Strategic area
Water Sanitation and Hygiene
Reliable water and a complete sanitation service
The proposed approach would prioritise reliable water at community facilities and functional sanitation, selected through evidence on underserved users, seasonal shortages, quality failures and local operating capacity. Each investment would require lawful source access, a competent operator and an affordable plan for continued service.
Proposed approach
Appraise sources and restore service
Engineers would compare rehabilitation, groundwater, treatment and storage against hydrology, seasonality, energy and environmental requirements. Rehabilitation would take precedence where it meets the service requirement at lower lifecycle cost. Land and water rights, failure response and treatment duties would be resolved before construction or expansion.
Clarify public duties and affordable access
Institutional maps would assign owners, operators, inspectors and responders under domestic law. Water allocation would consider household, public-service and productive demand. Approved tariffs, exemptions and complaint routes would be published; where affordable charges cannot cover essential costs, a lawful subsidy or other finance would be identified.
Reduce losses through comparable measurement
Fixed network boundaries and calibrated meters would establish a water balance before major repair funding. Operators would compare leak repair, meter replacement, pressure management and renewal. Verification would preserve seasons, supply hours, legitimate consumption and measurement uncertainty; suppressing supply would not count as improved efficiency.
Finance sanitation from containment to lawful disposal
Sanitation plans would cover containment, collection, transport, treatment and an authorised final destination. Designs would address privacy, accessibility, cleaning, worker protection and groundwater or flood risks. Collection and treatment records would be reconciled with site conditions. Hygiene guidance would be tied to supplies and facilities people can actually use.
Maintain the assets that sustain service
Lifecycle budgets would include staff, energy, chemicals, parts, maintenance, renewal and decommissioning. Operators would receive usable instructions and demonstrate practical competence. Reserves and temporary supply arrangements would address interruption, with repeat faults investigated before another repair is financed.
Intended outcomes
Planned outcomes are more accessible hours of safe water service within the original schedule and less unaccounted water within fixed zones. Water quality, delivered volumes, household costs, remote access and unresolved complaints would accompany both measures. Availability alone would not prove sufficient volume or equitable service.
Protection and access
Women, caregivers, pupils, poorer and remote households and people with disabilities would participate in design and access review. Operators would communicate approved restrictions and lawful charges. Safety closure would remain in reported availability until technical clearance; favourable averages would not discharge duties to excluded users.
Long term direction
Asset owners, operators and financing authorities would agree recurrent duties before capital approval. Support would fall only when replacement payments and sustained service are verified. Source failure, insecurity or weaker revenue would trigger continuity review; expansion would require affordable renewal of the wider system.
Who would do what
| Party | Role |
|---|---|
| Public authorities and regulators | Resolve lawful source access, mandates, allocation rights, tariffs and quality requirements. |
| Owners and operators | Run services, maintain assets, collect lawful receipts, communicate interruptions and preserve custody and treatment records. |
| Communities and service users | Inform siting, accessible design and operating decisions and report exclusion or failure through protected routes. |
| THESO and independent technical assurance | Appraise lifecycle affordability and finance agreed services; independent engineers and authorised laboratories verify acceptance, quality, access and operating evidence. |
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Planned measures
These are planned indicators. No result has been measured or verified yet.
- Indicator 05. Availability of funded water services
- Indicator 06. Unaccounted water volume
Discuss this area
Discuss a water or sanitation service
Identify the service area, lawful source or disposal route, owner, operator, existing performance and full maintenance budget for appraisal.
Draft framework wording