Sustainable Services – Rural Water Supply Network

Change our views – Blog 2: Confessions of a systems thinker and engineers as we listen

By Bethlehem Mengistu (Agenda for Change), Kerstin Danert (Ask for Water)

Whether the starting point is a broken pump or a fragmented WASH system, one truth connects Stop the Rot and Agenda for Change: you cannot deliver safe, sustainable water services without both construction quality and resilient systems. Both platforms involve partners in government, civil society, funding agencies, the private sector and academia; both are striving to improve rural water supply services, and yet they are different. This is our second joint blog

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS

Bethlehem: When we talk about breaking down barriers, I think one of the biggest ones is still a perceived divide between “the engineers” and “the systems people.” Too often, engineering quality is treated as a stand-alone issue, while systems strengthening is seen as something abstract that sits above the technical work. But in reality, the two can’t be separated.

So here’s my challenge back to you both, as engineers: if you know what good construction looks like, and you see the same mistakes repeated year after year, what will it take for you to push beyond the borehole and also work on changing the policies, budgets, and accountability that make quality the norm instead of the exception?

Because unless engineering expertise connects to governance, financing, and long-term service delivery, we will keep fixing the same broken pumps without fixing the reasons they break.

TACKLING COMPLEX ISSUES

Kerstin: This is exactly what Stop the Rot is trying to do, building on years of the efforts and experiences within Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN). Stop the Rot is trying to tackle a complex issue. Let me take a related long-running example to explain. Boreholes fail for a variety of reasons. RWSN, as a partnership of organisations, has worked to understand the drilling sector in a number of countries, before it developed international technical guidelines to unpack borehole siting, costing and pricing, procurement and contract management and drilling supervision. Recognizing that these topics needed to also be explained succinctly, a series in four short animated videos were produced. Training courses in a number of countries were also run, alongside putting all of the training materials into the public domain.

But this was not enough to change sector practices.

So a guidance note was developed to set out how organisations could raise drilling professionalism. Building on this, online courses gave the opportunity to stakeholders to engage with policy and project issues laid out in the guidance note. The courses were run three times, attended by several hundred people from all over the world, and brought many issues to light. We even have a film that shares some of the stories of change from those taking the courses.

So, over the years, a small group of engineers and hydrogeologists working for different organisations have tried to reach out. Some organisations, including The Water Project, WaterAid and UNICEF, as well as committed individuals have made improvements to the way that they work. However, I am not convinced there is enough change – especially at national level to ensure that high quality boreholes are consistently built.

So we have tried, over two decades, with limited funding, to reach far beyond engineering. I say reach out, because the term “systems” was not being used when RWSN started trying to raise drilling professionalism. With Stop the Rot we are looking more at handpumps, while not forgetting boreholes.

**Why are some boreholes better than others? Screenshot from educational film developed by RWSN (https://vimeo.com/185289895**)

Bethlehem: And that’s exactly the point, Kerstin. You have described decades of dedicated, thoughtful work, pushing from the technical side into the system. However, the truth is that until governments, donors, and implementing agencies view drilling professionalism as essential to sustainable services, rather than a nice-to-have, we may continue to go in circles.

The fact that RWSN and partners have had to produce international guidelines, videos, training courses, and online courses to promote drilling supervision and procurement practices conveys the depth of the problem. It’s not a lack of knowledge; we know what good looks like. The issue is a mix of structural resistance and deep-rooted inertia, an implicit norm of low standards and short-term fixes that continues to undermine progress.

Every failed borehole or poor quality handpump is as much a governance failure as it is a technical one. Quality construction and long-term service delivery are system-wide responsibilities. And if we truly want to stop the rot, we need everyone (all the actors), the engineers, yes, but also ministers, accountants, and planners, taking shared ownership of that reality.

So here’s my question back to you, and to all of us in the sector: If we agree that quality is a systems issue, how do we step more fully into that space? How do we bridge the perceived divide and ensure that engineering expertise informs not just designs and specs, but also budgets, policies, and long-term planning? We won’t fix the system alone, but we do have a vital role in shaping it, together.

PRIORITIZATION AND COLLABORATION

Kerstin: I have not seen the root of the problem as a divide up to now, but rather as one of a lack of prioritisation in some organisations – at the highest levels – to get the basics right as Catherine put it in our first blog. Perhaps the framing of a divide, and of barriers can bring about a breakthrough. Please help us to figure out what else is needed to ensure that, for example: that budgets consistently include professional drilling supervision; that policies ensure that rapidly corroding parts are no longer installed in aggressive groundwater; that policies support supply chains to be robust enough to ensure quality components land in the hands of drillers and mechanics; that long term planning supports effective groundwater resources management?

Bethlehem: The real problem may not be a divide, but a lack of prioritization. We have let both approaches exist side by side for too long. Instead of treating engineering excellence and systems strengthening as separate, we should see them as working together to achieve reliable, lasting water services.

We already have the evidence we need. Years of guidance, training, and technical innovation have shown us what works. Systems thinking explains why success is not always consistent. The real gap is not knowledge, but turning it into practice, incentives, and accountability.

What we need now is not just more collaboration, but a new approach from everyone. Engineers stepping more deliberately into policy and finance discussions. Systems experts engaging more deeply with the technical details that affect long-term service. And leaders in government, donor groups, and organizations treating ‘getting the basics right’ as essential, not optional.

In the end, quality is not just a technical detail. It is the result of the whole system working well.

That is how we stop the rot. Not by choosing between systems or engineering, but by finally refusing to separate them.

Co-creation in collaboration from our Agenda for Change convening in the Sahel

Change our views – Blog 1: Fixing pumps and perceptions – a systems love story

By Bethlehem Mengistu (Agenda for Change), Catherine McManus (The Water Project), Kerstin Danert (Ask for Water)

BACKGROUND

Agenda for Change is rooted in systems strengthening

Stop the Rot is concerned about the quality of infrastructure.

This blog brings us together – one social scientist, Bethlehem (Agenda for Change) and two engineers, Catherine (The Water Project) and Kerstin (Ask for Water Ltd) from Stop the Rot. It explores where our work converges, where it differs, and what practitioners across the sector can learn from this intersection.

INTRODUCING AGENDA FOR CHANGE AND STOP THE ROT

Kerstin: So Bethlehem, can you explain what Agenda for Change is trying to achieve, and how it works?

Bethlehem: Thanks, Kerstin! I appreciate that we are having this conversation because while broken pumps are easy to spot, broken systems are not. That’s where Agenda for Change comes in.

Think of us as the people behind the scenes, making sure the whole rural water “machine” works-not just today, but five, ten, twenty or even thirty years from now. That means working with governments, utilities and communities to strengthen everything from planning and policy to budgeting and monitoring. And we achieve this by incentivising collaboration and supporting collective action. Our members and partners work together in countries, sharing tools, aligning around government-led plans, and learning from one another. We believe that when organisations coordinate and work in harmony, lasting change occurs.

Right now, Agenda for Change has 20+ members working across more than 60 countries with local and national governments to build strong, resilient WASH systems that can withstand the test of time and climate shocks.

Whether it’s helping a district government to develop a realistic water budget, supporting a utility to track service levels, or training local technicians to maintain infrastructure, our goal remains the same: to ensure everyone, everywhere, has access to sustainable water and sanitation services.

Bethlehem: So Kerstin, can you tell me about Stop the Rot?

Kerstin: Stop the Rot and its members are concerned about the flaws and gaps that lead to poor quality boreholes and pumps – which in turn contribute to poor performance and even failure of water supplies.

A core component of Stop the Rot is its Action Group, currently comprising over 90 members from all stakeholder groups. We meet online every quarter, share experiences, challenges, successes and – especially learnings. The meetings provide a safe and supportive space for dialogue on ways and means of ensuring quality infrastructure. Our geographic focus is sub-Saharan Africa, with our technical focus being services that rely on boreholes and handpumps.

MORE THAN TECHNOLOGY

Bethlehem: OK – so Stop the Rot is really interested in technical questions – as in about the technology?

Catherine: We do often start there, but it’s not where we end. It is tempting to think that an engineer will just focus on one broken pipe in one well. But as an engineer, I am asking if that broken pipe is corroding, and if so, is it because the material is not suitable for the groundwater (in technical terms – galvanized iron (GI) installed in aggressively low pH water, or stainless steel of the wrong grade)? Or is a pump seal wearing because there are fine particles in the water (typically a problem of a poorly constructed borehole). These are examples of a technical diagnosis.

And then, beyond this technical diagnosis, I am asking: why did that happen? Were high-quality materials not available in local supply chains, or were they considered too expensive; was oversight of the borehole construction process lacking? And the real question – what can I do about any of that?

Sure, at Stop the Rot we are concerned that repairs or rehabilitation to get water flowing are done, but we are also aware of systems approaches. I think the problem is that we need to better wrestle with those issues – or connect to those who can! That’s why I am so glad to be more connected to Agenda for Change. It can feel really difficult to focus on contextual issues when faced with a broken piece of infrastructure, but we must do just that – and we’re thrilled to be embarking on this exchange with Agenda for Change.

Example of corrosion realities during handpump maintenance (Source: Larry Bentley)

Bethlehem: I am also excited that we are exchanging on this, because right now, system strengthening is more urgent than ever. With global aid budgets under pressure and climate risks rising, we can’t afford to hold on to silos. Systems strengthening isn’t just a nice idea, it’s essential. It can support countries to build resilient water services that don’t rely forever on external funding or quick fixes.

And here’s where I think Agenda for Change and Stop the Rot intersect: infrastructure is not separate from the system, it is part of it. But infrastructure alone won’t deliver services. It must be supported by financing, regulation, monitoring, skilled personnel, and local ownership. We need to look at infrastructure through the lens of the whole system, the interplay of all the other parts. That’s how we move from short-term fixes to lasting solutions.

THE INTERCONNECTIONS BETWEEN SYSTEMS AND INFRASTUCTURE

RWSN at the 43rd UN Water Meeting in Rome

By Valérie Bertschy. Re-blogged from Skat Foundation, RWSN’s host organisation.

Bringing Field Experience into the Preparatory Process for the 2026 UN Water Conference

In March 2026, The Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) participated in the 43rd UN Water Meeting, held over three days at IFAD headquarters in Rome. As an official UN Water Partner (one of only 39 organizations with that status) RWSN has recognized standing to participate in these intergovernmental preparatory processes, deliver oral interventions, and submit written contributions to official policy documents.

This article explains what RWSN brought to Rome, what happened there, and why it matters for the communities RWSN serves.

Context: RWSN, Skat Foundation, and UN Water

Before turning to the meeting itself, a word on institutional roles.

RWSN is a global knowledge network with more than 17,000 members across 190 countries. It is hosted by Skat Foundation – a St. Gallen-based Swiss NGO that provides the secretariat and staff support that keeps the network running. Valérie Bertschy, Knowledge Management Officer at Skat Foundation, represented RWSN in Rome in her capacity as secretariat staff.

UN Water is the United Nations inter-agency coordination mechanism for all freshwater-related issues, including sanitation. Its Members Meeting are held twice yearly, typically in Rome, and serve as a key preparatory forum for major global water policy processes. RWSN’s status as a UN Water Partner gives it formal access to these meetings – a recognition of its role as a credible, evidence-based voice for rural water across the global governance architecture.

The 43rd Members Meeting was the second major preparatory milestone for the 2026 UN Water Conference, which will only be the third UN Water Conference since 1977. The stakes are high: the conference is expected to produce a framework shaping global water governance well into the post-2030 period.

The Conference Framework: Six Interactive Dialogues

The Abu Dhabi conference will be structured around six Interactive Dialogues (IDs), each with member state co-chairs and UN agency co-convenors. These dialogues formed the backbone of discussions throughout the three days in Rome:

(a) Water for People – co-chaired by Ghana and Switzerland
(b) Water for Prosperity – co-chaired by China and Spain
(c) Water for Planet – co-chaired by Egypt and Japan
(d) Water for Cooperation – co-chaired by Zambia and Finland
(e) Water in Multilateral Processes – co-chaired by Germany and Mexico
(f) Investments for Water – co-chaired by France and South Africa

Participants of the 43rd UN Water Meeting in Rome

What RWSN Brought to Rome

RWSN’s participation was grounded in substantial preparation ahead of the meeting. RWSN produced a gap analysis comparing its Draft Position Paper against each of the six concept paper outlines, and prepared six tailored oral interventions (one per dialogue) designed to introduce rural water priorities into the intergovernmental discussion.

From Declarations to Delivery: The Case for Integrated Implementation Systems in Africa’s 2026 Water Agenda

Blog by Peter Wanyangi & Ida Githu (Dr.), Managing Partner, EED Advisory.

Africa Water Policy Moment: Converging Programmes, Fragmented Delivery

Africa is experiencing one of its most significant water policy moments in decades. In February 2026, African leaders adopted the African Union’s (AU) Water Vision 2063 and Policy, alongside the declaration of 2026 as the Year of Water and Sanitation. This vision recognizes water and sanitation not only as a social service, but also as catalysts for economic growth, food security, and climate resilience, calling on African governments to “position water as a strategic asset for industrialization, agriculture and energy, and an indispensable enabler of primary national development objectives.”

Within weeks of the AU declaration, the World Bank Group launched the Water Forward Initiative at its Spring Meetings in April 2026. The initiative aims to ‘make water systems investable, scalable, and capable of supporting prosperity at scale’. As World Bank Group President Ajay Banga put it, “Water is foundational to how economies function. When water systems work, farmers produce, businesses operate, and cities attract investment.”

Central to this ‘water policy moment’ is a recognition of the economic value of water and the dependence of other sectors on this critical resource. Indeed, water is said to underpin health, food systems, energy, and an estimated 1.7 billion jobs worldwide.

The question then becomes: how do we ensure that these high-level declarations are delivered to local communities, and particularly rural African communities that remain largely underserved?

This question is especially pertinent given other major development programmes advancing in parallel with the water initiatives across the continent, which are relevant to delivering the economic potential of water but are not necessarily presented as such. For instance, there is the Mission 300 initiative, developed by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, which targets electricity access for 300 million Africans by 2030. There is also the agriculture-focused programme, AgriConnect, also developed by the World Bank and aimed at improving smallholder productivity, food systems, and rural incomes targeting 300 million smallholder farmers globally by 2030, with country compacts already launched in Senegal, Guinea, Ghana and Angola. The physical infrastructure component of AgriConnect recognizes that ‘irrigation, transportation corridors such as roads and railways, and electricity form the backbone of a strong agriculture value chain’.

While the World Bank/AfDB programmes, along with the African Union’s policy framework, were not designed as a single integrated framework, their implementation realities converge at the community level. Reliable water access underpins irrigation and agricultural productivity; energy is needed to pump, treat, and distribute that water; and water and energy systems both become more viable when anchored in productive agricultural demand. As a result, rural development, and specifically economic outcomes in water, energy, and agriculture, are increasingly interdependent, a practical convergence reflecting the logic of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems nexus.

A useful nexus level implementation lever: PUE & MUS

A conversation at this year’s Energy Access Investment Forum pointed to the convergence of two common yet often unlinked approaches as a low-hanging starting point in delivering these high-level declarations to local communities: Productive Use of Energy (PUE) and Multiple-Use Water Services (MUS). PUE is an increasingly popular approach within the energy sector that refers to the use of energy to create value, be it in the form of productivity or income, employment, or reduced hardship. PUE largely entails using decentralized energy systems (for example, mini-grids and solar home systems) to support income-generating activities. This includes irrigation, agro-processing, cold storage, and small enterprise development. PUE approaches have demonstrated consistent livelihood gains across the region: solar irrigation in Ethiopia has helped over 3,199 households diversify crops and extend cultivation through dry seasons, while solar agro-processing in Uganda has enabled women-led enterprises to reduce post-harvest losses and generate new income streams, with one solar dryer installation alone yielding over US$2,382 in additional income for 90 smallholder women farmers.

Across many African rural contexts, however, mini-grids, a more economical electrification option compared to extension of the main grid, face viability challenges due to limited demand concentrated only in household consumption. Without productive demand, revenue streams remain insufficient for sustainability.

Ainslie Street Advisory: Facilities Readiness Assessment

Blog written by William Haggerty, Founder + Principal at Ainslie Street Advisory

At a rural district hospital in West Africa, a medical oxygen production plant went down for scheduled maintenance and a two-day job took almost a week – because the hospital didn’t have a consistent water supply. Replacing a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen plant’s zeolite molecular sieve requires clean water to flush the pressure vessels, and submersible pumps require electricity, and the grid is intermittent, and fuel is expensive, and so the maintenance team waited for power, to get water, to clean the pressure vessels, to put the PSA oxygen plant back into service. Meanwhile, the clinical team burned through days of backup cylinder inventory until the oxygen plant finally came back online. This kind of downtime chain reaction happens all the time in limited-resource healthcare facilities [1], and it almost never gets spotted in advance.

All WASH practitioners working in healthcare delivery understand that reliable potable water supply is non-negotiable for safe clinical procedures, patient hydration and nutrition, and effective infection prevention and control, but according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program data from 2023, only 60% of healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa had access to basic water services (defined as an improved water source on the healthcare facility premises)[2]. What’s not often considered is that a reliable water supply is also critical to facilities’ operations and maintenance, and when it’s interrupted, the ripple effects show up in places a WASH assessment would never look – like PSA oxygen plant downtime.

Ainslie Street Advisory developed the Facilities Readiness Assessment (FRA) to catch healthcare infrastructure failures before they happen. The FRA covers water and sanitation alongside electrical infrastructure, medical oxygen supply, waste management, and operations and maintenance, and includes references such as Médecins Sans Frontières’ Public Health Engineering in Precarious Situations and the WHO/UNICEF WASH in Health Care Facilities Global Baseline Report. In the example above, the FRA would have flagged the gaps in power, water, and medical O₂ supply before the maintenance team took the plant out of service, enabling the facilities team to prepare by stockpiling a bit of fuel, filling the water tanks, and compressing a few extra oxygen cylinders before getting started. The FRA also distinguishes what matters most across a facility by specifying Critical Life Safety factors, e.g. consistent free residual chlorine monitoring is not weighted equally with sufficient handwashing points.

Fig. 1 – Facilities Readiness assessment summary page with scoring by component and separate Critical Life Safety issues

Ainslie Street Advisory is a fee-for-service infrastructure advisory firm grounded in over a decade of humanitarian and global health implementation experience. ASA deploys the Facilities Readiness Assessment at limited-resource healthcare facilities and provides additional infrastructure advisory services like pre-procurement technical assessment, capital project development support, and O+M program design. We operate globally with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa and are available for new client engagements now. Contact us at hello@ainsliestreet.com.

Ainslie Street Advisory’s Facilities Readiness Assessment is available free of charge at: https://ainsliestreet.com/FRA-tool-download.

[1] Water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity services in health care facilities: progress on the fundamentals. 2023 global report, pp. 9-11. Geneva: World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2023, link. Accessed 13 April 2026.

[2] WASH in health care facilities 2023 data update: special focus on primary health care, Geneva: World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2024, link. Accessed 13 April 2026.

Moving towards professionalised community managed rural water schemes in Nepal

Reposted from IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre: see the original post here. The article is written by Digbijoy Dey and reviewed by Ruchika Shiva. Photo: IRC.

Rural water supply services are evolving quickly because of technology, climate stress, financing models, and governance changes. And these changes differ from country to country and within countries. However, the changes have some common characteristics as well, at least in lower middle-income countries. During our recent visits to Nepal, we have tried to understand the dynamics of rural water supply in this country. Here rural water supply essentially includes small urban and rural municipalities.

Common trends in rural water supply

Recent research and publications have documented the changing models of rural water supply, including Shiva and Saha (2025), Odhiambo et al. (2025), USAID (2023), and SFF (2020). An AI-assisted trend analysis based on these works highlights several shifts. Globally, rural water supply is moving from handpumps to piped schemes, as exemplified by India’s Jal Jeevan Mission and Ethiopia’s HoA-GW4R Project. Management is becoming more professionalised through private operators, public–private partnerships, and utility-style agencies, replacing traditional community-based volunteer committees. At the same time, digitalisation is transforming service delivery with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, prepaid meters, and mobile payment systems that improve monitoring, detect leaks, and enhance cost recovery.

Other major trends include the integration of climate resilience and source diversification, such as combining groundwater, rainwater harvesting, and surface water treatment with climate-proofed infrastructure and energy-efficient pumping. Solar-powered and hybrid renewable energy systems are replacing diesel pumps, while water safety planning, real-time quality monitoring, and low-cost treatment are gaining ground. Financial sustainability is being strengthened through volumetric tariffs, prepayment, and blended finance, while regionalisation is clustering small schemes under federated utilities. Equity and inclusion are also central, with greater focus on women, marginalised groups, and people with disabilities. Finally, rural water networks are increasingly designed for multiple uses, linking drinking water to irrigation, sanitation, and livelihoods.

Why Nepal is different

Nepal has a population of about 30 million, 23 million of them live in rural areas, mostly in mountainous and remote regions. As per JMP 2024, 77.2% of the population is accessing basic drinking water services, only 16.5% of the population access safely managed drinking water (the remaining 6.3% have limited or unimproved services). With an aspiration to deliver reliable services, Nepal is trying to change its water service delivery ecosystem. If we look closely, we will see that the trends in Nepal are similar to those mentioned above. The difference is, while most countries are adopting more professionalised private or utility-managed services, Nepal is embracing a more formal version of community-managed services to address the rural water need. Historically, water supply in rural areas of Nepal has been managed voluntarily by the community. At present, the Water Users’ and Sanitation Committees (WUSCs) are being formalised into legal entities under sector laws.

New paper: O&M and the Finance Gap for Drinking Water Services

There is a multibillion-dollar finance gap slowing progress towards universal drinking water services. Focusing on how governments are investing to address this gap, a new open access research article examines the different elements that contribute to this gap, and argues that the funds needed for operations & maintenance (O&M) of services should be considered differently from the funds needed for infrastructure. With the functionality and sustainability issues the sector faces, these differences are worth paying attention to.

This research suggests a framework of five strategies for bridging, shrinking, and filling the finance gap for drinking water services, based on how the funds available from tariffs, taxes, and transfers compare to the life-cycle costs of services.

A framework for bridging, shrinking, and filling the finance gap for drinking water services (Nilsson, 2025)

Do we need a new framework?

Maybe, yes! Approaches for targeting gaps in infrastructure finance have been well studied, with many frameworks already available to guide actions and suggest new funding sources and mechanisms. However, the parts of the finance gap related to operational needs has been less analysed, even though there is an increasing need for operational finance.

The water sector continues to struggle with the financial sustainability of drinking water services. Most repayable finance sources are not suitable for operational costs, and so it falls to governments and service providers to see how to balance ongoing costs and revenues. This framework shows that, after construction, there are fairly limited options: increase tariffs, cut costs, and/or set up subsidies.

How can the operational finance gap be addressed, to keep water services flowing?

This research studied 213 examples of government investments for drinking water services, from 68 countries, to see how public finance is being used to address the operational finance gap. It found 13 tactics being used by governments from around the world, using financial, technical assistance, and/or policies, to:

increase funds available from tariffs, and/or
decrease funds needed for operations & maintenance, and/or
increase funds available for operations & maintenance through subsidies.

These tactics, and their investment requirements, are presented here:

Public finance tactics to support operations of drinking water services (Nilsson, 2025)

This framework could help to better understand and compare tactics for addressing the finance gap for drinking water services. To read more about this study, you can access the full article here: The Role of Public Finance to Address the Global Finance Gap for Drinking Water Services.

What do you think?

Which tactics are being applied in your areas, by governments, or by other sector actors? Which are not?
Are the tactics being used achieving what is needed, supporting services for more people, and services which are more financially sustainable?
Are there other tactics being used that are not captured here?

About the author: Kristina Nilsson is a governance and development professional with over a decade of experience working on water and sanitation service delivery in Africa and Asia. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Oxford, researching public finance support for rural drinking water services.

Sustaining Access to Safe and Healthy Drinking Water in Fiji: A Universal Challenge for Island and Rural Coastal Communities

Access to safe and healthy drinking water is a fundamental human right. Yet for many island and rural coastal communities worldwide, this right remains fragile or unattainable. Fiji, an archipelago of more than 300 islands, vividly illustrates this challenge. Despite its tropical climate and abundant rainfall, freshwater resources in Fiji are increasingly under pressure. Over-abstraction, particularly in water-intensive tourism sectors, combined with the accelerating impacts of climate change, threatens the sustainability of water systems. Fiji’s experience reflects a universal struggle for water security in island nations and rural coastal regions.

Island environments are naturally constrained when it comes to freshwater. Unlike continental landmasses, islands have limited rivers, streams, and shallow aquifers. In Fiji, water is sourced from rivers, streams, natural springs, rainwater harvesting systems, and underground aquifers. These sources are highly sensitive to variations in rainfall, land-use changes, and contamination. Once compromised, alternatives are often scarce, making water security a central concern for both rural villages and small island nations.

“Sustaining access to safe and healthy drinking water is not just about scarcity, it is about how water is managed, shared, and protected.”

Over-Abstraction and Tourism Pressures

Over-abstraction has become a critical issue in Fiji. Population growth, urban expansion, and changing lifestyles have steadily increased water demand across the islands. Coastal zones and smaller islands are particularly vulnerable, where shallow freshwater lenses can be quickly depleted. Once over-extracted, these lenses may collapse or become contaminated with saltwater, leaving water unsuitable for consumption.

Tourism, a major pillar of Fiji’s economy, further intensifies pressure on freshwater resources. Hotels, resorts, and other facilities consume large volumes of water for swimming pools, gardens, laundry, and guest services. In many cases, tourist water use exceeds that of local residents. When regulation and conservation measures are weak, tourism can compete directly with community water needs, a challenge common to island destinations worldwide.

Climate Change and Extreme Weather

Climate change magnifies existing water challenges. Rising temperatures increase evaporation, reducing water availability in rivers, reservoirs, and storage tanks. Altered rainfall patterns have caused longer dry periods and more frequent droughts, disproportionately affecting rural and outer-island communities that rely on rainwater harvesting. During extended dry seasons, households often face water rationing or must rely on untreated sources.

Extreme weather events, including cyclones and floods, further threaten water systems. Floodwaters can damage infrastructure, carry debris and pathogens into freshwater sources, and overwhelm natural filtration processes. Sea-level rise also poses a long-term risk for coastal groundwater, as saltwater intrusion contaminates shallow freshwater lenses. Recovery, if possible, may take decades, underscoring the lasting impact of climate change on water security.

Health and Social Implications

Unsafe or unreliable water has serious health consequences. Limited access to clean water increases vulnerability to waterborne diseases, including diarrhea, typhoid, cholera, and skin infections. Children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals are particularly at risk. In rural areas with limited infrastructure, households often rely on untreated sources, further increasing health risks and placing additional strain on local healthcare systems.

Inequality in water access compounds the problem. Urban populations generally benefit from centralized treatment and distribution systems, while rural and outer-island communities rely on small, self-managed infrastructure such as rainwater tanks and natural springs. These systems are often outdated, poorly maintained, and highly susceptible to contamination.

Toward Sustainable Solutions

Fiji’s challenges reflect broader patterns among islands and rural coastal regions: limited freshwater resources, competing demands, climate change impacts, and unequal access to infrastructure. Addressing these issues requires integrated, multi-faceted solutions:

Investment in climate-resilient infrastructure to protect storage systems, pipelines, and natural water sources.
Community engagement and local management to ensure maintenance and equitable access.
Promotion of responsible water use across all sectors, particularly tourism.

By implementing these strategies, Fiji can move toward sustainable water management that balances economic development, environmental protection, and public health.

Sustaining access to safe drinking water is more than a development goal, it is a matter of survival, health, and dignity. Over-abstraction, tourism pressures, climate change, and social inequality threaten the long-term resilience of water systems. Protecting freshwater resources, investing in resilient infrastructure, and promoting equitable water management are critical steps not only for Fiji but for island and coastal communities worldwide.

“Ensuring safe drinking water for present and future generations is not only a matter of development, but a commitment to the survival and dignity of island communities everywhere.”

Save our Fiji is dedicated to addressing these pressing water challenges in Fiji and beyond. They work directly with local communities to improve water infrastructure, promote sustainable water management practices, and build resilience to climate-related impacts. By combining research, community engagement, and practical interventions, they aim to ensure that every island and coastal community has reliable access to safe, clean, and sustainable drinking water for generations to come. Save our Fiji joined the RWSN member organisations in April 2024.

Lessons from the RWSN webinars

Guest blog by Rebecca Laes-Kushner. Featured photo from RWSN webinar presentation on 29.4.25 (What Drives the Performance of Rural Piped Water Supply Facilities?) by Babacar Gueye from GRET Senegal.

Professionalism. Standards. Systems. These themes are repeated throughout Rural Water Supply Network’s (RWSN) spring and fall 2025 webinar series.

Given the large percentage of boreholes with early failure – within one to two years – improvements in standards and professionalism in borehole drilling are necessary. Drilling association leaders spoke passionately about the need for borehole drillers to professionalize to improve the quality of boreholes, increase accountability, stop illegal drilling and enhance community buy-in, which occurs when standards are enforced and certified materials are used.

George k’Ouma, from the Small Scale Drillers Association of Kenya, said it best: Professionalism isn’t optional.

A tidbit: Small borehole drillers have an advantage over large operations because they have knowledge of the local geology and seasonal changes, which enables better planning and materials selection.

Another area in need of increased professionalism is water management. Professor Kwabena Nyarko, from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (KNUST), conducted a study comparing public sector, private sector and community water management in Ghana. Model type was less important than having professional standards and following best practices, including metering, tariffs that covered maintenance costs, efficient collection of tariffs, audits and reporting, digital recordkeeping and training, as well as financial support.

Jose Kobashikawa, head of the Enforcement Directorate for Sunass, the regulatory body for drinking water and sanitation services in Peru, echoed these concepts in his presentation. SUNASS uses a benchmarking tool to evaluate rural providers. Metrics include formality and management (are they registered, do they have a water use license), financial sustainability (do they collect tariffs, what percent of customers are defaulters), and quality of services (is water chlorinated and daily hours of water supply). High performing providers are awarded certificates recognizing their good practices in public management and workshops are held in each region to disseminate best practices.

Focusing on systems is another thread that runs through the varied webinar topics. Systems thinking means designing a scheme for the long-term provision of water. Boreholes must be properly sited. Appropriate materials, such as high quality stainless steel (304/316), need to be selected in order to prevent corrosion, as RWSN’s Stop the Rot initiative details. Handpumps often corrode within months or years instead of lasting a decade. Ayebale Ared, Technical and Social Expert at Welthungerhilfe, shared Uganda’s systemic solution: in 2016 the country banned the use of galvanized iron (GI) risers and rods in all new and rehabilitated handpumps – the first sub-Saharan country to do so. Uganda also requires a water quality analysis be done before materials are selected.

In addition, data collection and use must be embedded in all stages and aspects of water projects.. Dr. Callist Tindimugaya, Commissioner for Water Resources Planning and Regulation in Uganda, collects data from drillers which he then turns into groundwater maps the drillers can then use.

Systems thinking also means including the needs of the entire population in the design, especially women, who bear the burden of hauling and carrying water. Women – who are killed by crocodiles while washing clothes in rivers, whose skin is irritated by harsh detergents, who find leaning over low wash basins harder as they age, who need to wash bloody clothes and bedsheets separately from the family’s regular laundry when they menstruate. Laundry is barely mentioned in WASH circles but RWSN devoted an entire webinar to the topic. One speaker questioned how the WASH sector would be different if the metric for success was the amount of time women spend collecting water.

Understanding the local culture is critical; psychologists, behaviorists and sociologists can help provide insights. Technical solutions which aren’t accepted by the community will only lead to failure.

The lack of funds to cover maintenance work on wells is well known. Systems thinking means anticipating root causes of funding issues in a community and pre-emptively building a system that attempts to solve those issues. Tariffs are too low to cover maintenance? Then the project needs to determine how sufficient funds will be raised, whether through higher water fees (that may be less affordable to low-income families) or from external sources. The water committee is inefficient at collecting funds? Then training and capacity building need to be part of the project design from the beginning.

Looking at the bigger picture helps creative ideas flourish: Household rainwater harvesting, replenishing water aquifers through tube recharging, deep bed farming that breaks up the hard pan so water can return to the aquifer, sand dams that filter water and incorporating water management and regreening in the design and construction of roads so crops can grow next to roads. During the laundry webinar, three organizations presented their laundry solutions – devices that save women time, eliminate much of the manual labor, use less water and even offer income-generating opportunities.

The webinars are at times frustrating because we clearly know what needs to be done – yet professionalism, systems thinking and best practices are not always prevalent. More often, though, the webinars are full of insightful information and inspiring stores from experts. The knowledgeable participants, who ask focused, detailed questions, enhance the experience. I look forward to the spring 2026 webinars which are currently being planned.

Rebecca Laes-Kushner is a consultant to NGOs and companies with a social mission, with a particular focus on development issues such as WASH, climate change, supporting SMEs, health care and nutrition. Laes-Kushner Consulting (https://laeskushner.net/) provides research and writing, data analysis, M&E and training services. Rebecca has a Master’s in Public Administration (USA) and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Development and Cooperation from ETH NADEL in Switzerland.

New Book: Dispelling Myths About Water Services

by Tapio S. Katko, Jarmo J. Hukka, Petri S. Juuti, Riikka P. Juuti and Eric J. Nealer.

Illustrations: Pertti O. Väyrynen. Publisher: IWA Publishing, London.

Is bottled water better for you than tap water? Is the pollution created by wastewater treatment plants a major issue? Is privatisation the best solution for more efficient water use? These are just a few of the myths busted in Dispelling Myths About Water Services.

In any society, water and wastewater systems are of fundamental importance to the development of communities and the well-being of both people and the ecosystem. Unfortunately, this fact has been reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, by all manner of natural disasters, and by recent armed conflicts around the world. In such situations, clean water and sanitation are among the first things that need to be organised.

In this book, internationally renowned experts examine 21 common misconceptions regarding water supply and wastewater services, dispelling the myths by drawing on their global insights and avoiding technical jargon, while simultaneously raising questions of concern relating to water services.

Access to clean water and safe sanitation is essential for life. Without it, our time on this planet becomes dangerously short. People do not necessarily think about the challenges relating to water services, but the message is clear: to build sustainable water services, proper rules, accountable and responsive leadership, and well-informed stakeholders are vital, alongside resilient organisations and robust physical systems.

Originally published in Finnish, this English edition has been completely rewritten and includes examples and references from countries across the world. Original illustrations bring the content to life.

Whether you’re a water professional, policy maker, or environmental enthusiast, Dispelling Myths About Water Services helps sort the fact from the fiction regarding our most vital resource: water.

The book is freely available as an e-version: DOI: https://doi.org/10.2166/9781789064162 and a printed copy can be bought as well from the website for 20% off seasonal offer for the printed version by the code “DMAWS25”, Valid until 21^st Dec 2025.