Solving challenges in rural water supply service delivery.
Our work in rural water supply service delivery addresses institutional and regulatory aspects, finance and economics, political economy, technology, climate change, and water science.
PROJECT | 2023-2024
Future proofing a basic social service: climate-resilient community-based rural water supply
This project aims to provide innovative tools, capacity, and policy recommendations to improve the climate resilience and inclusiveness of rural water systems in Indonesia, including their related water resources.
PROJECT | 2023-2025
Climate resilient and inclusive WASH systems in Cambodia
The research aims to support CSOs (Civil Society Organisations), water associations and government actors to adapt and implement guidelines related to climate resilient water resources management planning at varied scales in Cambodia (commune, district, catchment).
PROJECT | 2018-2022
Inclusive and sustainable rural water supply services in Nepal (Beyond the Finish Line SNV partnership)
Rural areas in Nepal have high coverage of basic water supplies, but not everyone receives acceptable quality drinking water, and climate change threatens to disrupt water system sustainability.
This research examines two areas: 1) Drivers of water contamination in rural area of Nepal and how these can be addressed, and 2) Service provider strategies for maintaining water service levels against climate impacts. Addressing these areas is critical for meeting safely managed water criteria and sustaining service levels.
This work was undertaken in partnership with SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and their Water for Women Program 'Beyond the Finish Line'.
Location: Nepal
Client: SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
Wider program: Water for Women Fund, Beyond the Finish Line
Researchers: Jeremy Kohlitz, Naomi Carrard, Tim Foster
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Sustainable services for whom? Ensuring rural water service delivery supports equality (2020) (Report)
Unpacking inequalities in rural access to Nepal’s safely managed water services (2021) (learning brief)
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PROJECT | 2018-2022
Transitioning to safely managed water services: Risks and opportunities of self-supply for vulnerable populations
Evaluates risks and opportunities associated with self-supply water sources and the effects on transitioning towards safely-managed services for poor households across Asia-Pacific.
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Transitioning to safely-managed water services in self-supply contexts (Website)
Self-supplied drinking water in low- and middle-income countries in the Asia-Pacific (2021) (Journal Paper)
Faecal contamination of groundwater self-supply in low- and middle income countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis (2021) (Journal Paper)
The Occurrence of Escherichia coli in Groundwater of Bekasi City (Case Study: Jatiluhur, Sumur Batu, and Jatirangga Urban Villages) (2021) (Conference Paper)
Effectiveness of Groundwater Boiling as Household Water Treatment in Metro and Bekasi Cities, Indonesia (2021) (Conference Paper)
Self-Supply Service Level Assessment as Drinking Water Source in Bekasi City (Case Study: Jatiluhur, Sumur Batu, and Jatirangga Villages) (2021) (Conference Paper)
Sanitation inspection of household fecal containment in Bekasi, Indonesia (2021) (Conference Paper)
Contending With Water Shortages in the Pacific: Performance of Private Rainwater Tanks Versus Communal Rainwater Tanks in Rural Vanuatu (2021) (Journal Paper)
PROJECT | 2017- 2020
Rural water service sustainability: determinants and outcomes
This project investigated approaches to sustaining rural water service delivery in Asia and Africa. Based on fieldwork in Cambodia, Vanuatu and Sierra Leone, the research evaluated the prevalence, success factors, motivations and sustainability implications of rural water entrepreneurs and other modes of water service delivery. This research applied critical mass theory to community waterpoint financial contributions in rural sub-Saharan Africa for the first time, to explain the initiation and spread of community behaviours. It also examined the sustainability and service outcomes of services in Cambodia, Vanuatu and Sierra Leone.
Location: Cambodia, Vanuatu, Sierra Leone
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Multiple water source use in rural Vanuatu: are households choosing the safest option for drinking? (2018) (Journal Paper)
Factors associated with operational sustainability of rural water supplies in Cambodia (2018) (Journal Paper)
Risk factors associated with rural water supply failure: A 30-year retrospective study of handpumps on the south coast of Kenya (2018) (Journal Paper)
Evaluating waterpoint sustainability and access implications of revenue collection approaches in rural Kenya (2017) (Journal Paper)
A critical mass analysis of community-based financing of water services in rural Kenya (2017) (Journal Paper)
Faecal contamination of groundwater in rural Vanuatu: prevalence and predictors (2018) (Journal Paper)
Functionality of handpump water supplies: a review of data from sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region (2020) (Journal Paper)
PROJECT | 2018-2019
Evaluation of WaterCredit Project, India
Microfinance is a key pathway to support access to WASH services. This project examined the impact of WaterCredit Project, a water and sanitation microfinance initiative in urban India. The assessment included a large household survey, focus group discussions and interviews with key informants.
Location: India
Client: water.org
Researchers: Simone Soeters, Tim Foster, Juliet Willetts
PROJECT | 2018-2019
Rural water supply in Vanuatu: assessment of coverage and service levels
This project sought to characterise the coverage and service levels delivered by rural water supply systems in Vanuatu. The assessment was based on data from the country’s rural water supply inventory, which comprises information on almost 5,000 water sources across 46 islands. Performance measures assessed included functionality, service continuity, gender equity, and sanitary conditions.
Location: Vanuatu
Client: UNICEF
Researchers: Tim Foster, Jeremy Kohlitz, Juliet Willetts
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Does the source of water for piped supplies affect child health? Evidence from rural Vanuatu (2019) (Journal Paper)
PROJECT | 2017
Groundwater and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa
ISF was commissioned by the SKAT Foundation to produce a systematic review of the relationship between groundwater and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The work featured as Chapter 5 of the report ‘Groundwater and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa’.
Location: Africa
Client: SKAT Foundation
Wider program: UPGro Programme
Researchers: Ian Cunningham, Tim Foster
PROJECT | 2016-2020
Responding to climate change to sustain community-managed water services in Vanuatu
Clear conceptualisation of the different ways that community-managed water services are affected by and sustained against climate change is needed to inform appropriate adaptation interventions. This research project examined the impacts of climate change on two communities in rural Vanuatu using risk-hazard, vulnerability, and social-ecological system resilience perspectives, and developed a conceptual framework to facilitate interdisciplinary research on climate change impacts on community-managed water services.
Location: Vanuatu
Researchers: Jeremy Kohlitz, Juliet Willetts, Naomi Carrard, Joanne Chong, Tim Foster
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Social-ecological system resilience for WASH (2019) (Book Chapter)
Climate change vulnerability and resilience of water, sanitation, and hygiene services: a theoretical perspective (2017) (Journal Paper)
Monitoring the human rights to water and sanitation: an analysis of policy in Pacific island countries (2016) (Journal Paper)
Responding to climate change to sustain community-managed water services in Vanuatu – PhD thesis (2018) (Thesis)
Social-ecological system resilience for WASH (2019) (Book Chapter)
Sustaining rural water services against climate change in Vanuatu: A project brief (2018) (Report)
PROJECT | 2016
Blue Pump performance evaluation
The Blue Pump is an emerging rural water supply technology, which utilises lever-action reciprocating hand pump technology as an alternative to mainstream hand pump technology in rural sub-Saharan Africa.
Claims about the Blue Pump's durability and minimal maintenance requirements have provoked significant interest in the rural water sector. However, there are questions about the BluePump's initial cost, maintenance cost, and operational performance
In partnership with Oxfam, in the context of Kenya and the Gambia, ISF assessed the Blue Pump’s operational performance and other factors affecting the suitability and sustainability of the Blue Pump.
Location: Kenya, The Gambia
Client: Oxfam
Researchers: Tim Foster, Juliet Willetts
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
An Evaluation of the Blue Pump in Kenya and the Gambia,Preliminary results from an evaluation of the Blue Pump in Turkana, Kenya (2016) (Conference Proceeding)
Comparative performance evaluation of handpump water-supply technologies in northern Kenya and The Gambia (2019) (Journal Paper)
PROJECT | 2012
Sustainable service delivery in Timor-Leste
The Timor-Leste rural water supply sector faces a range of challenges, including imbalances between capital investment and recurrent costs, limitations in technical oversight and cases of poor quality construction. Historically, the institutional framework places communities as responsible for the operation and maintenance of small rural water systems. However, a balance needs to be struck between community and government responsibility.Improving the sustainability of rural water service provision in Timor-Leste requires reorientation of the sector from an infrastructure focus to a service delivery approach.
Commissioned by AusAID, through their Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program (BESIK), this research provided recommendations on ways to shift the institutional arrangements for Timor-Leste’s rural water supply sector from the current infrastructure focus, to a service delivery approach able to provide ongoing sustainable services to rural populations.
Location: Timor-Leste
Client: AusAID // DFAT
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
A service delivery approach for rural water supply in Timor-Leste: Institutional options and strategy (2012) (Report)
