Akatsi District Assembly has taken action to address major failures of rural water services in its area, including broken pumps, missing management teams and lack of water quality testing. The district has approved a programme of action and a budget to support it, demonstrating that it has learned from a survey undertaken with the support of Triple-S and is committed to sustainable water service delivery.
Published on: 02/02/2013
The Akatsi District Baseline Study
Akatsi DistrictAssembly in the Volta Region of Ghana, undertook a baseline survey of water facilities in 2011 with technical and financial support from the Triple-S project. The baseline studywas to help assess the functionality of water facilities, service levels, and performance of service provider institutions and authority; and how these relate to sustainable water service delivery.
The district is one of the three Triple-S focus districts in Ghana.
The study Process
The study began with the development of service indicators in conjunction with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA). The indicators form a framework for analysing and documenting issues related to functionality and sustainability.
The study used Field Level Operations Watch (FLOW) technology for data collection. This involves the use of an android phone to take pictures of facilities and match them to their GPS coordinates. A web-based dashboard allows users to manage and analyse FLOW surveys and data, with map-based reporting tools displayed in Google Maps and Google Earth.
This technology made it possible for data to be collected on hundreds of water facilities within a short time.
Findings of the study
The findingsof the assessment study highlighted a number of issues affecting sustainable service delivery in the Akatsi district, including the following:
- 66 broken down handpumps,
- water facilities without management teams
- low level performance by service providers
- 31 hand pumps without WATSANs (orphan boreholes)
- no water quality analysis on any boreholes after installation of handpumps, although the standard is for testing every half year
- Lack of distinct replacement, operational or regular and sanitation accounts in Water and Sanitation Development Boards (WSDBs) as set out in their guidelines. Lack of audit of accounts. and Tariffs not based on projected costs, as WSDBs do not use the life-cycle costs approach
- 56 WATSANs with no records of operations
- 28% of boreholes in the district are serving populations above the maximum threshold of 300 people and are therefore overcrowded
Addressing study outcomes for sustainable service delivery
These revelations from the study stimulated discussions among stakeholders at the district level. The main concerns were to address some of the key findings by:
So far, a comprehensive assessment of all the broken down handpumps has been completed and this has led to the development of an action plan and budget by the District Assembly to address the issues. The plan and its complimentary budget were discussed at an executive committee meeting of the assembly and subsequently approved by the general assembly, the highest decision making body of the district. In furtherance of this;
Before the end of 2012, a second study of functionality was carried out by the District Assembly with support from the Triple-S regional learning facilitator.
Compiled by:
Tom Laari Chimbar and Victor Narteh Otum
