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Women at work in rural Ethiopia. Image by Ami Vitale. Panos Pictures. Hollandse Hoogte

News and events

Find out about what IRC is doing and what is going on in the world of water, sanitation and hygiene.

Explore our wealth of articles, news items, events and more. Filter by everything from locations to IRC projects. It's all here: enjoy!

Water tank, Tamil Nadu

Case studies Community Water Plus Project

Published on: 11/06/2015
The Community Water Plus project investigates the support that is being provided to community-managed rural water supplies. This is being done for twenty case studies of programmes from across India.

Secretary at Patharpratima block office

Assessing the costs and impacts of support to community managed rural water supply in India; how to?

Published on: 05/06/2015
For community-managed rural water supply to be sustainable, a "plus" is needed: special efforts to empower communities during project implementation, and continued support from government during service delivery. The Community Water Plus project seeks to get a better understanding of the costs of...

Jalabandhu comes to inspect a handpump

Supporting community-managed handpumps in West Bengal, India

Published on: 20/05/2015
The Community Water Plus project assesses twenty cases of support to community managed rural water supplies across India. IRC carried out one of these studies around support to community-managed handpumps in Patharpratima, West Bengal. The case study concludes that an effective mechanism for...

A child fills his jerrycan with clean water from a tap on the Mugusu Piped Water Scheme, Kabarole district

Functionality of water supply systems key to national development

Published on: 25/03/2015
A message from IRC Uganda and Ministry of Water and Environment on the occasion of World Water Day 2015

bringing in the pipes for repair

Report provides guidance on resolution of problems with water systems

Published on: 22/10/2014
Your organisation is doing post-implementation monitoring of water systems and detects a serious problem. What to do? This guidance document, published by Improve International, helps in the resolution of those problems.

Moses Okello, Lira District Hand Pump Mechanics Association

New approach triggers community demand for O&M services

Published on: 21/07/2014
In an effort to improve functionality of water systems the Lira District Hand Pump Mechanics Association has introduced a new approach to prompt water users to demand operation and maintenance services.

Community water plus partners

About the project

Published on: 06/03/2014
Community management is the common model for rural water supply, but it has limitations, particularly when it comes to the ability to sustain services over the long-term. In an effort to identify what works and what doesn't when it comes to community management, the Community Water Plus project is...

Mechanics repairing a pump

Handpump mechanics associations: an experiment

Published on: 06/03/2014
Handpump mechanics support water user committees by repairing pumps upon breakdown. But mechanics' charges are high and inconsistent, and their access to spare parts varies. As costs and delays increase, communities become less willing to pay for repairs, and mechanics leave the business. In the...

Strengthening local service provision in West Bengal, India

Published on: 11/11/2013
Water for People has helped Sagar and Patharpratima boost coverage and improve sustainability.

Monitoring functionality of rural water services using mobile phone technology

Published on: 30/10/2013
Recent innovations in information technology have greatly improved the speed and accuracy in acquisition of data for improving service delivery in various fields including the WASH sector

'Water Alternatives' examines trends in rural water supply

Published on: 10/10/2013
A special issue of ' Water Alternatives' journal looks at trends in water services in rural areas.

Agua de una planta potabilizadora en la zona rural de Colombia

Governance and sustainability of drinking water systems in rural Colombia

Published on: 05/09/2013
A new report shows the impact of post-construction support on rural water supply in Colombia.

Capacity support to local government

Published on: 27/05/2013
Capacity support refers to support activities towards water service authorities and includes, the provision of technical assistance, monitoring and training of service authority staff around the key functions they are responsible for.

Direct support to rural water service providers

Published on: 27/05/2013
This includes the structured support activities to service providers as well as to users or user groups. This may be provided in a variety of ways by either local governments directly, by regional utility agencies, specialized agencies or external contractors or a by combination of these modalities.

Sustainability a major challenge for the Indian water sector

Published on: 04/04/2013
This presentation was given during the Indian High-Level Roundtable on Sustainable Drinking Water Services last 13 March 2013 in New Delhi.

District Local Governments cleared to give HPMAs business

Published on: 27/01/2013
PPDA waives procurement rules to assist HPMAs.

Hand Pump Mechanics Associations for improved functionality of rural water sources

Published on: 30/10/2012
Issues surrounding associations set up to strengthen rural water systems.

Planta de tratamiento de agua potable

Colombia: testing innovative models for rural water and sanitation services

Published on: 15/10/2012
The NGO “Give to Colombia” will implement several pilot projects that will serve as models for the Rural Water Supply and Wastewater Management Program in Colombia. The pilot projects will focus on WASH in schools, post-construction support, household connections and self-supply models. IRC has a...

Water boards need cash – and gumboots!

Published on: 01/08/2012
Sub-counties in Uganda's Kabarole District are excited about the potential of their new water and sanitation boards. But without financing, how can that potential be realised?

paul nyeko

Bridging the gap between districts and communities

Published on: 30/07/2012
In Uganda, new water and sanitation boards at sub-county level are designed to remedy the problem of lack of capacity in water user committees—making local management more professional and effective.

local man at the water pump

Hand pump mechanics get organised to keep water flowing

Published on: 09/07/2012
Uganda is establishing Hand Pump Mechanics Associations as a solution to low functionality of rural point sources. Do these associations bring better, more professional service to communities?

Hand pump mechanics

New Briefing Note on Hand Pump Mechanics Associations

Published on: 24/04/2012
In 2011 the Uganda Ministry of Water and Environment started to promote the formation of Hand Pump Mechanics Associations (HPMAs) as a way of enhancing sustainability of rural water services. This briefing note highlights the key issues emerging from the process thus far.

The concept of water-person-years

Published on: 23/05/2011
The concept of ‘water-person-years’ (WPY) is a new way of measuring the impact of investments. Assessing investments in WPY over a defined period of time, allows for a more efficient allocation of resources, and calls for a rethinking of the current development approach. Measuring in WPY is...