Critically assess site selection decisions. Many rural water supply projects in sub-Saharan Africa are based on the installation of hand pumps at public water points. One of the key expected benefits of these investments is time savings. Surprisingly, references to rural water planning rarely provide systematic approaches to optimizing distance related benefits. MCC staff are reviewing how best to design future projects by critically assessing how MCC and MCAs: (i) identify the number and location of point sources that maximizes benefits to consumers, and (ii) determine the appropriate site location strategy, such as selection by lottery, largest unserved population, most distant unserved populations, minimization of the maximum distance, and minimization of the average distance between household and sources. Decisions related to these two points should be informed by a much better understanding of the demand – and willingness to pay for public water point services. We must also have a much better sense of the costs and particularly those costs which will be passed on to consumers. The MCC is looking to identify the degree to which benefit streams are influenced by distance to inform facility location in future projects.
Lesson Learned