Comparing Pre-Paid Communal Water Metering and Delegated Management in Urban Poor Setting: Case Studies in Nakuru and Kisumu in Kenya
- 1 Southern Region Water Board, Private Bag 72, Zomba, Malawi
- 2 Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineering, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
- 3 Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineering, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
Abstract
Water service providers face multiple challenges in their service provision. These challenges include high non-revenue water, low water coverage, many incidences of waterborne diseases, and high water bills, etc. This study set to assess how changes in water metering strategies can overcome these challenges. The study analyzed three water metering technologies for their suitability to improve service provision. The strategies were: conventional water metering where meter-readers collect readings for post-billing; community prepaid metering (CPM) where meters are preloaded with tokens; and delegated meter management (DMM) where service provision and billing is delegated to master operators. CPM and DMM were installed in an existing conventional network and data on commonly-used performance evaluation parameters collected through interviews, field-visits, and existing literature. The results portrayed CPM and DMM with positive improvements to the conventional metering. CPM had over 70% improvements in unit cost of water and time for water access. DMM had over 90% improvements in water coverage and non-revenue water. In general, the study found CPM with positive impacts on the cost of water, potable water, and time to fetching water while DMM had positive impacts on water coverage and non-revenue water. It’s recommended that the CPM and DMM models used in this study be cross-tested and more individual strengths be drawn.
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