How can small-scale water supply systems, most of which are located in rural areas, be strengthened? The World Health Organization (WHO) has made six recommendations to governments and water sector players around the world, including in Africa. They are set out in its new document entitled "Guidelines for drinking water quality: small-scale water supply systems", published on February 15, 2024
Are technical failures in small-scale water supply systems and insufficient funding the causes of water shortages in rural areas? The World Health Organization (WHO) is convinced of this, and deplores the consequences, notably the proliferation of water-borne diseases (cholera, dengue fever, diarrhea, scabies, etc.).
“Although significant progress has been made in this sector, in 2022, 2.2 billion people still lacked access to safely managed drinking water on the planet, the majority of them living in rural areas, which are generally served by small water supply systems,” says the WHO. Of these 2.2 billion people, 400 million are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The WHO makes this observation in its new report entitled “Drinking water quality guidelines: small-scale water supply systems”, published on February 15, 2024. In the document, the specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) also sets out six recommendations for improving access to this essential service, on which sanitation and hygiene also depend, particularly on the African continent.
Establish rural water data systems
First of all, we need to assess the favorable environmental conditions that affect the provision of water services to small businesses, in order to help strengthen the system. The basic service parameters to be examined are accessibility (or coverage), quantity, quality, continuity and affordability.
WHO’s second recommendation is for governments to establish regulations for small water supply systems, which promote risk management practices and define priority monitoring parameters and frequencies based on risk. WHO also calls for regulatory approaches that encourage the move towards professionalization, operation and management of small water supplies in countries.
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To strengthen access to drinking water in rural areas on all five continents, the WHO recommends in fourth place the promotion and support of water action plans, which should be implemented by water suppliers to manage risks as effectively as possible, from catchment to consumer.
The WHO’s final two recommendations for strengthening small water supply systems are the practice of risk-based monitoring, including auditing water suppliers’ risk management practices and using limited resources to solve problems. And strengthening systems for sharing and using water data to inform decision-making and action on water management in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and Oceania.
Inès Magoum
