Hydraulic ram pumps and Sling Pumps

Key Factors for Sustainable Cost RecoveryAdvantages and disadvantages of subsidiesAdvantages• Allows users with low ability to pay toaccess WSS services.• Tool for income redistribution.• Availability of resources to carry out largeinvestments.Disadvantages• It is difficult to keep subsidies going for longperiods due to lack of resources of governments.• There is a trend towards cutting off publicresources.• Discourages community responsibility.• There is a tendency for political reasons todominate resource allocation and distribution.TaxesMunicipalities can collect the necessary funds through local taxes. Payment can be linked to incomelevel or properties, but charges may not reflect the level of water consumption. Governments are notalways clear and transparent in the management of this type of resources and users are reluctant toaccept new taxes.Advantages and disadvantages of taxesAdvantages• Takes into account the ability of users topay.• Does not require additional administrativeprocedures because taxes are alreadycollected at local or national level.• Not expensive.Disadvantages• Users hardly participate in decision making.• Users hardly participate in management andallocation of resources.• High rate of non-payment of taxes, especially indeveloping countries.• Bureaucracy delays resource allocation andpayment making it difficult to get money at theright time.• There is a tendency for political reasons todominate resource allocation and distribution.Cross-subsidyOne way to make the service equitable and affordable for all is to subsidise the poor and surchargehigh-income consumers. However, in rural and low-income urban areas the majority of users havelow-income levels, so funds raised from surcharging richer users in that area will not cover theirsubsidies. Advantages and disadvantages of taxesAdvantages and disadvantages of cross-subsidiesAdvantages• Allows users with low ability to pay toaccess water supply and sanitationservices.• A tool for income redistribution.Disadvantages• Requires the management of complexinformation about tariffs structures, consumption,users, water uses, etc. It makes communitymanagement difficult.• Can send wrong signals about prices tosubsidised users, leading to waste of water.• Industries which are surcharged look foralternative water sources.• Difficult to keep this financial option for a longperiod.• Encourages corruption as users want to beclassified to pay lower tariffs2.3.4 GrantsNGOs and donors have used grants as a type of financing mechanism for the construction of WSSsystems. Nowadays, this approach conflicts with the new approach under which donors and NGOsdemand an active role from communities. Grants rarely pay for recurrent costs. However, donationsare still made to support water and sanitation services.39