Blog - Water Services That Last
This blog aims to regularly report experiences, stories and questions on rural water supply. It will ask questions and provoke debate on how sustainability of water systems can be improved. It seeks to provide examples and learn from failures. It does not aim to provide ready-made answers; if those would exist, they would win the Nobel Prize for Water, or, more likely, the Silver Bullet Award.
We invite you to contribute your thoughts and stories, to provoke and to question, and to share these debates more widely.
Overcoming the danger zone
08 Apr 12
On April 20, Ministers of Water and Sanitation from around the world will meet with their Ministers of Finance in Washington D.C. as part of the Sanitation and Water (SWA) for All High Level Meeting. There, they will discuss sector goals and progress, and it goes without saying that the recent announcement that the Millennium [...]
A day in the life of… a circuit rider
31 Mar 12
José Miguel is a circuit rider: a technician responsible for providing technical assistance to a number of water committees in his area around San Vicente in El Salvador. There are around 30 water systems on his circuit which he visits regularly. This week I had the pleasure to accompany him on part of his route, [...]
Invocacy and the role of the change agent
27 Mar 12
Dear Sarah, Although I was present at the birth of the ‘invocacy’ notion and thus know what it is about, I still like the emphasis on the importance of engagement and joint processes of learning and change. Advocacy tends to talk ‘to’ while invocacy aims to talk ‘with’ (people in) organisations and be understanding and considerate [...]
Do we need a new model for advocacy?
25 Mar 12
The traditional NGO advocacy model focuses on creating pressure for change through ‘awareness raising’ activities. The idea is that if people are aware of the need for change, it will happen. But does this approach really work? And more specifically, is it an effective path to influencing the policies of organisations and governments? [...]
Do we need a new model for advocacy?
25 Mar 12
The traditional NGO advocacy model focuses on creating pressure for change through ‘awareness raising’ activities. The idea is that if people are aware of the need for change, it will happen. But does this approach really work? And more specifically, is it an effective path to influencing the policies of organisations and governments? Take [...]
Philippines: toolbox for rural water utilities launched
24 Mar 12
The Philippine government – together with the World Bank, the United Nations through the Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund (MDG-F) and other development partners – have launched a ‘local water governance toolbox’. The toolbox is aimed at small-scale water service providers (SSWPs) with less than 5,000 connections. Otherwise known as “Tubig Yaman,” this new set [...]
Going with the FLOW
23 Mar 12
On World Water Day, CNN International published the article “Going with the ‘FLOW’ towards better sanitation”. In this Stef Smits, research officer at Triple-S is interviewed. He refers back to his earlier blog post on whether the glass is half full, or half empty. “Reaching the last 10% of the population — those living in remote [...]
It IS a theory, it DID exist at the start, now let’s learn from it!
13 Mar 12
My name is Deirdre Casella. I am a Programme Officer and have worked in various capacities at IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre since December 1999. My current focus is coordinating the monitoring and learning work of the Triple-S project. In Triple-S we aim to ‘proceed with good intent’, as our friend Chris Mowles is [...]
Is the glass half full or half empty?
09 Mar 12
This week the Joint Monitoring Program of the United Nations announced that the MDG for water supply has been reached, most likely already somewhere in 2010. 5 years ahead of the deadline the percentage of the World’s population without access to safe water supplies has been halved. This is no mean feat and would be [...]
Indian district sets up rural water supply service network
08 Mar 12
The district council (Zilla Panchayat) of Shimoga in Karnataka has established a rural water supply service network with “ round-the-clock” control rooms at district and sub-district (taluk) levels, the Hindu newspaper reported. Priority would be given to maintaining cleanliness around the drinking water supply units in rural areas. Officials had been directed to repair borewells. The sub-district control [...]
