WASH

Digitisation of Rural Water
Sector in Nigeria
- An effec ve tool to ensure sustainability and accountability in
rural water supply
Abstract:
UNICEF has been suppor ng the Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR) in the development
and rolling out of WASH Management Informa on Systems (WASHIMS) across Nigeria. The
process is at an advanced stage. WASHIMS is a user-friendly tool for collecting, organizing and
processing sector data for informed decision making. The system has enormous capacity to
capture a variety of data generated at various levels and consolidate informa on on a variety of
themes. As part of WASHIMS, a cost-effec ve Real- me Func onality Tracking System (RTFTS)
has been introduced to monitor the func onality of water systems in rural communi es,
par cularly boreholes that account for over 90% of the water supply systems in rural areas in
Nigeria. It is heartening to note that with the introduc on of this system, the percentage of water
points disfunc onal at any given point in me has dropped from 44% to 29% in the pilot LGAs with
one of them recording only 2% dysfunc onality compared to 26% .
BACKGROUND
Hand pumps fi ed on bore well and solar powered motorised water systems are the two main
drinking water sources in rural areas in Nigeria. Most of the inhabitants depend on these two systems
to meet their household needs. It is therefore natural to expect that these sources provide uninterrupted
water supply to the people lest they go back to the tradi onal and unsafe water sources
even though this amounts to travelling long distance. Over the years, it has been realized that it is not
enough to provide a safe water source but equally important to ensure that it is reliable and
sustainable.
The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on Water and Sanita on (Goal No.6) has emphasized
achieving universal access to safe water on a sustainable basis by 2030. According to the JMP report
2015, 69% of the popula on in Nigeria had access to an improved water source up from 40% in 1990.
While this may look impressive, two recent surveys by UNICEF-TCF of hand pumps (2011) and solar
powered motorised bore wells (2013) indicated that, only 56% of hand pumps and 37% of solarpowered
motorised water systems were func onal at any given point in me. It is not only a huge
drain on the investments made in providing safe water sources, it also ques ons the jus fica on for
such investment if no account is taken of the reliability of the water facili es so created.
Lack of effec ve mechanism to report systems breakdown and repair contributes to poor
func onality rates. Also, comprehensive data for planning to reach the unserved is a cri cal
requirement. This informed developing a robust monitoring system for rural water supply.
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