Hydraulic ram pumps and Sling Pumps

Key Factors for Sustainable Cost RecoveryEstimating Energy and Communication Costsa) Electrical Power• identify the characteristics of the engine and electrical devices,• determine daily running time and power consumption,• identify the unit cost of electricity and determine total (and per unit) cost.b) Fuel Costs• identify the characteristics of engines and devices which use fuel,• determine daily running time and fuel consumption,• identify cost of fuel and determine total (and per unit) cost.c) Communications Costs• list all communication equipment,• identify monthly fee per device / piece of equipment,• sum up the monthly fees.Estimating Transport Costs• identify tasks which require transport (transport of personnel and of material/supplies),• define the transport needs for each tasks, including the type of vehicle required (bus, pick-up, soon) and the round trip distance in km or miles,• estimate the frequency of trips (by season if relevant),• estimate transport cost per kilometre or mile including fuel, lubricants, tyres, insurance,maintenance, drivers’ wages, paying back the capital cost,• estimate the total monthly costs for transport using this information.Estimating private contractor costs• establish which maintenance tasks will be performed by which private contractors (it is helpful todifferentiate between regular maintenance tasks and unforeseen repairs),• estimate the frequency at which each will occur,• estimate the cost per incident, preferably after discussions with private contractors,• establish an agreement with the private contractor, if possible.2.2.3 Minimising costsAn important aspect of optimising costs is reducing O&M costs. These can be significantly reduced inthe following way:• Choosing a technology with low cost spare parts or low cost operation and maintenance costs.Minimising O&M costs should be more of a priority than minimising capital investment,especially where the replacement cost will not be borne by communities. However, if a full costrecovery is agreed, planners and communities should try to minimise both capital and recurrentcosts.• Economies of scale can make an expensive water supply system more attractive financially,where costs can be spread over a large number of actual or potential users. However, this does notusually apply to wells or handpumps, which are designed for a certain number of users.Economies of scale are more applicable in the context of piped water supply.• One way to reduce costs is to monitor with care changes in variable costs such as energy,consumables, maintenance and repair. Unusual increases in these costs should swiftly alert theorganisation managing the service to possible misuse or mismanagement.• Fixed costs cannot normally be reduced. However, like all costs, at times they can be subject tovariations. One way to protect a project from unpredictable increases is to fix them in acontractual agreement between personnel and the organisation.• It is possible to reduce transport costs by making spare parts and chemicals more accessible andavailable to the community.• Planners should try, where possible, to reduce dependence on chemical use, using for examplealternative water treatment technology such as a multi-stage filtration system.• Reduce dependence on fuel or electric consumption, by using solar, gravity, or wind energy.35