Transparency and public toilets in India

Q: Commercial public toilets and so called 'community toilets' have been tried in several cities in India and there is interest in using these on a larger scale. Since both involve some form of payment for use both provide opportunities for corruption and raise issues of transparency and financial accountability. Do you have information on this?
(researcher, LSHTM, UK)

Answer: Lots of public toilets, the majority in slums and peri-urban areas just don’t work right and are really horrible. As with all things where money flows and contractors are used, there can be problems. One good example of transparency in finance and good operating facilities comes from Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu where the public toilet/baths are run by federated women’s savings groups where the members check each other.

Read more on the Tiruchi model:

Ganapathy, V. “A silent revolution for healthy living in the slums of Tiruchi” in Martin J. Bunch, V. Madha Suresh and T. Vasantha Kumaran, eds., Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Environment and Health, Chennai, India, 15-17 December, 2003. Chennai: Department of Geography, University of Madras and Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University. Pages 138 – 142.

Andhra team praises Tiruchi model of pay-and-use toilets, The Hindu, 11 Jan 2005, http://www.hindu.com/2005/01/11/stories/2005011106570300.htm

Documents
In addition, you can find more about public toilets through IRC´s library database IRCDOC, using the following links:

http://www.irc.nl/docsearch/results/?subj=104453 (public toilets)
http://www.irc.nl/docsearch/results/?subj=102046 (community blocks)

One of the publications from the first list gives some interesting insights from outside India:

Ayee, J. and Crook, R. (2003). Toilet wars : urban sanitation services and the politics of public-private partnerships in Ghana. (Working paper / IDS; no. 213). Brighton, UK, University of Sussex, Institute of Development Studies.

This paper examines the impact of the new forms of partnership between the public authorities and private/citizen-based organisations on urban environmental sanitation in the two largest cities of Ghana – Accra and Kumasi. It traces the history of public toilet policies in the two cities and analyses the factors that contributed to their relative failure in poor neighbourhoods. Toilets consistently have been poorly managed and have been the site of local political conflicts – toilet wars – despite efforts at franchising them and involving communities in their management. This is attributable to the politics of patronage at the urban level, the relationship between city government patronage and community level groups, and the failure of regulation. Public-private partnerships have not worked. The provision of reasonable sanitation facilities may require: full public provision of basic infrastructure; transparent, independent and rigorous regulation of any contracts for service provision given to non-state agencies; and the enforcement of “conflict of interest” laws applying to elected local representatives.

A good overview of experiences with public toilets in India is:

Burra, S. ; Patel, S. and Kerr, T. (2003). Community-designed, built and managed toilet blocks in Indian cities. Environment and urbanization ; vol. 15, no 2 ; p.. 11-32.

This paper describes the ten-year programme of community designed, built and managed toilet blocks undertaken by urban poor federations and women’s cooperatives, with support from the Indian NGO SPARC. This programme has reached hundreds of thousands of poor urban dwellers with much improved sanitation and facilities for washing; it has also demonstrated how such provision is affordable and manageable for all Indian cities. But this programme has also demonstrated to city authorities the capacity and competence of urban poor organizations, and helped change the relationship between the residents of slums and local government agencies. The paper begins by explaining why sanitation has been neglected, and describes the inadequacies in government sanitation programmes. It then describes the first experiments with community sanitation and the difficult negotiations in many cities, including Mumbai, Kanpur and Bangalore. Then it discusses the major community toilet programmes that developed in Pune and Mumbai. It highlights the innovations that allowed these to work better than previous public toilet blocks, the reasons why the urban poor organizations took on these projects, the lessons learnt and the ways in which community toilet blocks helped address other problems faced by the urban poor.

WIN
Finally, you may also want to contact the Water Integrity Network (WIN). They are promoting anti-corruption solutions in water, sanitation and water resources management worldwide.

Pre-paid water systems

Q: Do you have information about systems to charge users for water use at source? In particular information on pre-paid card or coin operated water points.
(Manager of small waterschemes, Benin)

Answer: here is some background information on pre-paid water systems.

Pre-paid systems are strongly opposed by some NGOs. Their reasons are summarized in: 11 Reasons to Oppose Prepaid Water Meters, http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/right/prepaid/11-reasons-to-oppose-prepaid-water-meters

For news on this issue see also:

Uganda: introducing a pre-paid water system and free sewer connections, Source Weekly, 25 Aug 2006, http://www.irc.nl/page/30487

Namibia: NGO slams prepaid water scheme, Source Weekly, 10 Apr 2006, http://www.irc.nl/page/28645

South Africa: cost recovery policy detrimental for HIV/AIDS-affected households, Source Weekly, 11 Oct 2006, http://www.irc.nl/page/31182

On implementation of prepaid systems see:

Nigerian parliamentarians pay by smart card, Source Bulletin, 14 Nov 2004, http://www.irc.nl/page/6077

Johannesburg Water

- Prepayment water meter, http://www.johannesburgwater.co.za/uploads/publications/Prepayment.pdf

- Presentation of the Operation Gcin’ Amanzi Project to the Pre-Payment Innovation Award Competition, http://www.spintelligent-events.com/auw2006/web-files/pdf/JHB%20Water.pdf

Rainwater harvesting in Uganda

Q: Here we receive heavy rains for almost two-three months as it is rigth now, the season has just began and it covers almost the alll country. But no way of reserving this water for the dry season.
(Teacher in secondary school, Uganda)

Answer: On our IRC website you will find information on rainwater harvesting and links to websites and documents at http://www.irc.nl/page/14666

The following organisations may have more specific information on the situation in your region.

The Uganda Rainwater Association (URWA)
Secretariat
Plot 27, Room 203
Clement Hill Road,
P o. Box 34209,
KAMPALA
Tel No: 256-41-340201
Email: urwa@infocom.co.ug, urwa@searnet.org
http://www.gharainwater.org/urwa_aboutus.html

SEARNET (Southern and Eastern Africa Rainwater Network) Global Water Partnership - Associated Programme ICRAF House, UN avenue, Gigiri P. O. Box 30677, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Tel: (+254 20) 722 44 00 / 722 44 24
Fax: (+254 20) 722 40 01
E-mail: searnet@cgiar.org
http://www.searnet.org/home.asp

The One World Africa website: http://africa.oneworld.net/guides/water/harvesting

I hope this information will be useful.

Handwashing and diarrhoea

Q: We are currently undertaking a Cochrane systematic review of the effects of hand washing promotion on diarrhea in adults and children. We are looking for completed (1981-date) or ongoing evaluation studies. Could you help us?
Associate professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Answer: You may find the following review study useful input for your review:

Review of hand washing programmes
Overview of research on: the impact of handwashing with soap; handwashing behaviours; promoting handwashing behaviours; and critical issues. It is written by Kathleen Shordt of IRC for the Hygiene Improvement Project (HIP). This project is funded by USAID and supported by the Academy for Educational Development (AED). Incl. 4 p. bibliography.
http://www.irc.nl/page/31717

Basic water quantity

Q: I need information on the international quantity standards of basic water supply. I have read 20 litres is a minimum, but does that include hygiene for example?
(Researcher, South Africa)

Answer: 20 liters includes personal hygiene, according to the WHO Technical note for emergencies : minimum quantity needed for domestic use in emergencies:

"Medium term allocation: 15-20 Lpcd (sustainable for a few months)
• Drinking: 3-4 Lpcd
• Food preparation, cleanup: 2-3 Lpcd
• Personal hygiene: 6-7 Lpcd
• Laundry: 4-6 Lpcd"

See Reed (2005) below for more tables and figures on water quantity and its use:

Also, the WHO states on their web site:

Based on estimates of requirements of lactating women who engage in moderate physical activity in above-average temperatures, a minimum of 7.5 litres per capita per day will meet the requirements of most people under most conditions. This water needs to be of a quality that represents a tolerable level of risk. However, in an emergency situation, a minimum of 15 litres is required. A higher quantity of about 20 litres per capita per day should be assured to take care of basic hygiene needs and basic food hygiene. Laundry/bathing might require higher amounts unless carried out at source.

Source: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/emergencies/qa/emergencies_qa5/en/index.html

And, Les Roberts argues in his article "Diminishing standards: How much water do people need?":

"UNHCR's [1] guideline regarding water quantity in the 1960s was adopted from that of the WHO [2], 30 litres per person per day (l/p/d). This standard was not adapted from empirical data contrasting healthy populations with unhealthy populations, but was established by "experts" estimating the amounts of water needed for cooking, washing, drinking, etc., and then adding up the total daily requirements.

In the 1970s the WHO standard was reduced to 20 l/p/d and the UNHCR target followed suit.

In 1982 UNHCR declared the desirable goal to be 15 to 20 litres [3] and by 1992 it was calling for a minimum allocation of 15 l/p/d. But "when hydrogeological or logistic constraints are difficult to address, a per capita allocation of 7 litres per person per day should be regarded as the minimum 'survival' allocation. This quantity will be raised to 15 litres per day as soon as possible" [4].

Again, the new target was based on what was actually occurring given the relief communities' funding and workload, and was in no way based on human health data. At the time, the average water provision to an African refugee was perhaps only 12 l/p/d, in spite of the UNHCR standard [5].

While the new target is a "survival" ration, millions of refugees throughout the world currently receive between 7 and 15 l/p/d. The new "survival" target enables project managers to say that, while we are not providing an ideal quantity of water, provisions are well above the survival level. Thus, the diminishing quantity standard is fundamentally to provide political protection rather than public health protection.

[…]Thus, from a public health perspective, our guidelines should say "15 to 20 l/p/d are required during the acute phase of a crisis, but less may be sufficient in the later phases", rather than vice versa."

More data and guidelines on (minimum) water quantity requirements are available in:

Nozaic, D. (2002). Water quality and quantity
In: Wijk-Sijbesma, C.A. van (ed.) and Smet, J.E.M. (ed.) (2002). Small community water supplies : technology, people and partnership. (Technical paper series / IRC; no. 40). Delft, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
Download the PDF file (109KB) or go to the IRC web site to download it

Minimum standards in water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion
In: Sphere Project (2004). The Sphere project : humanitarian charter and minimum standards in disaster response. Rev. ed. Geneva, Switzerland, Sphere Project.

Howard, G. and Bartram, J. (2003). Domestic water quantity, service level and health. Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization (WHO).

Reed, B. (2005). Minimum water quantity needed for domestic use. (WHO technical note for emergencies ; no. 9).
Dowload the PDF file (517 KB)

Roberts, L. (1998). Diminishing standards: How much water do people need?
Extract from FORUM: Water and war.

For which topics should we provide funds?

Q: Which aspects of the global water crisis and which areas of the world are most in need of funding? How does IRC itself prioritise where its resources will be best put to use?
(Researcher of a philanthropic and nonprofit consulting firm, USA)

Answer: At IRC we have published a report in which we analyse 17 existing trends in the water and sanitation sector.

This report was developed as part of a process of strategy development undertaken by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. It includes the outcome of a process of sector trend analysis, and scenario building that was developed over a period of about a year as part of the development of a new five-year business plan for IRC. It is therefore written from a very particular point of view, namely that of a medium-sized non-governmental resource centre, based in the Netherlands but operating exclusively in the South. The paper tries to look into the future, to understand what currently observable trends in the sector, the wider development world, and the rather specific area of Dutch development strategy may mean.

Fonseca, C. and Moriarty, P. (2006). WASH scenarios for 2015 : a trends analysis paper. Delft, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
Download the document: http://www.irc.nl/page/28445.

You could also take a look at WaterAid´s Advocacy issue sheet


DONOR POLICIES

DGIS, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands

* Drinking water and sanitation for 50 million people - Holland Water Aid, March 2006

DfID, UK

* Why we need a global action plan on water and sanitation, published 11 Nov 2006
* Keeping our promises: A second update on DFID’s work in water and sanitation since the Water Action Plan, 2004


OTHER DOCUMENTS

Human Development Report 2006

Water is life and water for livelihoods are the focus of UNDP's 2006 Human Development Report. Across much of the developing world, unclean water is an immeasurably greater threat to human security than violent conflict, according to the Report, entitled Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis.
Read more : http://www.irc.nl/page/31625

CSD 13: Dutch NGOs propose actions on water, sanitation and human settlements

Following a debate on 29 November 2004 in The Hague, The Netherlands, Dutch NGOs formulated concrete actions on water, sanitation and human settlements in preparation for the 13th Session of the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) in April 2005. The NGOs call for inclusion of the human right to water, sanitation and human settlements in national legislation. They also state that water should be recognised as a public trust in national and international law and that it should therefore not be privatised. In addition, absolute priority should be given to improve livelihoods of poor people living in urban slums and rural areas.

The actions proposed covered the following five areas:

* legislation and regulations
* capacity building and education;
* participation;
* financing; and
* coordination and cooperation.

The full text of the Dutch NGO paper is available here: http://www.mondialedo.nl/uploaded_files/NGO%20Paper%20final.doc

Installing a water pump in community

Q: we would like to utilise our wedding to raise money to buy a (solar) pump or two and then spend our honeymoon installing it in a community which really needs it. Could you help us?
(couple from Australia)

Answer: Nice idea! Please find below some remarks and suggestions how you could go about it.

Please keep in mind that the other way around might be more appropriate: look at what the community needs and act accordingly, in stead of selecting the technology for them. It might even be that they will benefit more by providing feed for donkeys; strong netting so animals do not eat their crops; or by giving women tools and seeds to start small market gardens, than by giving a solar pump which they might not be able to maintain.

In the publication: "Linking Technology Choice with Operation and Maintenance for Low-Cost Water Supply and Sanitation (2.40 MB)" two basic principles are outlined:
1) communities need to be involved in selecting technologies from the start of the process,
2) planners should adopt a demand-driven approach.

This guidance manual is designed to help in the selection of rural and low-income water supply and sanitation technologies. Part I provides an introduction to operation and maintenance and the factors influencing technology choice. Part II comprises 50 illustrated fact sheets on various low-cost water supply and sanitation technologies.

ORGANISATIONS to contact for more information on (solar) pumps, and for information on their projects and communities they are involved in:

Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN)
Formerly called the "Handpump Technology Network"(HTN) aims to facilitate the provision of safe water and sanitation to the poor and deprived through the promotion of sustainable technologies - primarily hand-pump technology - that are affordable and responsive to the needs of the users.
RWSN Secretariat
Skat Foundation
Vadianstrasse 42
CH-9000 St.Gallen
Switzerland
- Telephone: +41 71 228 54 54
- FAX: +41 71 228 54 55
- E-mail: rwsn@skat.ch
- Web: http://www.rwsn.ch/

RWSN has published "Handpumps, Mechanised Pumps, Surface Water - Technology Options", a small compendium of technology options for rural water supply. Briefly describing the various types of most common handpumps and providing information on motorised pumps, including solar pumps.

Pump Aid, Water for Life
Founded in Zimbabwe, Pump Aid works to relieve poverty in Africa using appropriate and sustainable technology to provide clean water for drinking and irrigation.
- Address: 52 Priory Road
Loughborough
LE11 3PP Leicestershire
United Kingdom
- Telephone: +44 1283 713902
- E-mail: IanThorpe@pumpaid.org, karenmercer@pumpaid.org
- Web: http://www.pumpaid.org/

Further good info on the solar pump can be get from Practica Foundation based in the Netherlands. They facilitate research, development and commercial application of technology in the field of water and energy in developing countries. Practica works with a network of partner organisations that produce, promote and sell improved rural products.
http://practicafoundation.nl/technologies/solarpump.html

PUBLICATIONS

ITDG Practical Brief on solar water pumping

Smart Water Solutions,
Examples of innovative, low-cost technologies for wells, pumps, storage, irrigation and water treatment. A Joint publication of NWP, Practica, Partners for Water, IRC, SIMAVI, Agromisa, NCDO, and Aqua for All.

I hope this will help you further for your wedding. I wish you all the best, and a great day!