SUSTAINABILITY OF WATER SUPPLY SCHEMES (The Case of Kamashi Zone of Benishangul Gumuz Regional State

Abstract

Evaluating the sustainability of schemes already implemented and to look forward to what actions to be taken is necessary. In this study the sustainability of water supply schemes in Kamashi zone of Benishangul Gumuz Regional State was seen from the documents available about the water supply situation in the area. The study is made by the use of both secondary information and primary data collected from field with a visit to the sites. Most water supply systems are concentrated around urban centers. Indices were taken from similar studies and used to assess sustainability and they show that the situation in water supply is below the standard. Moreover, from sustainability analysis of schemes it is seen that the systems established are not functioning the community to the standard. From the study it was also - seen that the most frequently · , failing parts of schemes are the 0-ring, Li-seal and crack on PVC pipes for the hand pumps and unavailability of night storage to accommodate the freely flowing water during non-service hours. \' i ,, r ';' The challenges and problems identified as aggravating the failure of water supply schemes are: poor organizational structures and low profile of O&M, lack of spare parts within the local market, lack of trained personnel, inaccessibility of many of the community villages and loose contact between the central bureaus in the region and · sector bureaus at Woreda level. The average number of users on hand pumps is 325 households and the actual yield of the pumps for which field measurement was taken is 0 . 161itres per second and for springs it was 0.1 Olitres per second. The average distance of households from the water sources they are using as taken as a sample for Belojiganfoy Woreda town is 656 metres which is much higher figure. From physical and chemical water quality analysis made i n lab and which was taken from FHI the water quality approximately fulfills the WHC standards except for some parameters like nitrate, nitrite, Iron and Manganese . Key words: sustainability, community participation, Operation and Maintenance, Spare parts, Kamasi