Project Failures – Water for Life Rating

35-50% of water and sanitation projects fail within a few years of implementation, particularly in rural areas.

West Bengal, India: This water point was installed at a village school as a post-typhoon emergency relief effort. Residents report that it was non-functional less than 6 months later.

Oromia, Ethiopia: This water point serves hundreds of households from a single collection point. The water source does not provide a sufficient quantity of water for the population—the water trickles out of the tap.

Oromia, Ethiopia: The result is a 2-hour wait to fill a single 5-gallon container, conflicts about line position, and residents not receiving an adequate quantity of water to meet their basic needs.

South Africa: Users of this PlayPump system never received a response when they called the repair line.

Nicaragua: It’s not just water systems! Here is an abandoned school latrine pit.

780 million people lack acces to safe water and 2.5 billion lack adequate sanitation (JMP 2014). Billions of dollars in aid and philanthropic gifts have been spent trying to solve the problem, yet, as everyone in the WASH sector knows, 35-50% of water and sanitation projects fail within a few years of implementation, particularly in rural areas.

Expert opinion is that less than 5% of projects are visited post-construction and less than 1% receive any long-term monitoring. This statistic means that few organizations are investing in their own learning, taking corrective actions, or improving the execution of future projects. In spite of the state of affairs, implementing organizations continue to be rewarded with donations to move on to the next construction project.

The so-called beneficiaries are the only ones who suffer after a system failure. But their frustrations have not led to meaningful change in the funding cycle.

Given the lack of measurable movement on these issues in the past 20 years, it is clear that implementing organizations need a more compelling incentive to conduct routine monitoring and evaluation of their programs, leading to improved long-term performance. Financial institutions and donors should also have better information to ensure that funds are allocated effectively and efficiently and include consideration of long-term management.

The Water for Life rating system lays the groundwork for the identification of high-performing humanitarian organizations within the water and sanitation sector as determined by third party experts. Once that system is in place, funding agencies will have the tool they need to break the current pattern of funding and begin to channel resources to groups with a proven track record of delivering long lasting services.

Learn more in the op-eds below:

2013
Humanosphere: The problem of cheap water

2012
Humanoshere: Guest Op-Ed: Water projects everywhere, but little accountability
Seattle Globalist: What international aid can learn from Zappos

2011
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
Humanosphere: Seeking sustainable solutions on World Water Day