Tools for Assessing the O & M status of Water Supply and Sanitation in Developing Countries

Sets out a managerial framework, supported by specific assessment tools, for measuring and evaluating the status of operation and maintenance of water supply and sanitation services. Noting that problems with operation and maintenance have long been recognized as key constraints to sustainability, the book aims to encourage professional staff in utilities, local governments, and nongovernmental organizations to undertake performance assessments and use the results to introduce improvements. The book also aims to convince policy-makers that investments in water supply and sanitation will be optimized when management strategies give operation and maintenance a high profile. The assessment tools described can be applied to a wide range of activities carried out by utilities, governments, and communities in both rural and urban settings. The book has two parts. The first introduces the concepts of monitoring and evaluation and explains how performance indicators can be used to expose problems and then formulate policies and plans which either correct the problems or avoid them. Part one also describes the advantages and limitations of three systems for the management of operation and maintenance: centrally managed systems, the community managed approach, and household managed systems. Part one concludes with a list of management constraints that must be addressed before tools for improving specific aspects of performance can be applied. Against this background, the second and most extensive part presents nine tools for assessing the operation and maintenance status of water supply and sanitation. The tools, which are presented as a series of steps, can be used to establish objectives, develop a framework for performance measurement, carry out the measurement and reporting of performance, and prepare and implement action plans. Particular attention is given to the use of 40 carefully selected performance indicators, which are set out in a series of tables supported by explanatory notes.