On this page, we have attached all documents, we find interesting and relevant to the cause. They are the basis of our research and decision to found this organisation.
Evaluation of potable water production
Environmental Impact of Water and Sanitation Issues
Water Well Design and Construction
Executive Summary of the Uganda Water Survey from 2007
Executive Summary
Introduction: This is the fifth Water and Sanitation Sector Performance Report (SPR) for Ugandan Water and sanitation Sector. The 2007 SPR provides a comprehensive overview of the sector for the financial year 2006/7 and analyses sector performance, draws together data and analysis with respect to urban and rural water supply and sanitation, water for production and water resources management. The report also gives several examples of best practices thus providing the reader with insights into some of the exiting innovations that are being undertaken by communities, local Governments and NGOs in the Ugandan water and sanitation sector.
The 2007 SPR has been produced by the Ministry of Water and Environment with major inputs from the Environmental Health Division of Ministry of Health, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, the Ministry of Education and Sports, WASH Cluster NGOs (mainly working on emergencies in Northern Uganda), and the Uganda Water and Sanitation NGO Network (UWASNET).
Sector Finance: The Water and Sanitation sector had a total budget allocation of UGX 143bn for the FY2006/07 of which UGX 125bn was released by MFPED and UGX 121bn was spent. The budget allocations between sub sectors (excluding donor funds of UGX 47bn to NWSC) was 54% for Rural Water, 29% for urban, 7% for Water for Production, 7% for Water Resources Management and 3% for institutional support. NGO/CBOs members reported investments of UGX 9bn between Jan and Dec 2006 and WASH Cluster NGO/CBO Members who provide emergency water supply and sanitation in the north reported an investment of UGX 24 bn between Jan 2006 and Aug 2007.
Rural Water and Sanitation Sub sector: The total expenditure in FY 2006/7 in subsector was UGX 42.1 billion (DWSCG + Support to rural water + School/community sanitation/IDP + energy for rural transformation). The population served through the DWSCG was 643,826, resulting in an overall cost per new person served of UGX 65,390 (US$ 38). This is within the target figure of US$40.
It is recommended that the allocation formula for district conditional grants be reviewed to take into consideration the needs of the least served districts/ water stressed areas, with high per capita investment costs, that continue to lag behind other districts over the years.
Urban Water and Sanitation Sub-Sector:
Small towns: 9 small towns piped water supplies and RGCs were completed in FY 2006/7 serving a design population of 71,135 at a cost of UGX 7.1bn. The average per capita investment was UGX 98,5389($58) which was within the target per capita investment of $75.
Large towns: Out of a total requirement of UGX 9 billion from the GoU, funds allocated amounted to only UGX 2.4 billion, a quarter of the total requirement. This impaired the implementation of projects and resulted in a number of unpaid certificates for contractors.
Despite Government funding shortfalls, Gaba III and Entebbe Water Supply Projects were completed during FY 2006/07. The production capacity in Kampala increased by 80,000 m3 of water per day, while in Entebbe, it increased by about 12,000 m3 per day. The water supply to the areas, which had intermittent supply especially in the north eastern Kampala areas of Namugongo and Kyaliwajala has subsequently improved.
Water Resources Sub-Sector: The water resources sub-sector reform study estimated the financial requirements for implementation of water resources activities over a 10-year period at US$ 60.71 million. This translates to a funding requirement of UGX 10 billion per year. Currently, the sub sector gets an average of UGX 6.5billion per year, which is only 7% of the total sector budget.
The water resources management department has experienced a funding shortfall over the FY 2006/07. Out of the expected GoU and Donor financing of UGX 6.4billion, 4.5bn was released. The financing trend for WRM activities has generally been on the decline since starting period of SWRMD in 2003.
Permit issuance and compliance monitoring were prioritised in 2006; out of target of 100 permits, 69 none were issued; 102 permit holders were monitored for compliance against a target of 110. Ground water mapping in six districts of West Nile and the exercise is ongoing in 16 Districts of Eastern and Western Uganda.
The low water levels at Jinja have persisted and therefore release at Jinja Power dam was kept constant at 750 cumecs; this is still slightly over the release curve value of 740 cumecs at the current water level.
Massive algal blooms have been experienced on the shorelines of Lake Victoria since February 2007. Algal blooms are a symptom of eutrophic lakes and tend to become more frequent with global warming as a result of climate change.
Analysis of municipal effluents from wastewater treatment facilities in all the large towns under NWSC revealed low compliance to national standards. 223 data sets for 2006/7 for BOD, phosphorus and total suspended solids were analysed and compliance to wastewater standards was found to be 12%, 26% and 40% respectively.
Some of the analytical equipment procured ten years ago under the Water Resources Assessment Project (WRAP) for the laboratory in Entebbe has broken down and needs replacement.
Given the high demands on water resources in Uganda, and the demands on the new Directorate of Water Resources Management, there is urgent need to strengthen the new Directorate with resources (financial and human) to enable them perform the function, especially regulation and compliance monitoring and IWRM, which are currently inadequate. Furthermore, the analytical capability of the laboratory should be up-graded to be able to analyze parameters with health implications in water like algal toxins, organics and toxic metals.
Water for Production Sub-Sector: In FY 2006/07 a total of UGX 5.14 billion was released for Water for Production activities. The following was achieved: 6 windmill powered borehole installed, 2 valley tanks completed, Studies for bulkwater supply: in the water stressed districts of Nakasongola and Rakai completed, and 14No. feasibility studies were completed.
The total storage capacity created during the FY 2006/07 was 52,400 m3 against a planned storage of 341,000m3 . This shortfall was due to insecurity in Karamoja which caused the suspension of reconstruction of Kailong dam in Kotido District and completion of Kulodwong dam in Abim District.
Investment Requirements All four sub-sectors (rural, urban, water for production and water resources) are constrained in meeting their targets by lack of resources. Consolidation of the sector investment plans is in progress and will guide the sector on the overall deficits.
Sanitation and Hygiene: The national latrine coverage stands 59%; a slight improvement from 58% of June 2006. The pupil: stance ratio stands at 69:1 as at June 2007 compared to the 61:1 in June 2006. Sample surveys in districts indicate an average of 60% of sanitation facilities had handwashing facilities.
Sanitation activities were carried out from 15th to 21 March 2007 for the Uganda National Hygiene and Sanitation Week under the theme “Total Sanitation, Is Your neighbour Killing You”. The activities were implemented jointly by district water, health, education departments, and NGOs. These included Involving Religious & Cultural Leaders, Regional celebrations in Kawempe, Lira, Tororo & Rakai, Parliament Photo Exhibition, National Sanitation Song Competition, Student National Essay Competition, Special Sanitation Magazine publication.
The service coverage for sewerage services as at June 2007 was about 7%. Despite the introduction of a new simplified sewerage connection policy in the FY 2006/07, new sewer connections have remained very low at about 250 per annum. The major reason for the low sewer connection rate is the limited sewerage network coverage, and the reluctance of customers to connect to the sewer system due to the fact that most of them already have onsite sanitation facilities. In the case of Small towns, the high investment costs for sewerage remains a limiting factor and poses a challenge due to its competition for limited resources with water supply.
The sector recommends a spirited revitalisation of the KDS as a key platform for raising the profile of hygiene and sanitation at all levels. Finalisation of study on establishing a budget line for sanitation within local governments is key to raising the sanitation coverage across the country.
Training and Capacity Building: The sector continued to invest in training and capacity building for both the central government and local government personnel involved in the implementation of Water and Sanitation activities at various levels. These include short tailor made courses, graduate and post graduate academic programs at local universities, and field attachments for fresh graduates of engineering and social sciences.
Performance measured against the “golden” indicators
The table below provides a summary of the sector performance against ten golden indicators.
Please see statistics table provided in separate link
Access to improved water supply: Access to improved water supplies in rural areas increased from 61.0% in FY 2005/6 to 63.1 in FY 2006/07 (assuming 100% functionality). Investments into source improvements are not keeping ahead of rural population growth (3.3%). It has been estimated that access to water within 1km is 56.1% and within 0.5km is 39%. When analysis of access is done at the lowest appropriate level (village), the best estimate of access is obtained.
There is a need to obtain more detailed information from districts and NGOs at planning and reporting stages. This will entail among other measures to map all point water sources at village level and obtain population figures from UBOS at village / parish level to better estimate access.
Access to functional water sources varies considerably between Districts (from 12% to over 95%). Despite the increased expenditure of the sector grant, the outputs are not able to keep up with population growth from F/Y 2003/4. If the grant does not increase considerably, and per capita expenditure trends continue, the DWSCG (“business as usual approach”) will not enable the national PEAP targets to be met. The ten least served sub-counties and districts in 2005/06FY were still in least served in 2006/07FY. Analysis during FY 2006/07 showed that the per capita investment costs in the least served /water stressed areas is higher than in the best served districts because the cheap options (spring protection, shallow wells) are not feasible, and thus the only options are either deep borehole drilling or rainwater harvesting which have higher per capita costs. In some water stressed areas, large scale piped water systems are the only option of raising access.
It is recommended that the total DWSCG is increased, and special targeted programmes for water stressed areas and the perpetually least served districts be designed and implemented.
Access to improved water supplies in urban areas is estimated at 56%. This suggests an increase of 5% from last year. This change arises in part due to a difference in the scope of the source data used for Small Towns in 2006/7 and 2005/06. The major difference is that this year, the estimate is based on data for 149 small towns and RGCs whereas the data source for 2005/06 was based on 167 towns. Access to improved water supplies in towns ranged from 5% to 95%.
More effort should be made in obtaining data for coverage for all the 149 small towns as well as for indicators of functionality and investment costs so as to improve on the indicator measurement.
Functionality of improved water supplies: The average national functionality rate of rural water supplies has stayed the same, at 83%, for the last two FYs (2005/06 and 2006/07). On average, functionality rates are lowest for valley tanks. In order to improve functionality, the DWD/MWE has continued to disseminate the Operation and Maintenance Framework and made a provision in the sector guidelines to District local Governments for budgeting up 12% on software activities. A follow up of the functionality of the established supply chain was also done in districts; the results show that 38% of districts have improved their functionality while 66% have functionality levels above the national average of 83%.
Improved functionality is partly attributed to rehabilitation work undertaken during the FY 2006/07, and partly due to increased expenditure on software activities (7% of total grant was spent on software activities).
There is need for the sector to monitor quality of construction of water facilities through strengthening monitoring and supervision, procurement, and enforcement of regulation of service providers (Contractors and consultants). There is a further need to review the Policy pertaining to Community Based Maintenance System (CBMS) particularly for domestic water facilities. Voluntarism by caretakers and source committees is not tenable in the long run.
In the case of water for production facilities, the main reasons for the reduced functionality are siltation followed by mechanical problems (primarily pump breakdowns). Rehabilitation of these facilities should be considered as opposed to construction of new facilities in the same areas.
Investment Costs. The per capita cost of providing improved water to people in rural areas is US$ 38. This figure includes both central and DWSCG expenditure. Per capita costs vary between Districts. Analysis this year shows that technology mix has the greatest impact on per capita investment costs. The steady increase in per capita costs is due to a marked reduction in the availability of low cost options (springs and shallow wells), increased expenditure on overheads (in part as a result of the creation of new Districts; 36% of the grant in new districts was spent on start up costs of these new districts), increase in the cost of other resources (eg fuel, construction materials) as well as the increase in proportion of the total grant spent on borehole drilling. The funds spent on Gravity Flow Schemes and Rural Growth centres distort the annual investment cost because these schemes are constructed over multiple financial years and the people served are only reported when the schemes are complete.
In order to reduce per capita costs, the following is recommended:
???? encourage procurement of larger drilling contracts involving a cluster of Districts to exploit economies of scale. This has to be explored with Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority.
???? The Sector should invest in large schemes that can serve many people and have economies of scale.
???? The potential for alternative low-cost water supply options such as household water treatment or infiltration galleries should be studied.
???? In order to enable individual Districts to meet the PEAP targets, the allocation mechanism for the grant to districts and allocation of released grant within districts needs to be reviewed to target the least served.
NWSC is able to cover its operating costs plus depreciation leaving an operating profit. The cross subsidy arrangement allows NWSC to keep in operation the schemes which do not break even on their own.
Water Quality.
Although the National Water Quality Management Strategy has placed the responsibility of carrying out routine water quality monitoring on the districts, water quality monitoring in districts is still insufficient and data still scarce. In 2006/7, only 1% of the DWSCG was spent on water quality monitoring.
Iron removal plants piloted in 5 districts for boreholes with excess iron in ground water showed promising results (up to 95% iron removal).
NWSC is responsible for the provision of water and sewerage services in 22 large urban towns in Uganda. Analysis of municipal effluents from wastewater treatment facilities in all the large towns under NWSC revealed low compliance to national standards. 223 data sets for 2006/7 for BOD, phosphorus and total suspended solids were analysed and compliance to wastewater standards was found to be 12%, 26% and 40% respectively. The performance of wastewater treatment plants run by NWSC in all the towns has always been poor over the period 2004-2006.
The non-compliance to wastewater standards from the wastewater treatment plants is polluting water bodies especially L. Victoria from which raw water for the large towns is abstracted. NWSC is therefore, itself partly responsible for the high cost of water treatment it incurs as a result of deteriorating water quality of L. Victoria.
The scarcity of water quality data on rural drinking water sources resulting from lack of systematic monitoring of water supplies needs to be addressed urgently in order to be able to make a general assessment of the state of drinking water sources countrywide. It is recommended that implementation of the water quality management strategy be accelerated to addressed this shortfall.
It is recommended that low cost technologies for treatment of poor water quality is promoted at household level. In order to enforce wastewater discharge regulations, key sector partners like NWSC should set the good example of compliance. This may entail increased investment in the wastewater treatment plants to meet the demands of the increasing populations. Political support in enforcement of regulations is also hereby enlisted.
Water Quantity/Water for Production. The total storage capacity created during the FY 2006/07 was 52,400 m3. The current cumulative storage is only meeting 48% of the water demands. Unless the level of investment is increased the targets for storage for water for production will never be met.
It is recommended that investment into the water for production sub-sector is increased. In addition, farmers should be supported to improve their own water for production facilities (through loans, subsidies of equipment, technical advice).
Equity. Data generally indicates that districts with high coverage have fairly equitable distribution of improved water sources. A total of 20 districts have an equity score of less than 100, which implies good equitable distribution of water points between sub-counties.
Districts should be taking equity into consideration to a greater extent when allocating resources for rural water supplies. This should be done when revising the formula for allocation of conditional grants between districts and within districts.
There is regional disparity in the number of small towns served with piped water supplies. The northern part of Uganda is considerably worse off than the west.
There is a need for a dedicated programme / facility for piped water supply systems for Northern Uganda to meet the needs of the returning populations in addition to a conditional grant for rural water and sanitation
Implementation of the pro poor strategy seems to have stalled and thus needs re-invigoration especially water for the urban poor.
Management.
Field visits by MoWE and MoGLSD were undertaken jointly with district officials in 14 districts throughout Uganda. On average, 63% of WUCs were reported to be functional. Kamuli reported the highest percentage of functioning WUCs (91%) while Iganga reportedly had the lowest percentage of functioning committees (20.4 %). About 52% of the WUCs reported that they had received training.
In the case of small towns; 57 towns are managed by private operators and supported by the Water Authorities division of the Directorate of Water Development; 44 towns supported under the South Western Umbrella Organisation management structure; 32 towns registered for support under the new Umbrella Organisations in Eastern Uganda and Rwenzori region.
There is need for systematic follow-up of the impact of community training to be done by the local governments and the centre. DWD needs to guide the districts to undertake evaluation of the training activities to be able to achieve the desired results.
There is still need for universal metering in all schemes(RGCS, Small Towns and GFS) so that proper water balancing for water consumed is done. This will also help in effective and good calculations when and after setting adequate water tariffs for these systems.
Water quality monitoring is still a problem for regional Umbrella secretariats. The laboratories need to be operational and well equipped with proper equipment to serve a specific region. It is estimated that each laboratory should serve averagely 11 districts.
There is need for regular training in managerial, financial and technical issues for WSSBs and Operators by the various regional umbrella secretariats and the Water Authorities Division of the Directorate, at least twice a year.
Gender.
The purpose of gender mainstreaming is to ensure that women and men, girls and boys are able to move out of poverty and achieve improved and sustainable livelihoods.
Progress on gender mainstreaming in the Water and Sanitation Sector for the financial year 2006/2007 was based on field visits to 49 communities in 16 districts; review of PAF monitoring report for financial year (FY) 2006/7; and a case Study report assessing the application of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy, produced in financial year (FY) 2006/7.
The findings were as follows: 87% of the WUCs were found to have at least one woman holding a key position, the majority (30) being treasurers. The majority (92.3%)(n=26) of the trained hand pump mechanics in the 12 case study districts were men. There were very few gender related activities included in the district workplans.
Of the 12 Eastern Umbrella Organisation executive committee members, one is female and holds the position of Vice Chairperson. In the Western Umbrella Organisation executive committee, two out of nine members are women, both holding key positions namely those of Vice Chairperson and Treasurer.
There is still need to emphasise and implement gender mainstreaming activities at the centre and the district level. Planning and budgeting guidelines need to be reviewed to ensure that districts devote resources to this software indicator.
