New paper from the group:

Does User Participation Lead to Sense of Ownership for Rural Water Systems? Evidence from Kenya

Sara J. Marks, Jennifer Davis

World Development 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.03.011

Abstract: Despite broad acceptance of the idea that “sense of ownership” among users is critical to infrastructure sustainability in developing countries, little is known about what sense of ownership is, or its drivers. We present a novel measure of sense of ownership for piped water systems using empirical data collected from 1140 households in 50 rural Kenyan villages. This study establishes an empirical referent for households’ sense of ownership. We find that some, but not all, types of participation enhance community members’ sense of ownership for rural water projects.

Water MDG met at the global level

We had good news this World Water Day--at the global level, the Millennium Development Goal for access to improved water supply has been met, some 2.5 years ahead of schedule. During the period 1990-2012 more than 2 billion people gained access to improved water supply services (as per the Joint Monitoring Program definitions). Quite a feat. More information here: http://blogs.washplus.org/drinkingwaterupdates/

Water sector specialists were quick to point out that 780 million people (roughly a tenth of the world's population) are still lacking access to this basic service, relying for their water supplies on rivers, ponds, unprotected springs and wells. What hasn't been pointed out is that more than three times this number--2.5 billion, or ~36% of the global population--are now considered to have access, although they have pretty low levels of service, e.g., a congested handpump sited a few hundred yards from their home. Such non-networked water sources have, in many cases, not been shown to reduce infectious disease or confer time savings as compared to unimproved sources. Will ticking the 'has access' box for these households reduce the pressure on governments to continue working for higher levels of service?

Fortunately there is a vigorous debate underway about the definitions used to monitor progress in the sector post-2015. It is tough to identify valid and reliable indicators of access to improved water supply that can be feasibly monitored on a regular basis. It is even tougher to figure out who should pay for collecting those data, from which so many institutions and organizations benefit.

New paper from the group: Walk times to water source and health

Freshwater Availability and Water Fetching Distance Affect Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa

Amy J. Pickering and Jennifer Davis
Environ. Sci. Technol., Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/es203177v
Publication Date (Web): January 12, 2012

Currently, more than two-thirds of the population in Africa must leave their home to fetch water for drinking and domestic use. The time burden of water fetching has been suggested to influence the volume of water collected by households as well as time spent on income generating activities and child care. However, little is known about the potential health benefits of reducing water fetching distances. Data from almost 200 000 Demographic and Health Surveys carried out in 26 countries were used to assess the relationship between household walk time to water source and child health outcomes. To estimate the causal effect of decreased water fetching time on health, geographic variation in freshwater availability was employed as an instrumental variable for one-way walk time to water source in a two-stage regression model. Time spent walking to a household’s main water source was found to be a significant determinant of under-five child health. A 15-min decrease in one-way walk time to water source is associated with a 41% average relative reduction in diarrhea prevalence, improved anthropometric indicators of child nutritional status, and a 11% relative reduction in under-five child mortality. These results suggest that reducing the time cost of fetching water should be a priority for water infrastructure investments in Africa.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es203177v

A holiday flush with need: World Toilet Day op-ed

Palo Alto, CA (CNN) -- It does not make for pleasant dinner conversation. But we have a global sanitation crisis. More than 40% of the world's population does not have access to a toilet. These 2.6 billion people, most living in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa, face the daily challenge of finding a bush, train track or empty lot where they can urinate and defecate in relative privacy.

Between 1990 and 2008, the share of the world's population that had access to basic sanitation increased only 7%, to 61% of the world's citizens. In many developing countries, mobile phone penetration is expanding at a faster rate than sanitation. In Tanzania, for example, half the country's citizens have mobile phones, but only 24% use an improved sanitation facility.

Saturday marks the 10th anniversary of World Toilet Day, a day set aside not simply as a celebration of this most venerable and useful of technologies, but as a way to draw attention to the crisis and some possible solutions.

This sanitation crisis is not only an affront to dignity. It results in the release of hundreds of tons of feces and urine each day directly into rivers, lakes, landfills and oceans, creating an immense human and environmental health hazard. Every day more than 4,000 young children die from sanitation-related illness. Fully half of the hospital beds in the developing world are occupied by people whose ailments can be traced to poor sanitation.

Full story: www.cnn.com/2011/11/19/opinion/davis-toilet-day/index.html?hpt=op_t1

New paper from the group on urban water resale

Water supply services for Africa's urban poor: the role of resale

Valentina Zuin, Leonard Ortolano, Manuel Alvarinho, Kory Russel, Anne Thebo, Odete Muximpua and Jennifer Davis

Journal of Water and Health Vol 9 No 4 pp 773–784 © IWA Publishing 2011 doi:10.2166/wh.2011.031

ABSTRACT: In sub-Saharan Africa only 35% of the urban population has access to a piped water connection on their premises. The majority of households obtain water from public standpipes or from neighbors who are connected to the municipal network. Water resale is often prohibited, however, because of concerns about affordability and risks to public health. Using data collected from 1,377 households in Maputo, Mozambique, we compare the microbiological quality, as well as the time and money costs of water supply from individual house connections, public standpipes, and water obtained from neighbors. Households with their own water connections have better service across virtually all indicators measured, and express greater satisfaction with their service, as compared with those using other water sources. Households purchasing water from their neighbors pay lower time and money costs per liter of water, on average, as compared with those using standpipes. Resale competes favorably with standpipes along a number of service quality dimensions; however, after controlling for water supply characteristics, households purchasing water from neighbors are significantly less likely to be satisfied with their water service as compared with those using standpipes.

http://www.iwaponline.com/jwh/009/jwh0090773.htm?utm_source=IWA+Publishing+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=5e6da0a4b7-ContentsAlert_JWH94_Nov11&utm_medium=email

New paper from the group: Observational study of household WASH behavior

N. Badowski, C. Castro, M. Montgomery, A. Pickering, S. Mamuya, and J. Davis. "Understanding Household Behavioral Risk Factors for Diarrheal Disease in Dar es Salaam: A Photovoice Community Assessment." Journal of Environmental and Public Health, Vol. 2011( 130467). doi:10.1155/2011/130467.

Abstract: Whereas Tanzania has seen considerable improvements in water and sanitation infrastructure over the past 20 years, the country still faces high rates of childhood morbidity from diarrheal diseases. This study utilized a qualitative, cross-sectional, modified Photovoice method to capture daily activities of Dar es Salaam mothers. A total of 127 photographs from 13 households were examined, and 13 interviews were conducted with household mothers. The photographs and interviews revealed insufficient hand washing procedures, unsafe disposal of wastewater, uncovered household drinking water containers, a lack of water treatment prior to consumption, and inappropriate toilets for use by small children. The interviews revealed that mothers were aware and knowledgeable of the risks of certain household practices and understood safer alternatives, yet were restricted by the perceived impracticality and financial constraints to make changes. The results draw attention to the real economic and behavioral challenges faced in reducing the spread of disease.

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2011/130467/

Stanford Program on Water, Health & Development

The Stanford Program on Water, Health & Development works with partners in low- and middle-income countries to (1) strengthen the scientific basis for decision-making in the water and sanitation sector, particularly with reference to non-networked populations, (2) enhance capacity within developing countries for sustainable water and wastewater management, (3) provide unique training and learning opportunities for faculty and students at Stanford and partner universities, and (4) improve the health and well-being of households in some of the world’s poorest countries.

For more information, see h2o.stanford.edu