Hydraulic ram pumps and Sling Pumps

OP-32-E• Try to firmly install a maintenance culture within the community and amongst professional staffto keep the service in good working condition and so increase the life cycle of the equipment.• Organise preventive maintenance activities involving the users, helping to increase their sense ofresponsibility, and involve them in constant monitoring of the system, which leads to betterfunctioning and may reduce expenditures on repairs.• Organise systematic control of unaccounted for water, where users are involved in leakagecontrol and there is a system of checks and balances in place for administrative losses.• Install proper administrative and financial control mechanisms to avoid mismanagement of funds.One easy and effective way to do this, is to keep communities regularly informed with detailedfigures, about the financial status of the organisation.2.3 Access to other sources of funding“New strategies should aim towards increased efficiency in the use of available funds and in increasedmobilisation of additional funds” 23. This proposition from The New Delhi Statement (1990) wassubsequently reinforced by all major sector meetings during the nineties, and is particularly valid inthe context of a community-managed water supply. It will indeed be important to plan and determinefinancial mechanisms which cover all costs, if these are not fully covered by user’s fees. As seenearlier, tariffs are often based on the recovery of basic operation and maintenance costs, and rarelyinclude the cost for major repairs, rehabilitation and replacement. Communities will need to tap intoalternative sources, and it is proposed that planners take this into account, and facilitate /organiseaccess to these sources. Possible alternative financial sources are:• existing community sources,• private or corporate financing,• subsidies and taxes,• credit–loan mechanisms,• grants,• specific funds.This section gives an overview of these possible alternatives to tariffs. Planners need to assess theavailability, reliability and sustainability of these sources and, where they are non-existent, thepossibility of developing them.2.3.1 Tapping into existing community sourcesIn communities with significant seasonal variations in income, it is difficult to recover costs throughregular payments. An alternative is to cover the costs through community fund raising where “familiesdo not pay regular contributions towards the cost of the community water system. Instead, money isperiodically accumulated in other ways.” (van Wijk, 1989) Community fundraising options includevoluntary funds, general community revenue and payment in kind.Voluntary fundsVoluntary funds are built up by voluntary contributions from local leaders or community groupsthrough public meetings, bazaars, lotteries, festivals and similar social activities. These are common tofinance construction and major repairs in communities which have a tradition of fund raising andseasonal income. People contribute to finance a particular project or activity. The success of thisoption depends on a certain social cohesion which ensures that users contribute according to their useof water and ability to pay.23 From The New Delhi Statement (1990).36