Issue 22 August 26, 2011 | Focus on Water Kiosks
This WASHplus Weekly contains reports on water kiosks experiences in Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi and Tanzania. Water kiosks are booths for the sale of tap water. Kiosks can be operated by employees of utilities, by self-employed operators under contract with utilities or water committees consisting of volunteers. Involving communities in deciding about the location of kiosks, their opening hours and the choice of the kiosk operators increases the likelihood of kiosks being accepted and functioning well. In addition to reports, there are also links to videos and recent newspaper articles on water kiosks.
REPORTS/WIKIS
- Business Models for Delegated Management of Local Water Services: Experience from Naivasha, Kenya, 2011. Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP). Link to report
This brief describes a business model for delegated management of local water services, recently developed with WSUP support in the Kenyan Rift Valley town of Naivasha. This business model is designed to ensure affordable but high-quality services for consumers, profitability for the operators, and sufficient revenues for sustainable asset maintenance. - A Focus on Sustainable Finance: Small Water Kiosks, 2011. Safe Water Network. Link to report
The Safe Water Network (SWN) manages more than 15 safe water kiosks providing over 100,000 people with access to safe, affordable water on a daily basis. They expect to have 25 kiosks in place by the end of 2011. The sites are located, sized and constructed in a diverse range of settings and geographies to establish a learning platform that enables SWN to validate models that address challenges to sustainability. - Managing Communal Water Kiosks in Malawi: Experiences in Water Supply Management in Poor Urban Settlements in Lilongwe, n.d. WaterAid. Link to report
If a public/private water utility is going to be efficient and effective in providing water to the urban poor, it must have a dedicated unit to address issues that often go unattended by the utility company, especially the revenue collection and projects departments. Since the establishment of the Kiosk Management Unit, the Lilongwe Water Board has been able to improve its revenue collection and more importantly its understanding of challenges in providing water to low income areas. - Small-scale Water Providers in Kenya: Pioneers or Predators, 2011. United Nations Development Program. Link to report
From a policy viewpoint, piped water connections on premises remain the most affordable and safe system of water provision. In the meantime, supporting fixed-point water suppliers such as public taps and water kiosks represents a second-best solution. Strengthening capacity within regulatory institutions is required to ensure affordability and quality of the water provided. - Water Kiosks Wiki. Link to wiki
This wiki provides a brief description of water kiosks in several countries and links to studies and evaluations. - Water Prices in Dar es Salaam: Do Water Kiosks Comply with Official Tariffs? 2010. UWAZI. Link to report
This brief discusses prices charged for water at a randomly selected sample of 25 water kiosks in Dar es Salaam. Findings reveal that the official tariff of 20 shillings per 20 liter set by EWURA is not followed. None of the visited kiosks charged this price and many charged seven times or even ten times as much.
VIDEOS/PHOTO COLLECTIONS
- Price of Water in Dar es Salaam, 2010. UWAZI. Link to video
This video is about the high prices charged to the urban poor at water kiosks in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. - Flickr Collection of Water Kiosks Photos, 2011. GTZ. Link to photos
Photos of water kiosks in Zambia. - Melissa Opryszko on Water Kiosk Research, 2011. Johns Hopkins University.Link to video
Melissa Opryszko, a Ph.D. candidate at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, explains her research with potable water kiosks in Ghana and how this work was funded by an anonymous gift.
IN THE NEWS (Recent newspaper articles about water kiosks)
- Aug 20, 2011 – Malawi – Kunkuyu Opens Three Kiosks in Blantyre, August 20, 2011 - Link
Water problems in some parts of Blantyre City West will improve following the opening of three kiosks in the constituency. - July 31, 2011 – India Water Kiosks sans Water – Link
This article discusses the fact that many thanneer pandals (water kiosks) with drinking water for the general public, setup by various political parties before the State elections, are now in a shambles. - July 24, 2011 – Haiti: American Red Cross Announces Plans to Improve Water Delivery in Haiti – Link
Over the next few months, the Haitian Red Cross will provide technical, material, and financial support, including 15 water trucks and three de-sludging trucks, to the Direction Nationale de l’Eau Potable et de l’Assainissement and will also work with DINEPA to build community-managed water kiosks in neighborhoods currently not connected to a piped-water supply. - April 28, 2011 – Kenya: Board Discovers Water Kiosks Cartel – Link
Coast Water Services Board has unearthed a cartel involving some water kiosk owners in Mikindani, Mombasa who conspire to create an artificial shortage in the area. - Feb 15, 2011 – HabiHut Successfully Pilots Solar Powered Water Kiosk in Kenya – Link
HabiHut, LLC. has successfully installed and deployed 3 HabiHut solar water kiosks in Kenya. The pilot units were installed in cooperation with Umande Trust, a Kenyan based NGO. The demonstration units were installed in 1 day versus the 6 months that it takes for other competitive water kiosk solutions and at a third less of the cost.
