| Zambia: Water and Sanitation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Data | ||
| Water coverage (broad definition) | 60% (2008) [1] | |
| Sanitation coverage (broad definition) | 49% (2008) [1] | |
| Continuity of supply | Average of 16 hours per day in 2010 [2] | |
| Average urban water use (liter/capita/day) | 77 (2010), ranging from 26 to 121 between utilities [2] | |
| Average urban domestic water and sewer bill for 20m3 | US$ 5.80/month for metered users | |
| Share of household metering | 58% (2010), [2] up from 39% (2010) [3] | |
| Non-revenue water | 44% (2010) [2] | |
| Share of collected wastewater treated | n/a | |
| Annual investment in WSS | US$ 33.5 million (2002) or US$ 3/capita/year | |
| Share of self-financing by utilities | Low to zero | |
| Share of tax-financing | 2% (2002) | |
| Share of external financing | 98% (2002) | |
| Institutions | ||
| Decentralization to municipalities | Yes (municipality-owned regional utilities) | |
| National water and sanitation company | None | |
| Water and sanitation regulator | Yes (NWASCO) | |
| Responsibility for policy setting | Minister for Local Government and Housing | |
| Sector law | Yes | |
| Number of service providers | 10 Commercial Utilities (urban areas) | |
Water supply and sanitation in Zambia is characterized by wide discrepancies in access to an improved water source between urban and rural areas. In peri-urban areas, access has been substantially expanded through the construction of water kiosks. Major reforms have been carried out since 1989 with a focus on urban areas: Eleven regional commercial utilities were established to replace fragmented service provision by local governments. A regulatory agency was created which has substantially improved the availability of information and a trust fund was established to focus donor support on poor areas using water kiosks. Nevertheless, the reform process has only partially achieved its objectives. Investment levels remain at only a fraction of what would be needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the level of non-revenue water remains high at 44% in 2010.
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In 2008 only 60% of the population of Zambia had access to an improved source of water supply and 49% had access to adequate sanitation. Concerning water supply, there is a stark contrast between urban areas (87% access according to national surveys, 78% access according to the regulator in 2010) and rural areas (46% access). For sanitation, access rates are similar for urban (59% according to national surveys, 54% according to the regulator in 2010) and rural (43%) areas. In urban areas, only 41% have access to water connections in their house or yard and 49% rely on water kiosks and standpipes.[1]
Water kiosks, which were first introduced in Zambia in 2006, are operated by private individuals who have signed an agreement with water utilities and municipalities. The kiosk operators buy piped water in bulk and sell it at a slightly higher regulated price of about 1 US Cent per 20 litres to users who carry the water in gericans to their homes. The kiosk operators supplement their income by selling various other items of daily life. There were about 170 water kiosks in Zambia in 2008, providing water to 200,000 people. Another 100 kiosks were expected to be added in 2009.[4][5][6]
Concerning sanitation, only 29% of the urban population are connected to sewers while 30% are served by septic tanks or improved household-level latrines. While these figures are low, they are actually higher than the average access in Sub-Saharan Africa.[1]
Lack of access to water and sanitation has significant negative social impacts, in particular on girls and women who are often in charge of collecting water for their villages and homes – sometimes walking extremely long distances to do so. After that girls are too tired to come back home and concentrate on education.[7]
Drinking water quality. According to the regulatory agency, 94% of water samples collected in urban areas were in compliance with drinking water standards in 2010. Pollution from mines affects drinking water supply quality provided by the Mulonga and Nkana water and sewerage companies, where in some cases, the concentration of manganese was beyond treatable limits.[8]
Continuity. Water supply in urban areas is intermittent, with an average supply of 16 hours per day in 2010. The highest intermittency has been measured in the small Luapula Utility with 6 hours per day. The only utility providing continuous supply in 2007 was in Chipata, while in 2010 the only utility that provided near continous supply was the Northwestern Water and Sewerage Company.[2]
Wastewater treatment. Wastewater treatment plants regularly do not achieve effluent standards. Capacities of plants like the Manchinchi in Lusaka and the Kanini in Ndola have been out-grown by the population. Stabilization ponds such as in Kaunda Square in Lusaka and Livingstone City are in a deplorable state and pose a serious environmental hazard.[2]
Unlike many other countries in the region Zambia has more than adequate water resources, although during the dry season water resources may be scarce, especially in the southern part of the country. The annual rainfall averages between 1400 mm in the north and gradually declines to 700 mm in the south. The country is rich in rivers, such as the transboundary Zambezi and lakes Tanganyika, Mweru and Kariba. It is estimated that only 1.5% of the annual renewable water resources are being used at present. There are significant regional differences across the country with regard to place and time when water is available. Also groundwater availability is unevenly distributed.[9]
Responsibilities in the sector are clearly separated between the Ministry of Local Government and Housing (policy), National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (economic regulation) and local government as well as commercial utilities owned by local government (service provision in urban areas).
The Ministry of Local Government and Housing is in charge of sector policies. Within the Ministry the Department of Infrastructure and Support Services (DISS) is responsible for water supply and sanitation infrastructure planning and resource mobilization. DISS has established a specific Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Unit (RWSSU) in 2003 and shortly thereafter also a unit for peri-urban water supply and sanitation.
According to the 1994 National Water Policy seven principles govern the state's policy in water and sanitation
By 2008 at least the first three principles had been put into practice. However, full cost recovery was far from being achieved and budget spending remained far below what is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for the sector.
Economic regulation of water supply and sanitation services is the task of the National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO). It oversees tariff adjustments, minimum service levels, financial projection and investment planning and corporate governance. NWASCO has made “significant progress in benchmarking, reporting and engaging users” despite being “underfunded and understaffed”. However, its effectiveness remains limited, among others because “the mechanisms for enforcing regulatory rules remain unclear”.[10] NWASCO's is supported by water watch groups and part-time inspectors who monitor the quality of service on the ground. Water watch groups exist in 10 cities. They consist of volunteers who educate users about their rights and obligations, and assist users to resolve complaints. This has apparently reduced petty corruption and meter manipulation. According to research, while it is common in Zambia to pay bribes for a connection to the electricity grid, this type of bribe is almost absent for water connections.[11] In 2010 the regulator dissolved water watch groups in Chingola, Kabwe and Lusaka "for non-performance", but all three were re-established a few months later.[8]
According to the German Technical Cooperation, NWASCO is so successful that it “can serve as a role model for other countries in the region”. NWASCO reports to the Ministry of Energy and Water Development, not to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing that is in charge of sector policy.[5]
By law service provision is a responsibility of local authorities. However, most of them have formed regional commercial utilities to which they delegate service provision. In 2011, eleven commercial utilities, each covering between 3 and 17 municipalities and owned by the local authorities, provided water services to more than 86% of the urban population with access to improved water supply. The size of the utilities ranges from 3,000 to more than 75,000 connections.[2] The capacity of the utilities differs considerably.[9] In 2006/2007 the regulator ranked the Nkana utility first and the Chambeshi utility last of the 10 utilities in terms of performance.[3] In 2010 the Southern utility was ranked first and the Chambeshi utility, which faces numerous challenges, was still ranked last.[2]
There are also 6 private schemes that are run by commercial entities that supply water and sanitation services to their employees as a fringe benefit. These are owned and run by companies whose core business is not water supply.
Urban tariffs for unmetered domestic users are set according to the category of housing (low, medium and high costs) for purposes of cross-subsidization. For metered users an increasing-block tariff is applied. Tariffs were increased substantially between 1992 and 2006, between twofold and eightfold in real terms. The highest increase (+881% in these 14 years) was for the highest tranche for metered consumption in Lusaka, while the lowest increas (+61%) was for unmetered mid-cost housing in the Southern Province.[12] The average collection efficiency in 2010 was 84%, indicating that 16% of users did not pay their bills.[2]
Financial viability in the sector has improved with six of the nine licensed commercial utilities operating in Zambia reaching operational cost coverage by the end of 2006.[3] In 2010 the average operational cost recovery was 105%, varying from 46% to 130% in Mulonga.[2] According to one study, there are two main reasons that impede a higher level of cost recovery:
The share of household expenditures for water among the poor varied from 2.5% to 9.9% in 2002-03. More than 60% of poor households paid more than 3% of their expenditures on water [12] The regulator is financed through a 1-2% surcharge on water tariffs.
Actual investment. In 2002 total investments in water and sanitation were estimated at US$ 33.5 million, including US$ 33 million by donors and NGOs (98%) and US$ 0.5 million (2%) by the government using its own resources. Government capital expenditures had been budgeted at US$ 6.1 million for 2002, but only 9% of that amount was actually invested.[12]
Investment needs. The Water Supply and Sanitation Development Group prepared a medium-term development strategy to implement during 1994–2003. Their estimations suggested that the government had to invest between US$ 407 million (a low-cost investment strategy) and US$ 1,553 million (a medium-cost investment strategy) every year during this period in order to rehabilitate the existing system and expand the network to avoid any reduction in access rates, i.e. without increasing access rates. Actual investments thus are only a small fraction (8% of the low-cost scenario) of investment needs..[12]
Financing. As pointed out above, 98% of investments in the sector are financed by donors and NGOs. The government has established a Devolution Trust Fund (DTF) to provide financing to increase access in poor urban areas through the use of low-cost technologies. The DTF financed water kiosks that provided access to clean water to 120,000 people at a cost of 643,455 Euro until 2006. The DTF assigns its funds based on proposals received from water utilities.[5]
The average level of non-revenue water in the commercial utilities operating in urban areas was estimated at about 44% in 2010, varying among utilities between 34% for the Northwest and 67% in Luapula.
Staff per 1,000 connections varies between 7 and 17, thus indicating significant overstaffing, since national targets are less than 5 or 9 staff per 1,000 connections depending on the size of the utility.[3] Utility performance has constantly increased since NWASCO began its benchmarking exercise.[5]
A large array of external public donors support the water and sanitation sector in Zambia. Many NGOs, such as CARE, also support the sector. The activities of the main public donors are listed below in alphabetical order.
In the Central Province the African Development Bank has been supporting the seven local authorities in institutional reforms and infrastructure rehabilitation under a project approved in 2003. In Nkana it supports water supply and sanitation under a project approved in 2008. Furthermore, a national rural water supply and sanitation program has been approved in 2006.[14]
Since 2004 DANIDA supports the Mulonga, Kafubu and Western Water and Sewerage companies. In 2006 it approved a EUR 32.8 million five–year (2006–2010) Water Sector Support Program, which includes water supply and sanitation in rural and peri-urban areas, as well as integrated water resources management.[15]
Germany supports the water and sanitation sector in Zambia through financial cooperation carried out by KfW Development Bank and German Technical Cooperation carried out by GIZ. German aid has been particularly involved in expanding services to the urban poor through water kiosks, supported via the Devolution Trust Fund (DTF). A more recent pilot project for the construction of latrines is also being supported by Germany through the DTF.[4][16] GIZ has been active in strengthening the regulatory agency NWASCO, in setting up a sector information system, and in strengthening NWASCO's planning capabilities.[5] In the Eastern Province, which currently has only a single commercial utility in Chipata, the German government assists its partners in commercializing the service delivery in small towns outside of Chipata. Through the support of KfW 520 wells have been built or rehabilitated in eight Districts of the Eastern Provinces. Sanitation facilities have been built at schools and health posts, and measures to promote appropriate hyiene behavior have been supported.[4] The Southern and North-Western commercial utilities have also benefited from German support.[5] In all three commercial utilities training is carried out covering administration, institutional development, electrical engineering and water production/distribution.[17]
Concerning rural water supply, German aid is engaged in the Northwestern Province. The Project is working with the Councils of Kasempa, Kabompo and Mufumbwe District to reach out to a population of about 2.5 million people beginning in 2004 through the construction of boreholes and hand-dug wells. The project emphasizes the participation of the population in the communities, especially of women. Health education including malaria and HIV/AIDS are also part of the project.[17]
Ireland supports the Chambeshi commercial utility.
JICA provides grants for investmetns in groundwater development in Luapula Province (2008–2010), technical cooperation for the sustainable operation and maintenance of rural water supply (2007–2010) and capacity building for commercial utilities (2007–2009).[18]
UNICEF supports water supply projects in cooperation with the Maureen Mwanawasa Community Initiative, the wife of the late President Mwanawasa.[7]
The World Bank assists the sector through a US$ 23m Water Sector Performance Improvement Project approved in 2006.[19]
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