The Piped Supplies for Small Communities (PSSC) Project started in 1988 with a view of
stimulating the development of more appropriate, sustainable and successful methods to
plan, implement and manage piped water supplies with peri-urban communities. Among the
main activities were the development of a methodology for improving planning and
implementing piped supplies with communities through demonstration schemes; training;
hygiene education and sanitation. A new strategy was developed to have more women
occupying key positions in the water committees and it was proven that the quality of
women's participation was more important than their quantity. Special training programmes
were then organized.
Malawi is still in an early stage of urbanization with 11% of the total population
living in the urban centres. It is estimated that up to 60% of the urban population live
in the fringes of the urban centres.
Malawi is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, covering and area of 118,400 km2 of
which 80% is land area and the rest is under lakes. Lake Malawi is the third largest lake
in Africa and provides a large reservoir of water for development of hydropower,
fisheries, communications, irrigation and domestic water supply.
The project was carried out in the communities living in the peri-urban areas of the
country, the so called Traditional Housing Areas - THAs. Before 1980, there was no regular
water supply service in these communities. Some people got their water from various
unreliable, contaminated open water sources; others got their water from vendors at very
high costs. THAs often lack the most basic facilities, normally provided to urban
In order to ensure that the people in the THAs were adequately supplied with potable water
at a cost which they could easily afford, the government launched the Urban Communal Water
Point Project in 1981, with financial and technical assistance from the United Nations
Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and WHO. The objective of this initial project was to
construct 600 communal water points in 50 urban centres in Malawi, in order to provide
affordable and safe drinking water to over 24,000 low income fringe-urban families. This
aim was achieved in 1985, but over time problems with water-point management began to
surface and people stopped paying the tariffs to the local tap committees. A new phase was
started in 1988: The Piped Supplies for Small Communities (PSSC) Project. The objective of
this project was to stimulate the development of more appropriate, sustainable and
successful methods to plan, implenent and manage piped water supplies with rural and
The project was carried out in two countries: Zambia and Malawi. In Malawi the project
responded to the need of improving piped water in urban areas. Main activities were a
revision of the earlier project's experience: the development of a methodology for
planning and implementing piped supplies with communities through demonstration schemes;
adding training; hygiene education and sanitation; special studies; technical activities,
monitoring and operational support to old demonstration schemes, project self-evaluation,
and dissemination of project knowledge and information.
The initial study showed that the reason for non-payment was not lack of willingness or
capacity to pay, but too rigid and poor local management practices and lack of management
skills. One of the aspects that soon became clear was the need to tackle the relationships
between men and women in water management. Initially, no gender analysis was carried out
and the project personnel assumed that the committees responsible for managing the
communal water points would automatically be dominated by women. However, in practice, 80
to 90% members of the water commitees turned out to be men. The male-dominated committees
were not performing satisfactorily, mainly because the majority of the men were outside
the neighbourhoods during most of the day time. Not consulting women during the planning
phase also resulted in poor location, inconvenient design and subsequent wrong use of the
To increase the involvement of women in the management of the water points, a new strategy
was developed: (1) guidance of the committees to ensure free participation during voting
for committee members; (2) development of positive attitudes of men to the involvement of
women; (3) separate consultation of women during meetings: (4) use of male and female
extension workers; (5) involvement of women in design and location of the communal water
points. The results were encouraging. More women occupied key positions in the committees.
Special training programmes were organized for women which aimed at increasing their
leadership/management capacities. The committees became more active, membership of the
water points improved, as well as financial management and maintenance of the water point
surroundings. Hygiene education and sanitation promotion also had more impact. On the
other hand, collaboration between the female committee members was not always easy,
leading to resignations from the committee and migration of users. It was also observed
that female-dominated tap committees perceive keeping tap surroundings clean as their main
duty. Simply including women on water management organization is not sufficient. The
degree and quality of participation of women and men during the whole process of a project
are essential for a sustainable impact.
The project working group was formed by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Community
Services and the Centre for Social Research of the University of Malawi together with the
Water Department of the Ministry of Works. project officers assigned by these ministries
worked together in field extension. At the community level, community representatives
joined Central Water Councils, whose function was to assist in mobilizing communities,
selection of sites for construction of water points and generally support operation of tap
committees and monitoring operation and maintenance activites. Technical advice came from
IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
In line with the project's objectives, its main achievements are the improvement of
methods of approach to small community water supplies which include: the integration of
social, economic, cultural, organizational and technical issues in water projects; the
coordinated development of piped water supplies, hygiene education and sanitation;
community based approaches in planning and preparation, design, construction and mangement
of local level water and sanitation services; institutional strengthening by the
development of community management capacities; inter-agency coordination; improve
community financial management; effective local organization, training for all groups
involved with community water supply; the development of guidelines for various groups at
all project levels; information exchange at both national and international levels;
information application at both programme and national sector levels. The methods
developed in the demonstration projects were replicated over the country.
The intervention succeeded in raising the percentage of women in Tap Committees from 20 to
60% and later to over 90%. These committees became more active due to the women's constant
presence and direct interest. With appropriate training, women gained self-confidence and
became effective managers of the communal water points, including their operation and the
*Kwaule, Fabiano (1993) Gender and peri-urban water supplies in Malawi : paper presented
at the Workshop Gender and the Development, Management and Utilization of Water - Lessons
Learned and Strategies for the Future, Stockholm, December 1-3rd 1993.
Ministry of Works, Water Department (1993) Piped Supplies for Small Communities (PSSC)
Project Malawi - final report by Fabiano Kwaule, Lilongwe, Malawi, July 1993
Operational demonstration piped water supply schemes successfull developed in 9
peri-urban neighbourhoods of cities.
Community managed and maintained communal waterpoints established.
Tap committees established and operational.
Men and women trained on community managed water supply.
Water point committees paying water fees in time.
Water point committees making profits, part of which is used for maintenance and repairs.
One of the major factors contributing to the sustainability of the project is that the
communities in the piped water supply demonstration schemes play a bigger role in the
maintenance of the water supply system. These schemes have been successfully developed in
nine urban centres in five regions of the country.
There has also been a remarkable improvement in community financial management with the
result that all tap committees have big surpluses which are kept in bank accounts to be
used for maintenance. The fact that there is not only cost recovery but the opportunity of
new investments (for instance in maintenance) ensures the sustainability of the project.
An additional activity on awareness raising on cost recovery and resources coverage was
taken up by the project: a guideline manual on these issues developed by the WHO in
collaboration with IRC was revised and further utilized by the project when carrying out
review and other baseline surveys.
Also, an appropriate public standpost design has been developed locally through
consultations with especially women to ensure its adequacy to meet people's needs. The
modified design has been used in the demonstration centres and a completely new design,
also incorporating suggestions and comments from communites, was field tested in the new
Through a series of training courses for Tap Committees and local leaders, and also for
project staff, cadres of skilled people have been developed who are expected to sustain
community based water management in the absence of donor funding.
The improved liaison developed between the Ministry of Community Services resulted in a
practical collaboration in project activities at all levels. The government-community
partnership between these governmental instances and the local community has been
accomplished through an institutional structure formed by the Project Working Team
(representatives of the Ministry of Community Services, Ministry of Health and Water
Department), the Project Team at implementation level (1 project officer of each of the
three Ministries), the Local project Coordinating Teams (field staff and extension workers
from the Water Department and of the three Ministries together with one representative of
the Centre for Social Research of the University of Malawi), Auxiliary Project Committees
(established at the regional and district levels and comprising regional and district
representatives from the three collaborating ministries, mostly to ensure sustainability
of the programme after the finalization of donor support; Central Water Councils in each
demonstration centre and formed by community representtives such as members of parliament,
party leaders, councillors, chiefs and village headment; Tap Committees (at each water
point, communities elect a ten-member committee to manage operation and maintenance
activities directly answerable to the Central Water councils. Ninity percent of the
committee members are women.
Ministry of Works - Water Department
Ministry of Works - Water Deparment
Private Bag 390
+265 780344;fax:+265 730389
Ministry of Community Services
Private Bag 390
+265 784200; fax:+265 783328
Centre for Social Research of the University of Malawi
IRC - Water Supply and Sanitation Centre
P.O. Box 93190
IRC International Water Supply and Sanitation Centre