Abstract:
While most studies have acknowledged growth of unplanned low income settlements and challenges associated with the settlements in developing countries, there have not been studies to assess their impacts on performance of water utilities in these countries. One of the main challenges facing water utilities in Africa, is an increase in unplanned low income settlements which are associated with various physical, social, economic and political challenges. Understanding the impact of the unplanned low income settlements on performance of a water utility is key to development of strategies and sustenance of initiatives being undertaken to improve performance of utilities in the midst of rapid urbanisation. This study assessed performance of Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) in the unplanned low income settlements of Kauma (Area 41), Mgona (Area 50) and Mtandire (Area 56) using selected indicators and benchmarking the performance with the water utility’s overall performance. The performance was measured using Non-Revenue Water, Revenue Collection Efficiency and Efficiency of Maintenance and Operation (Repair cost per km and Repair cost per connection). NRW was established based on a water balance, where volumes of water supplied to each of the settlement under study was compared with the total consumptions recorded by water meters in the area. Data on water sales and collected amount for each of the settlements was obtained from the water utility. A comparison was conducted to calculate Revenue Collection Efficiency for each of the settlement and for the entire supply area. Data on cost of pipe repair materials was collected for each of the study settlements and for the entire supply area. The cost of repairs per km and cost of repair per connection was then calculated for the settlements and benchmarked with the cost of repair per km and per connection for the entire utility. Results from the study indicate that the average NRW for LWB is 37% (656m3/km/month). This is higher compared with NRW for Kauma, 26% (395m3/km/month) and Mtandire, 27% (377m3/km/month). Only NRW for Mgona, 42% (872m3/km/month) is higher than the value for LWB. Revenue collection efficiency for LWB (58%) is less than the collection efficiency for Kauma (75%) and Mgona (69%). Collection efficiency for Mtandire (57%) is however less than that for LWB. The cost of network repair materials per km and per connection is high in the unplanned low income settlements compared to the overall cost for LWB (US$59, US$127, US$164, US$57 for Mgona, Mtandire, Kauma and LWB respectively). The study suggests that unplanned low income settlements do not have a significant impact on the performance of LWB measured through NRW and Revenue Collection Efficiency but might have an impact in network repair costs.
Description:
A Thesis submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, in partial
fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Infrastructure Development and
Management
