Sustainable Hand Pump and Spare Parts Supply and

             Maintenance Arrangements for Community Water Supply

             Systems in Ethiopia

Support to the Malawi Water and Sanitation sector in the development of an Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Framework for the Rural Water supply sub-sector. The framework is intended to harmonise existing discreet project-based O&M systems currently under implementation in the country and thus underpin the sector wide approach to development.

Country:

Throughout Ethiopia

Project Period:

Jan to April 2009

Name of Client(s):

World Bank

Description of the Project:

Investments in Rural Water Supply which focus on small scale affordable technologies can only create an impact if they are kept in working order. In Ethiopia, hand dug wells fitted with handpumps are the preferred source of drinknig water for small communities but up to a third of these are not functioning. Supply chains of handpumps and spare parts are a core element of operation and maintenance. The procurement of handpumps and spare parts and provision of maintenance services has been the responsibility of the Regional Water Bureaus and Woredas with the assistance and facilitation of sector partners including FINNIDA, JICA, UNICEF, AfDB, WaterAid and the World Bank.

A comprehensive study of supply chains for the water sector in 2003 was commissioned by the Ministry of Water Resources. However, given the importance of decentralising water supply to the local level, there was a need to build consensus and develop a common approach.