve? For the tens of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa who depend on handpumps to meet their daily water needs, handpump failures threaten their health and livelihoods. 

In cases where communities receive a handpump or components of substandard quality, parts may rapidly wear. If components of the wrong material or inadequate quality are installed in aggressive groundwater, the water supply may not function properly or can fail. Alternatively, the water may not be suitable for drinking. If the handpumps fails, or if water is turbid, discoloured, or has a metallic taste, users may return to using distant or unsafe water sources. If handpump components wear prematurely, communities can incur unnecessary costs in trying to fix the problem. 

A new initiative by Skat Foundation and Ask for Water GmbH under the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) strives to find ways to ensure that handpump technologies and spare parts that are installed for drinking water in sub-Saharan Africa are consistently of high quality and can last.

The initiative runs up to March 2022 and will:

  • Document the scale and extent of the problem of handpump corrosion and poor-quality components in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Understand the handpump supply chains for one country, analysing strengths and weaknesses.
  • Raise awareness of problems of handpump corrosion, poor-quality components alongside practical solutions for water users, drillers, governments, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and others.
  • Catalyse action through ongoing engagement of international organisations, national governments, research organisations and other stakeholders to catalyse actions to tackle the problem.

The initiative will examine corrosion (see box), quality assurance procedures and supply chains. It seeks to draw out successful or innovative ways of ensuring that users benefit good quality handpumps – consistently! If you would like to contribute to the initiative, especially by sharing your experiences and ideas, please contact Dr Kerstin Danert (ask @ ask-for-water.ch).

Box: Corrosion and handpump quality challenges

The twin challenges of how to ensure the quality of handpumps and how to prevent rapid corrosion of certain pump components have been discussed for over four decades. Corrosion of below-ground handpump components was documented in the 1980s. Research concluded that galvanisation of pump riser pipes and pump rods does not prevent corrosion where the pH < 6.5 and provides limited protection for pH 6.5 to 7. In light of this, programmes have switched riser pipes and pump rods to stainless steel or switched to uPVC riser pipes and stainless-steel pump rods, while some countries standardised on pumps which aims to be fully corrosion resistant by using a uPVC rising main and stainless steel, or fibre glass pump rods. Unfortunately, handpump corrosion problems and concerns over handpump component quality persist. The extent of the problem is not fully known because of relatively little research on this topic, coupled with a lack of information available in the public domain. 

This article first appeared in GeoDrilling International (March 2021).

Water One: Water is a Human Right

Water One

Installation: Wechselkabine, St. Leonhardbrück, St. Gallen, Switzerland
by Kerstin Danert and Rahel Flückiger

Water is a Human Right

Ponder beyond the tap
Past the pipes
And visit hidden places
Rivers, groundwater, ponds
Investment, technology, politics
 
Your image remains with me
Since South Sudan
Where did you carry that water?
Through rangelands, woodlands on paths
Using your strength and
fulfilling your responsibility
 
And where are you now?
Six years hence
Have you remained where we met?
Or did you flee?
To another place
Another land even?
 
Do you still carry water?
Using your strength
and fulfilling your responsibility.
 
Water is a Human Right
Wasser ist ein Menschenrecht
 
Denk über den Wasserhahn nach
Über die Leitung hinaus
Und besuche versteckte Orte
Flüsse, Grundwasser, Weihern
Investitionen, Technik, Politik
 
Ihr Bild bleibt bei mir
Zeit Sud Sudan
Wo haben Sie dieses Wasser hingetragen?
Durch Weideland, Waldland auf Pfaden
Indem Sie Ihre Kraft einsetzen und
Ihrer Verantwortung gerecht werden
 
Und wo sind Sie jetzt?
Sechs Jahre später
Blieben Sie am Ort unserer Begegnung?
Oder sind Sie geflohen?
An einen anderen Ort
Sogar in ein anderes Land?
 
Tragen Sie noch Wasser?
Indem Sie Ihre Kraft einsetzen
und Ihrer Verantwortung gerecht werden.
 
Wasser ist ein Menschenrecht

Looking back and looking forwards

In 2004, as a young professional living in Uganda, and working as a freelance consultant, I was delighted to take on the role of leading a ‘flagship’ for the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) on ‘low cost drilling’, which we renamed ‘cost-effective boreholes’. Back then I could never have imagined that this decision would enable me to engage with dozens of organisations, hundreds of people, work in some 15 African countries and, some 16 years later, end up championing the subject of drilling professionalism at global level. That decision helped propelled me to Switzerland four years later, to become an employee of Skat Consulting AG and lead the flagship from there, until this year, when I decided to establish my own little company, Ask for Water GmbH.

Ensuring that water supplies last requires every borehole to be constructed in a professional manner (Source: Kerstin Danert)

Research into developing and introducing manual drilling equipment, a project funded by the then UK Government Department for International Development (DFID) was what took me to Uganda in 1998. What I anticipated to be a technical design project, became an exploration of how innovations are adopted (or not). I was thus considerably stretched from my mechanical engineering background, into something much broader.  It became clear that technology – in this case drilling technology – does not succeed or fail by the strength of technical aspects alone, but also by the people, society, economy and institutions that surround it. 

The professional drilling topic of RWSN has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 2004, where we set out to understand why boreholes in Africa tended to be so expensive.  We learned that this was not just a technical issue. The risks associated with drilling, irregular work, challenges of getting credit, corruption, late payment by clients, contract terms and conditions all play a part in determining the cost, and ultimately the price of a borehole. 

As drilling markets across the African continent have opened up over the past decade and a half, competition has grown, and in many cases, prices seem to have come down.  Alas this has come at another cost – with concerns being repeatedly raised about construction quality, and rural, as well as urban dwellers in Africa left with infrastructure that they simply cannot maintain. ‘No water no pay’ clauses, where all of the responsibility is placed on the shoulders of the driller drive up prices for successful wells, or lead to corners being cut as drillers struggle to recover their financial losses on drilling efforts that are not paid for.  

Over the past decade and a half, I have engaged with drillers in Africa and their clients, trying to understand their strengths, alongside the opportunities and challenges of the contexts in which they both operate work.  Together with UNICEF, WaterAid, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and others RWSN has developed guidance materials, run short courses to train supervisors, managers and groundwater consultants.  We have developed and launched short films that explain siting, supervision, drilling and its management in five minutes each. 

The immense information generated through the RWSN theme over these years is available on the RWSN Professional Drilling page with a sister page on manual drilling

And so, what next for me with my start-up?  Well, as I move into this new venture, I gladly remain with the role of leading the RWSN topic of professional drilling.  By taking on its responsibilities and risks directly, as well as searching for funding, I also grant myself some more freedom. It is time for a pit stop! I want to take stock of what we have achieved to date, reflect on what others are already doing to engage with others to drive forwards a global effort to raise the capacity of drillers, supervisors, consultants, managers, and those that take decisions which affect borehole drilling quality. The foundation is set for improving drilling professionalism – for finding way to ensure that rural and urban dwellers have a borehole that they can maintain. Who would like to join the effort?

This article first appeared in GeoDrilling International (September 2020).

New beginnings

Cows going to drink, Chad, 2013

Ask for Water GmbH was founded in January 2020 and is based in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

The new company provides clients with consultancy, research and training services − combining science, engineering, social science and the arts.

Ask for Water GmbH works through genuine dialogue with its clients to address pressing global concerns in water, environment, climate and human livelihoods.

We bring together teams of professionals with diverse skills, who complement each other and work in partnership with our clients. Together, we creatively explore issues, solve problems, and uncover new opportunities.