Assessing the short-term outcomes of a piped water supply intervention in peri-urban Mozambique

We use data collected as part of a baseline survey in 2012 and a survey 5 months post-intervention in 2014 to assess the short-term outcomes of a water supply intervention in Ribáuè, Mozambique. This intervention included the rehabilitation and expansion of a piped water system, revitalization of water committees, and creation of and capacity building for small-scale private water enterprises. Quantitative results suggest that the intervention led to an immediate signi ﬁ cant increase in the use of piped water supply at the expense of unprotected wells and other non-revenue generating forms of unimproved water supply with more than a 2.5-fold increase in the usage of yard taps and water kiosks/standpipes and a two-fold decrease in the use of unprotected wells. Family water consumption also increased by approximately 40 L/d, and the point-of-use treatment of water nearly tripled. Economic opportunities were generated for business and small enterprise owners due to the new water supply infrastructure, and piped water infrastructure had additional positive effects for both public and private sanitation facilities.


INTRODUCTION Water supply in Mozambique: a snapshot
Over the past 20 years, Mozambique has slowly but steadily improved its water supply with the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) estimating more than a two-fold increase in access to improved water supply from 2000 (26.8%) to 2015 (61.6%). As with many developing countries, however, the disparity between urban and rural areas in accessing improved water supply remains significant with the most recent JMP estimates (2015)   National Statistics Institute projects that Ribáuè will more than double in population size over the next 25 years (Instituto Nacional de Estatística a), and this growth would be anticipated to present a major challenge for the town's water supply and water supply infrastructure.

Small Towns Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme in Nampula
Due to its anticipated rapid growth, Ribáuè was selected to benefit from WSS interventions through NAMWASH. Planning for the piped water system to be delivered to Ribáuè began in June 2012. UNICEF Mozambique commissioned a baseline study of households, schools, and water points in the five towns to establish pre-intervention conditions in terms of WSS in order to better assess the impact of the interventions (Admiraal & Doepel ). The baseline survey of 1,610 households was carried out across these five towns as well as two 'control' towns (Liúpo and Namapa-Eráti) that were not to benefit from NAMWASH in order to understand their WSS profiles. This survey also measured households' preferences for various forms of water supply as well as willingness and capacity to pay for these forms of water supply.
Under NAMWASH, only Ribáuè received a significant upgrade in terms of water supply. Consequently, we restrict our focus to the outcomes of the interventions carried out in Ribáuè. To reduce operation and maintenance (O&M) costs for piped water supply infrastructure, the NAMWASH programme team opted to build a gravity-fed system, which involved the rehabilitation of a dam in nearby mountains, the rehabilitation of a water tower in the town center with a capacity of 100 m 3 , the laying of 5,000 m of 250 mm diameter pipe for the main pipeline, and 11,000 m of 50-200 mm diameter PVC pipe for the distribution network, and the construction of a rapid filtration water treatment plant with chlorine dosing equipment. Implementation was concluded in June 2014 with the completion of the piped water system and turnover to the water regulator and the private operator.
In Ribáuè, the rehabilitation and improvement of the piped water supply system aimed to provide direct connections to households through yard taps and businesses and public services (hospital, local government and local council) through direct connections. Water kiosks were also constructed for small-scale private water enterprises. We present selected results on short-term outcomes of this intervention, focusing solely on piped water supply and associated economic opportunities.   For those using piped water in Ribáuè, a common initial complaint was the high cost. Households with yard taps, kiosk operators, and business owners alike commented on the high price of piped water, and part of this dissatisfaction may be residual effects from water not being charged for these users until August 2014. Because water was free until August, this resulted in unchecked water use during the preceding months and high bills for the first month that water was charged. Additionally, households only had, as a frame of reference, the low cost of drawing water from a borehole (MZN 5-25 per month). In spite of complaints about high water costs and struggles to pay initial bills, the water system operator reported that only 7.69% of households and one kiosk operator were in arrears as of July 2015, suggesting that households learned to adapt their monthly consumption of piped water to a volume they could afford. Furthermore, uptake of yard taps steadily increased between November 2014 and July 2015, suggesting that costs were within households' willingness and capacity to pay.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Another issue identified by households was poor water quality. This was noted as a significant issue for 21.21% of yard tap users and 16.22% of water kiosk users but only 6.64% of borehole users. Interviews with users of piped water suggested that the negative assessment was due to water color. Issues with water color are significant because the predominant criterion used by residents of Ribáuè to assess whether water is safe to drink was water clarity (86.44% of respondents). Despite these concerns, microbiological and chemical analyses of water at the source and the furthermost water point showed it to be safe to drink. However, some businesses went so far as to revert back to boreholes for drinking water. In response to issues with the water color, the water operator increased its cleaning of filters to twice a day, and follow-up interviews with kiosk operators and local businesses in July 2015 suggested a substantial improvement in water clarity since November 2014 and a higher degree of satisfaction with water quality.
Businesses that had previously suspended their use of piped water reported having resumed using it as their primary water source.

Economic opportunities due to piped water
Economic development driven by the extractive industries led to significant construction-related activity near Ribáuè, placing pressure on local accommodation and hospitality whose infrastructure and quality standards had previously When comparing reported income and primary water source, the poorest use mainly unimproved water sources, as would be expected (Table 1).
Although kiosks are more expensive to construct than standpipes, they provide added protection for water infrastructure, and they provide the opportunity to generate income from both water and household goods. The ability to sell goods in kiosks can offset low-profit margins from water, helping to ensure that kiosks remain viable. In Ribáuè, the economic opportunity from water kiosk ownership faced several initial constraints. This included lacking the initial capital to stock kiosks with goods. Solutions such as small loan schemes with affordable repayment plans for new kiosk operators could potentially address this, as could rotating savings and credit associations, which have worked successfully in Kenya and Ghana (Montgomery et al. ). Those interviewed also demonstrated a range of kiosks operators' profiles and levels of management skills, highlighting the need for initial capacity building for business management and on-the-job training, as per the Zambian model.

CONCLUSION: REACHING THE URBAN POOR AND ENHANCING SERVICE DELIVERY
The NAMWASH intervention produced important shortterm outcomes in Ribáuè. Most notably, these included a roughly 50% reduction in the use of unprotected wells and a significant rise in the use of piped water supply with 8% of households using yard taps and 14% using water kiosks within the first 5 months of introducing new piped water supply. Water consumption increased by roughly 40 L/d per household, and POU water treatment also increased nearly three-fold. There were also new economic opportunities created for local accommodation and hospitality establishments and, to a lesser extent, water kiosk vendors.
Reintroduction of piped water did not come without its issues. Residents of Ribáuè complained that the cost for piped water was high relative to boreholes. It would be advisable that decisions of where water kiosks/standpipes are located be based on criteria such as borehole proximity, accessibility, willingness, and capacity to pay. As highlighted by those with yard taps, unchecked water usage due to water not being charged for the first several months led to bill shock when it finally was charged, and many believed the water to be unsafe to drink for a period when there were issues with water coloration. With the introduction of new water supply entities (small-scale piped water system operator and kiosk vendors), the mechanisms for effective communication and coordination between organizations and with users about water supply, quality, billing, and complaints/feedback must be considered in advance as a priority. Interventions should also seek to incorporate as well as provide mechanisms for securing start-up funds (in the case of kiosk vendors).