Assessing the performance of urban water supply systems in providing potable water for the urban...

IDPR, 29 (3) 2007

Delwar Akbar, Basil van Horen, John Minnery and Phil Smith

Assessing the performance of urban water supply systems in providing potable water for the urban poorThe case of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Provision of adequate potable water for the urban poor is a serious problem in the developing world. There are many dimensions to be considered in assessing an urban water supply system’s performance, yet no study to date includes all these dimensions together. This paper explores all the possible dimensions of an urban water supply system by which the system’s performance can be assessed using an evaluation hierarchy of ‘principles – criteria – indicators’. The indicators are aggregated into a composite index that indicates the adequacy of the water supply system’s performance. The paper uses a case study of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to test this framework.

This article develops a way of assessing the performance of urban water supply to the poor in developing countries. It does this through a hierarchical framework of ‘principles – criteria – indicators’ to explore the dimensions of the performance of potable water supply systems (see detail in ‘Dimensions and indicators’ section). The framework provides relevant and potentially internationally applicable guidance for assessing urban water supply systems in informal settlements, and therefore for planning and managing urban water supply. Here, Dhaka has been used as a case study because it exemplifies the issues facing mega-cities1 in developing countries in terms of urban characteristics and water supply problems faced by the urban poor.

The problem of water supply and the significance of this study In almost every developing country, the gap between the demand for and the supply of water to low-income communities is very large. The World Bank claims that 80

Delwar Akbar is a Research Officer in the School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, University of Queens-land, Brisbane QLD-4072, Australia; email: [email protected]; John Minnery is Associate Professor in the School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD-4072, Australia; email: [email protected]; Phil Smith is a Lecturer in the School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, University of Queens-land, Brisbane QLD-4072, Australia; email: [email protected]. Basil van Horen was a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD-4072, Australia. Dr van Horen passed away during the revision of this paper in January 2007. We acknowledge his contribution to the paper with great respect.

Paper submitted November 2005; revised paper received March 2007 and accepted May 2007.

1 A mega-city is defined as a city with a population of 10 million or more (UNCHS, 2001).

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 299 12/12/07 10:06:12

Delwar Akbar, Basil van Horen, John Minnery and Phil Smith300

per cent of high-income residents in developing countries have a piped water supply, while only 18 per cent of low-income residents (including those people sharing tap water with neighbours) have that access (World Bank, 2000). The problem is not always one of resource availability (UNDP, 2006); some of the large cities and mega-cities of developing countries have enough fresh water to serve all the people but in practice water is not made available to everyone, especially not to the poor (Kirby, 2004; UN-HABITAT, 2003a). The provision of water is uneven and skewed in favour of high-income communities, and access appears to be systematically biased against the poor (UN-HABITAT, 2003b; Yeung, 1985).

The issue does not appear to be one of inability to pay. A survey of water vending in 16 cities in developing countries demonstrated that the unit cost of water sold by vendors is, on average, 12 times higher than that of piped water (World Bank, 2000). Recent statistics show that the urban poor can pay vendors up to 50 times the formal price for potable water (UN-HABITAT, 2003a). In the case of Dhaka, residents of informal settlements pay at least ten times the price of formal water supply (Gallagher, 1997). On the other hand, public water providers in most mega-cities in developing countries are losing up to 50 per cent of their water because of leaks and theft (DWASA, 2000; McIntosh and Yniguez, 1997). There are also some physical problems such as water scarcity and water pollution in some cities in developing countries, but these problems do not only apply to the poor. Yet access to adequate potable water by the urban poor2 remains a major problem. The question, then, is why this is the case.

One problem is that some agencies overestimate water supply accessibility by the poor and so do not identify the shortage. A more general problem is that some agencies implement their water supply programmes without assessing the critical dimensions of water supply systems, resulting in systems that may not serve their desired purpose (Akbar, 2005; UN-HABITAT, 2003a). This study addresses these problems by intro-ducing a holistic framework for assessing supply systems providing water to the poor in developing countries, a framework that can provide information relating to the actual performance of water systems. The framework uses a structure of principles – criteria – indicators: the principles refer to internationally recognised principles of urban water supply systems, and criteria and indicators are based on these principles (see details in ‘Dimensions and indicators’ section). Thus the framework can provide scientific information and guidelines to help design systems for providing potable water supply to the poor at large and mega-city levels (Akbar, 2005). It fills a research and policy gap and will help indicate priorities for improving water supply to the poor in developing countries. It will benefit not only urban planners, policy makers and

2 Here, the ‘urban poor’ are those who usually live in absolute poverty (less than US$2 a day) and also usually live in the informal settlements of cities in developing countries, without basic services and formal employment opportunities (UNCHS, 2001). Islam and Nazem (1996) also refer to those absolute poor as the poor of Dhaka City.

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 300 12/12/07 10:06:12

Assessing the performance of urban water supply systems in providing potable water 301

water providers but also the urban poor in planning and implementing water supply projects in informal settlements. The framework is potentially applicable to higher income settlements, but the focus here is on the poor because of their identified water supply accessibility problems.

Methodology Many studies (including Hanchett et al., 2003, WHO-UNICEF, 2001 and WHO-UNICEF, 2000) play down the importance of actually measuring the perform-ance of water supply systems in informal settlements. One of the reasons for this is that the analytical framework they use is not appropriate for identifying and exploring this problem. A case study methodology, as used here, can help to explore the depth and breadth of actual water supply problems. Here, the case study is Dhaka, Bangla-desh, which is typical of large cities and mega-cities in developing countries in terms of urban characteristics and water supply problems faced by the urban poor. The study refers to the 15 greater sub-districts of Dhaka Metropolitan Area and Narayan-gang Municipality; in this study they are considered together as 16 sub-districts under the name of Dhaka City (Figure 1).

Some 70 per cent of the urban population of Dhaka City is poor (Islam and Nazem, 1996) and this figure is very similar to the world average figure; i.e., about two-thirds of the urban population in developing countries are poor (UN-HABITAT, 2003b). Somewhere between 55 per cent and 70 per cent of the urban poor do not have access to potable water supply in Dhaka City (Hanchett et al., 2003; BBS, 1999), and on average over 50 per cent of the urban population of developing countries do not have access to potable water (UN-HABITAT, 2003a).

Urban planning and management in Dhaka is similar to that in most mega-cities of developing countries (Cohen, 2004). For example, Dhaka, Delhi, Calcutta and Jakarta have similar urban management systems, and have also used masterplans for water supply development. Fresh water is modestly available in Dhaka, as is the case in many large cities and mega-cities of other developing countries (IIED, 2003). Although these cities have diverse cultural systems, the social status and economic conditions of the urban poor are similar everywhere (World Bank, 2001). Thus Dhaka exemplifies the issues facing most large cities and mega-cities in developing countries. Within this case study, the informal settlements in Dhaka City have been chosen for field study because most poor live in such settlements.

In order to explore the performance of the water supply system(s) in the informal settlements of Dhaka City, a questionnaire was prepared based on indicators for assessing water supply systems. This questionnaire was piloted in the field in May 2002 before face-to-face surveys were undertaken in June–September 2002. The selection of the informal settlements for the household survey was through a two-stage propor-

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 301 12/12/07 10:06:12


Figure 1 Map of the study area (Dhaka City Corporation and Narayanganj Municipality

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 302 12/12/07 10:06:12


tional random sampling (see detail in Akbar, 2005). It was identified that a sample size of 540 households was required from a sampling frame of 168,830 households of the informal settlements in Dhaka City. The number of households in each of the 16 districts was then used to determine the sample size for each district. The requisite number of households were then selected from the households in each district by simple random sampling. Questions were asked of the head of the household or of the family member nominated by the head of the household. Some inquiries, such as those relating to cleanliness of the water, water fetching distance and water pressure, involved observation by the interviewers themselves. The survey included nine focus group discussions from nine informal settlements regarding the significance of the indicators and dimensions used for constructing a composite index. Each focus group comprised 12 males and females from each settlement.

Data from the questionnaire survey were input into STATISTICA 6.0 software. All data was transferred to MS Excel and the VBA programming language was used to aggregate the data using the weighted average (WA) technique (Formula 1) for a composite index. Such an index collectively conveys information about the quality of some of the complex components of a system (Nijkamp et al., 1990). Thus, this index is very useful in aggregating the set of indicator values collected for this study.

The simplest formula of this technique is

nWhere xi is the ith indicator, and wi its corresponding weight such that U = ∑ wi = 1. i=1 This is a linear aggregation method. ArcMap 9.0 software was used to visualise the values of the WA over the subdistricts of Dhaka City and by using means and standard deviations of the WA values (Figure 2), the level of the water supply system’s perform-ance was mapped (Figure 3).

DEMRA

UTTARA

GULSHAN

PALLABI

MIRPUR

CANTONMENT

SABUJBAGHRAMNA

TEJGAON

LALBAGH

MOHAMMADPUR

DHANMONDIMOTIJHEEL

SUTRAPUR

NARAYANGANJ MUNICIPALITY

KOTWALI

±

3 0 3 61.5

Kilometers

Figure 1: Map of the study area (Dhaka City Corporation and Narayanganj Municipality)

Figure 2: Categorical scale for the interpretation of WA values using mean and standard deviation (sd) [Adapted from Gunewardena 2000)

Mean +1sd +2sd -1sd -2sd

Average Excellent Above Average Below average Poor

Figure 2 Categorical scale for the interpretation of WA values using mean and standard deviation (sd) [Adapted from Gunewardena 2000]

nU = ∑ wixi = w1x1 +w2x2 + --- + wnxn ----------------- (1) i=1

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 303 12/12/07 10:06:15


A detailed description of using and analysing these WA values is given in the section ‘Assessing water supply to the urban poor in Dhaka’, below.

Dimensions and indicators Most studies of potable water supply in developing countries fail to address all possible dimensions by which the performance of urban water supply systems can be measured (UNDP, 2006; World Bank, 2004; UN-HABITAT, 2003a; ADB, 2002; Abbott, 1996). This study explores six dimensions of urban water supply systems (i.e., technical, biophysical, political, institutional, economic and social) in order to assess the overall performance of the system(s) and analyse the problems that persist in developing countries. Each of these six dimensions has been identified in one or more inter-national ‘declarations of principles’ concerning potable water supply in developing countries (Akbar, 2005). The characteristics of each dimension have been explored through a hierarchical framework of ‘principles – criteria – indicators’. Here, all principles are internationally recognised, and the criteria and indicators are based on these principles, but the information regarding the indicators can be collected at local or household levels. Potentially this framework is suitable for assessing the perform-ance of the water supply system(s) in any urban centre, but in this case study the focus is on the urban poor because of the urgency of the need to improve supply to them.

‘Principle’ here means a fundamental norm or motivating force as a basis for reasoning about a system and provides justification for specific criteria and indicators in assessing the performance of a system (Lammerts and Blom, 1997; Rao, 1978). A principle refers to a basic generalisation that is accepted as true. In relation to this study, six principles, one for each of the dimensions, are shown in Tables 1 to 6. Each principle is associated with one or more specific criteria that can show the performance of water supply systems in relation to that principle. Thus, ‘criterion’ means a category of conditions or processes by which a system can be assessed. A criterion is then characterised by a set of related indicators, which can be monitored periodically to assess change (Carley, 1981; Rao, 1978). Thus a criterion specifies the attributes of a system and each criterion is associated with one or more indicators. Finally, ‘indicator’ means a measure used to determine performance of functions, processes, and outcomes of a system over time (Rao, 1978). Indicators should convey a single meaningful message. An indicator can provide a statistical value that reveals the condition or direction of the performance of a system. The indicators are devel-oped from the principles and criteria for each dimension. These indicators are the reference point for collecting the information at the local level in order to measure the performance of water supply systems. The sections that follow are structured around the six identified dimensions of water supply systems: technical, biophysical, political, institutional, economic and social.

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 304 12/12/07 10:06:15


Technical dimension and indicators

Planning and design standards, reliability, hygienic water supply and use, and water conservation are the main technical indicators related to urban water supply systems. The mechanisms used to pay for formal water supply are also included within this dimension. The various elements are discussed below and also presented in Table 1.

Standards and codes for the construction of water supply infrastructure in cities in many developing countries are either still derived from the colonial past or are based on very recent technology. Because these technical standards are high, the system is expensive. The water providers follow these standards and ignore more cost-effec-tive systems. Most urban poor cannot afford either the colonial or the ultra-modern standard of water supply. For the poor, government and providers need to develop low-cost and user-friendly systems (IIED, 2003; UN-HABITAT, 2003a). Thus, a user-friendly operational and maintenance system is an indicator of satisfactory water supply planning for the urban poor.

The main current system for payment for formal water supply in Dhaka is to pay to a prescribed bank, but consumers are often not satisfied with this single mode of payment because of long queueing times and unexpected complexities (such as the need to pay bribes to pay a bill quickly). To avoid these complexities, some other systems have evolved, such as payment to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) or community-based organisation (CBO) or payment to different banks and post offices (Singha and DSK, 2001). Thus flexibility in the payment system is another indicator for judging the design standard for the urban poor.

Table 1 Technical indicators of urban water supply accessibility to the poor in developing countries

Principle Criteria Indicators Questions to be asked about

Water supply Technically 1. Planning and design 1. User-friendliness of the existing operationshall be operated proficient standards are and maintenance system.and maintained practicable 2. Method flexibility in user payment system.with appropriate 2. Water supply is 3. Duration of water supply per day.technical reliable 4. Household’s satisfaction with present waterknowledge pressure.and tools 5. Technical performance of the system at community and/or household level. Efficiently 3. Hygienic water 6. Household’s knowledge about hygienic used supply and use, and water use and water conservation. water conservation, 7. Extent of water loss directly from the system are maintained. at household and/or community level.

Source: Akbar, 2005

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 305 12/12/07 10:06:16


Table 2 Biophysical indicators of urban water supply accessibility to the poor in developing countries


Water 1. Physically 1. Various sources of 1. Sources of water in and around theavailability feasible water are available. settlement.and quality 2. Potable water is 2. Amount of per capita water consumption.shall be physically accessible. 3. Distance between the home and themaintained for source of waterpotable water 4. Queueing time to collect water.supply 2. Environmentally 3. Water quality has 5. Perception about the cleanliness of water. sustainable acceptable potability 6. Incidence of water-related disease to maintain human e.g. diarrhoea). health. 4. No damage to water 7. Incidence of drying up the source. sources is sustained.

Source: Akbar, 2005

A reliable water supply is the most important technical indicator of an urban water supply system. Water pressure, duration of water supply and technical perform-ance of the system at the household level are the key factors for measuring water supply reliability (WHO, 2000). Hygienic water use and water conservation are also technical indicators, shown by the cleanliness of kiosks or water points and water storage places, by the availability of health promotion programmes (WHO, 2005), and by water-saving devices and water use promotion programmes. Leaking water is a common phenomenon in cities of developing countries because of faults in the physical systems. Water dripping from the standpipes and household taps indicates water loss at the household level.

Biophysical dimension and indicators

Water availability, physical accessibility, water quality and physical sustainability of the source are key biophysical indicators of urban water supply systems. These are discussed below and also presented in Table 2.

Water availability refers to available sources of water in and around the settlement. Surface water and groundwater are the main sources of urban water supply; harvest-able rainwater is another source of water (Niemczynowicz, 1999). Use of alternative water sources depends upon the size of the city. For example, small towns directly use river or pond water and hand pumps for extracting groundwater; large cities use the formal water supply system such as large-scale surface water treatment plants and deep tube wells for extracting groundwater. Mega-cities sometimes need to tap

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 306 12/12/07 10:06:16


water from distant surface or groundwater sources. For example, Karachi has started tapping water from a surface water source 200 kilometres away (Parai et al., 1994). Existence of all or any one of these sources indicates the water availability in or around a settlement.

Water consumption per capita is one of the physical accessibility indicators of an urban water supply system. At least 20 litres of water per person per day is essential, 30–40 litres per person per day is a minimum reasonable requirement, and 60 litres per person per day is needed for domestic purposes such as drinking, cooking, bathing and washing (including personal hygiene) (UN-HABITAT, 2003a; OECD, 1998). A recent WHO study indicates 30 litres of water per capita per day as a basic require-ment for the poor (WHO, 2005).

Physical accessibility to potable water also refers to the distance of the household from the water point and the time it takes to collect water. A range of distances, from 50 to 1000 metres, have been suggested by various studies as indicators of the physical accessibility of the water supply (UN-HABITAT, 2003a; WSSCC, 2000). However, most studies use a distance of 100 metres from the water source as an indicator of reasonable accessibility. Time taken for collecting water includes the time spent in queueing, fetching and carrying water. There is no local or international standard for queueing time. Recently a study recognised that people were prepared to travel up to 15 minutes to collect water and to wait a further 15 minutes at the collection point (WHO, 2005).

Water quality refers to the cleanliness of the water, identified by scientific testing or by people’s perception of water quality, and the incidence of water-related diseases (McIntosh and Yniguez, 1997). However, people’s perceptions about water cleanli-ness, and the incidence of diarrhoeal diseases, are common pointers to the quality of potable water.

Because water sources need to be protected for long-term use, the degree of physical damage to the source is an indicator of its long-term sustainability. For example, groundwater withdrawals beyond the aquifer recharge rate is one kind of damage that leads to reduced future sustainability because it causes water contamina-tion through sea and river water intrusion and it also causes land subsidence (Parai et al., 1994). The frequency with which the source dries up is another indicator of water availability and is considered an indicator of the physical sustainability of the source (Basu and Main, 2001).

Political dimension and indicators

Political commitment and political leaders’ participation are the key political indica-tors for measuring the performance of water supply systems. These are discussed below and also presented in Table 3.

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 307 12/12/07 10:06:16


Urban water supply to the poor is always an electoral issue in local urban politics. The degree to which political commitments are given and implemented, during and after an election, is the field level indicator of political participation (Ennis, 1997). Here political leaders include all local and national political leaders associated with the urban centre.

Institutional dimension and indicators

Laws and regulations for relevant user involvement and multi-provider involve-ment (e.g., the private sector) in building the water supply system(s) and the provid-er’s capacity to maintain performance standards to run the system(s) are the main institutional indicators for water supply systems. These are discussed below and also presented in Table 4.

An increase in the involvement of private providers and NGOs is required if water supply to the urban poor is to be improved (UN-HABITAT, 2003a; Basu and Main, 2001), though such multi-provider involvement needs legislative support for the sustainability of the system. Private providers especially do not risk investing money in water supply to the urban poor because of the possibility of eviction of residents from informal settlements. Thus any action to secure the provider’s investment in water supply development in the informal settlement increases the urban poor’s legal access to the water supply systems (Winayanti and Lang, 2004).

Organisational capacity can be assessed through the managerial and technical service efficiency of the water provider(s) towards the customer (Franks, 1999; WHO, 2000; Basu and Main, 2001). These indicators can include how quickly the providers supply connections to the consumers and/or repair faults in the system, and also the performance of billing and collection. They also include efficiency in system monitoring and the degree of corruption in the system(s) (WHO, 2000).

Table 3 Political indicators of urban water supply accessibility to the poor in developing countries


Political Political 1. Political commitments are 1. Given political commitment duringcommitment participation given to the urban poor the election campaign.to roles in for potable water supply. water supply 2. Political leaders participate 2. Degree of the implementation ofto the urban in water supply development. political commitment.poor

Source: Akbar, 2005

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 308 12/12/07 10:06:16


Economic dimension and indicators

The indicators of the economic dimension for urban water supply to the poor measure the latter’s ability and willingness to pay the connection or establishment fee and user charges. These indicators are discussed below and also presented in Table 5.

Capital cost is one of the prime indicators of initial water supply development. Funding from annual development budgets, central government’s soft loans/grants, donor agencies’ assistance/grants/loans or bank loans are the indicators of managing capital cost (Devas, 2003; Kim, 1997). Private financing is another source of water supply development, and local government or public providers can tap into private capital by involving private investors as operations and maintenance partners (Kim,

Table 4 Institutional indicators of urban water supply accessibility to the poor in developing countries


Institutional rules Institutionally 1. Government approval is 1. Legal access to the water supplyand regulations recognised given to built water supply system(s).shall be system(s) in the informal maintained and settlements.enhanced for Institutionally 2. Water providers have the 2. Efficiency in service delivery.accessibility of efficient organisational capacity to 3. System monitoring at communitywater supply to maintain performance and/or household level.the urban poor standards for development, 4. Organisational corruption in the operation and maintenance system(s). of water supply system(s).

Source: Akbar, 2005

Table 5 Economic indicators of urban water supply accessibility to the poor in developing countries


Water supply Financially 1. The community have 1. People’s willingness to pay theshall be capable capacity to manage connection/establishment fees.managed as an capital cost. 2. People’s ability to pay theeconomic good connection/establishment fees. Economically 2. System covers at least 3. People’s willingness to pay the viable operation and user charge. maintenance costs. 4. People’s ability to pay the user charge.

Source: Akbar, 2005

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 309 12/12/07 10:06:16


1997). Community participation in capital cost accumulation as an upfront develop-ment fee (5–10 per cent of the total cost) is considered an initial capital cost (Singha and DSK, 2001).

Public water supply authorities cover operational and maintenance costs from their user charges and tariffs (Basu and Main, 2001; Azizi, 2000). Some user charges could come from the local government as a subsidy for the poorest of the poor or the water provider could provide some free water (up to a certain quantity, say 5 cubic metres) to the poorest of the poor (ADB, 2002; UNEP, 1996). Thus affordability (i.e., ability to pay) and willingness to pay are the key economic indicators for the sustain-ability of the water supply system(s).

Social dimension and indicators

Community participation and capacity, and social equity in water supply systems, are the main social indicators related to urban water supply systems. These are discussed below and also presented in Table 6.

The nature of the community organisational structures and leadership in poor urban communities are important factors in community participation in water supply development and operation at the local level (Shubert, 1986). NGOs’ efforts in mobilising the urban poor provide a catalyst for community capacity building and this is an important social indicator (UN-HABITAT, 2003a). Community capacity can be indicated by its ability to operate a small-scale water supply system (including fixing the technical problems) at the community level, by the community’s awareness of water pilfering and by the community’s ability to influence the local gangsters who may try to subvert the system (Asimah and Nedjoh, 2001).

Table 6 Social indicators of urban water supply accessibility to the poor in developing countries


Water supply Socially 1. Community participation 1. Community demands to theshall be capable and capacity are stakeholders for water supplymanaged as ensured. development.a social 2. People’s participation in operationgood and maintenance of the water supply system at community level. 3. Household’s awareness about water pilfering. Socially 2. Water is treated as a 4. Household’s satisfaction with the equitable social good. overall water supply condition.

Source: Akbar, 2005

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 310 12/12/07 10:06:16


Social equity is another performance criterion for urban water supply. Providers and governments are responsible for equitable distribution of water to both rich and poor consumers. Equity does not necessarily mean equal service distribution to all people, but it does imply a certain basic level of service to everybody. The relation-ships between needs and provision, and between provision and community satis-faction, are the ways of measuring equity in water supply distribution (Kim, 1997). Thus households’ overall satisfaction level can help indicate the degree of equity in the water supply system(s).

Assessing water supply to the urban poor in Dhaka In the case study research, all indicators of the six different dimensions were aggre-gated using a weighted average (WA) to determine the performance of the water supply systems to the informal settlements in the 16 sub-districts of Dhaka City (Akbar, 2005). The values for the indicators were obtained through 540 household surveys. The indicators assessed system performance as discussed above. Responses of each dweller against each indicator were standardised, and prior to aggregation all indicator values were multiplied by their respective weight. Based on the relative importance of the indicators as elicited from the dwellers of the informal settlements (by focus group discussion), the weights of all the indicators were calculated by the well recognised technique of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) (see detail in Rao, 1978 and Akbar, 2005). Aggregation of indicators was processed using Visual Basic for Application (VBA) in MS Excel. Since the sum of the weights is equal to unity, the values of the weighted average vary between 0 (zero) and 1 (one). Here 1 (one) means 100 per cent, or in other words the indicators show that ideal conditions exist; and 0 (zero) means 0 per cent, or that the indicators revealed no performance.

Weighted average values were interpreted using three main methods. Firstly, the values (the highest, lowest and average values) were interpreted by comparing them with the ideal condition. This indicated the absolute performance of water supply system(s) in the informal settlements. Secondly, the value of each sub-district was interpreted by how well the water supply system there performed when compared to the mean (average) value, i.e., identifying the position of the sub-district by counting the number of standard deviations from the mean (NSM) (Figure 2). These NSM values are shown in the maps (Figure 3) to indicate the spatial distribution of the performance of water supply over the sub-districts in Dhaka City. This indicated the relative performance of water supply to the informal settlements. Thirdly, the values of each dimension were shown by graphs and maps to identify the critical factors in urban water supply accessibility to the informal settlements.

Under the absolute method of showing performance, the informal settlements of Kotwali and Sabujbagh respectively have the highest and lowest performance in terms

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 311 12/12/07 10:06:16


of their water supply system(s). The gap between the highest and lowest performance is about 15 per cent. The average performance of the water supply system(s) is 27.8 per cent of the ideal condition of the system(s) (Table 7).

Under the relative method of identifying performance, the best performance of water supply system(s) is found in Kotwali and Motijheel sub-districts and about 75 per cent of the sub-districts have average conditions of water supply (Figure 3). Under the third method of identifying the critical factors, Figure 4 shows that the political indicators are significantly responsible for best or worst performance. The analysis shows that the performance of institutional and social indicators is better in the informal settlements of Ramna than in those of Motijheel, and the other factors have almost similar values for both sub-districts, but the higher performance of the political factor provided for a 14 per cent better condition of water supply in Motijheel than in Ramna. It can be concluded that the politicians of Motijheel are more active

Table 7 Performance of water supply to the informal settlements in Dhaka City

Name of the Overall Performance by dimension (WA values)sub-districts performance

WA values NSM Technical Biophysical Political Institutional Economic Social

Cantonment 0.252 -0.5 0.068 0.040 0.037 0.041 0.013 0.056Demra 0.303 0.5 0.070 0.043 0.102 0.027 0.013 0.051Dhanmondi 0.301 0.5 0.060 0.037 0.134 0.012 0.011 0.044Gulshan 0.259 -0.4 0.064 0.033 0.067 0.034 0.011 0.052Kotwali 0.367 1.8 0.057 0.033 0.159 0.054 0.007 0.053Lalbagh 0.317 0.8 0.043 0.038 0.146 0.043 0.014 0.031Mirpur 0.272 -0.1 0.063 0.037 0.084 0.036 0.012 0.041Muhammadpur 0.237 -0.8 0.065 0.034 0.041 0.033 0.013 0.052Motijheel 0.373 2.0 0.065 0.039 0.162 0.038 0.017 0.050Narayanganj 0.223 -1.2 0.065 0.029 0.047 0.038 0.010 0.034Pallabi 0.248 -0.6 0.052 0.036 0.071 0.034 0.014 0.042Ramna 0.233 -0.9 0.051 0.032 0.000 0.048 0.017 0.083Sabujbagh 0.219 -1.2 0.065 0.038 0.021 0.038 0.010 0.052Sutrapur 0.258 -0.4 0.043 0.048 0.082 0.026 0.012 0.046Tejgoan 0.324 1.0 0.065 0.044 0.056 0.111 0.011 0.039Uttara 0.264 -0.3 0.064 0.022 0.108 0.022 0.007 0.042

Highest value 0.367 0.070 0.048 0.162 0.111 0.017 0.083Lowest value 0.219 0.043 0.022 0.000 0.012 0.007 0.031Mean 0.278 0.060 0.036 0.082 0.039 0.012 0.048Standard deviation 0.048 0.008 0.006 0.049 0.021 0.003 0.012

Source: Akbar, 2005 Note: WA = weighted average; NSM = number of standard deviations from the mean

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 312 12/12/07 10:06:16


than in Ramna in helping the urban poor obtain a potable water supply. The most important finding of the study is that the performance of the water

supply system(s) in most settlements does not depend on whether these are located on public land or private land. The 86 settlements surveyed include both. Some settle-ment owners claim that they own the land legally, but many of them do not have the ability to spend a large amount of money to connect to the formal water supply system or to instal hand pumps. They either rent the land to the poor or just build temporary houses to rent, either to earn money from the tenants or to keep the land secure from local gangsters. If the slum owner is a politician, then she or he uses the tenants for political purposes. Settlement owners do not live on their land and generally do not allow the NGOs or the tenants to establish water points or to instal hand pumps. Thus the NGOs cannot do much for such tenants. On the other hand, most residents occupy the land illegally. Although these non-owning residents are controlled by local politicians and gangsters, they have become more united than legal owners with the help of NGOs and even of politicians in order to obtain potable water supply. Although many other factors (e.g., biophysical and economic) are similar

Figure 3 Performance of water supply systems in the informal settlements of Dhaka CitySource: Table 7

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 313 12/12/07 10:06:16


in all the settlements, some factors such as NGOs’ efforts and political influence work uniquely for each settlement. Together they can create significant differences in the performance of the water supply systems among the different informal settlements in Dhaka City.

Thus, the performance of urban water supply systems to the informal settlements in Dhaka City varies by location and by dimension (i.e., factor). The advantage of using the evaluation method adopted here is that planners or managers can assess the present water supply situation by considering all possible dimensions of water supply. Thus water providers can make decisions about the nature of investment needed and the type of water supply system development required. The above framework and aggregation method can determine the performance of water supply at micro (i.e., community) and macro (i.e., mega-city) level and can help determining priorities. Even the providers could make decisions by analysing the individual dimensions. For example, private providers are unlikely to invest money if they find there is no chance of at least a return of their investment with a marginal profit; and initially they will decide whether to invest by looking at the values of the economic indicators.

A critical lesson from this study is that political, economic and institutional factors are consistently the least satisfactory, and technical, biophysical and social factors are consistently the most satisfactory. Thus, biophysical and technical factors are not the main barriers to water supply; the critical factors are political, institutional and economic. This means that the solution to improving water supply to the urban poor lies in improving political and institutional factors rather than in making technical and biophysical changes. Economic factors imply a need to improve the investment potential for private sector funding sources in urban water supply systems, but also a

Figure 4: Performance of water supply systems in the informal settlements of Dhaka City:

by dimensions

0.000

0.020

0.040

0.060

0.080

0.100

0.120

0.140

0.160

0.180

Can

tonm

ent

Dem

ra

Dhan

mondi

Guls

han

Kotw

ali

Lal

bagh

Mir

pu

r

Moham

mad

pur

Moti

jhee

l

Nar

ayan

gan

j

Pal

labi

Ram

na

Sab

ujb

agh

Su

trap

ur

Tej

goan

Utt

ara

Sub-dis trict

WA

valu

es

Technical

Biophys ical

Political

Ins titutional

Economic

Social

Source: Table 7

Figure 4 Performance of water supply systems in the informal settlements of Dhaka City: by dimensionsSource: Table 7

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 314 12/12/07 10:06:17


need to improve poor people’s ability to pay for water through general poverty eradi-cation programmes.

ConclusionMost urban poor are not effectively supplied with adequate potable water because no approach or plan integrates all relevant dimensions of urban water supply. Integra-tion of and understanding of all the dimensions in any water supply system can provide the information that could potentially help manage and improve the water supply situation for the urban poor. This paper draws on all possible relevant dimen-sions (i.e., technical, biophysical, political, institutional, economic and social) of urban water supply. Performance-measuring indicators of each dimension were developed by following an analytical hierarchy of principles – criteria – indicators. This frame-work is able to measure the quantitative and qualitative condition of urban water supply system(s) at city or community level based on responses from poor communi-ties. These performance assessment indicators, when applied in the informal settle-ments of Dhaka, Bangladesh, showed that the average performance of water supply systems in the informal settlements is only 28 per cent of the ideal condition.

The discussion in this paper focused on the medium-term opportunities for improving the supply of potable water to the urban poor through identifying poten-tial leverage points by using a better system of measuring the performance of all six dimensions of water supply. The conclusions need to be seen within a wider urban development context. For example, the economic and institutional dimensions of water supply could be addressed through wider poverty alleviation and capacity building programmes that were only marginally related to water supply per se. Although this study has not addressed these wider issues, its findings also show that such social, political and institutional factors are important, in this case more relevant than the kind of ‘quick fix’ that could be obtained through immediate technical ‘solutions’.

Although economic poverty does not allow the urban poor to live in the formal settlements provided with basic urban services, the main causes of poor water supply are political and institutional factors. Obviously it is essential to implement a long-term and pragmatic macro-economic development plan for overall poverty eradica-tion, but it is these political and institutional factors that need to be addressed if there is to be an immediate improvement of the water supply system(s) for the urban poor in Dhaka City.

This framework could also be useful for other urban services relevant to the liveli-hood and neighbourhoods of the urban poor. Development planners and workers, urban and regional planners, city managers and service providers (public or private or NGOs) could use these dimensions for the planning and development of urban water supply and other urban services for the poor.

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 315 12/12/07 10:06:17


Referencesabbott, j. (1996), ‘Approaches to urban infrastructure provision: experiences from South

Africa’, Habitat International, 20, 595–606.akbar, d. (2005), ‘Accessibility of urban water supply to the poor in developing countries: the

case of Dhaka, Bangladesh’, unpublished PhD thesis, Brisbane, School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, The University of Queensland.

adb (asian development bank) (2002), Impact Evaluation Study on Water Supply and Sanitation Projects in Selected Developing Members’ Countries, Metro Manila, Operations and Evaluation Depart-ment, Asian Development Bank.

asimah, e. and nedjoh, j. (2001), ‘Challenges of institutionalising community management’, paper presented at 27th WEDC Conference on People and Systems for Water, Sanitation and Health, Lusaka, Zambia, 20–24 August.

azizi, m. m. (2000), ‘The user-pays system in the provision of urban infrastructure: effectiveness and equity criteria’, Urban Studies, 37, 1345–57.

bbs (bangladesh bureau of statistics) (1999), Census of Slum Areas and Floating Population, 1997, Dhaka, Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

basu, s. r., and main, h. a. c. (2001), ‘Calcutta’s water supply: demand, governance and environ-mental challenge’, Applied Geography, 21, 23–44.

carley, m. (1981), Social Measurement and Social Indicators: Issues of Policy and Theory, London, George Allen & Unwin.

cohen, b. (2004), ‘Urban growth in developing countries: a review of current trends and a caution regarding existing forecasts’, World Development, 32, 23–51.

devas, n. (2003), ‘Can city governments in the South deliver for the poor? A municipal finance perspective’, International Development Planning Review, 25, 1–29.

dwasa (dhaka water supply and sewerage authority) (2000), Annual Report 1998–99, Dhaka, Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, Bangladesh.

ennis, f. (1997). ‘Infrastructure provision, the negotiating process and the planner’s role’, Urban Studies, 34, 1935–54.

franks, t. (1999), ‘Capacity building and institutional development: reflections on water’, Public Administration and Development, 19, 51–61.

gallagher, r. (1997), Water Supply and Sanitation Problems in the Slums of Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Dhaka, WaterAid, ActionAid and VERC.

gunewardena, j. s. p. g. (2000), ‘Development of an urban neighbourhood environmental quality assessment method (UNEQAM) for developing countries’, unpublished PhD thesis, Brisbane, Department of Geographical Sciences and Planning, The University of Queensland.

hanchett, s., akhter, s. and khan, m. h. (2003), ‘Water, sanitation and hygiene in Bangla-deshi slums: an evaluation of the WaterAid Bangladesh urban programme’, Environment & urbanization, 15, 43–55.

iied (international institute for environment and development) (2003), ‘Water and sanita-

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 316 12/12/07 10:06:17


tion: what will deliver the improvements required for urban areas?’, Environment & Urbani-zation, 15, 1–5.

islam, n. (1996), ‘The urban poor: definition and magnitude’, in N. Islam (ed.), The Urban Poor in Bangladesh, Dhaka, Centre for Urban Studies, 20–27.

islam, n. (1999), ‘Dhaka City: some general concerns’, in N. Hamid and S. Huq (eds.), Asian Cities in the 21st Century, Contemporary Approaches to Municipal Management: Reforming Dhaka City Management, Volume 3, Metro Manila, The Asian Development Bank, 71–82.

islam, n. and nazem, n. i. (1996), ‘Land, housing and services for the urban poor’, in N. Islam (ed.), The Urban Poor in Bangladesh, Dhaka, Centre for Urban Studies, 81–91.

kim, k.-h. (1997), ‘Housing finance and urban infrastructure finance’, Urban Studies, 34, 1597–1620.

kirby, a. (2004), ‘Water scarcity: a looming crisis?’, BBC news, 21 October (www.bbcnews.com, accessed November 2004).

lammerts van bueren, e. m. and blom, e. m. (1997), Hierarchical Framework for the Formulation of Sustainable Forest Management Standards: Principles, Criteria, Indicators, Wageningen, The Tropenbos Foundation.

mcintosh, a. c. and yniguez, c. e. (eds.) (1997), Second Water Utilities Data Book – Asian and Pacific Region, Metro Manila, The Asian Development Bank.

niemczynowicz, j. (1999), ‘Urban hydrology and water management – present and future challenges’, Urban Water, 1, 1–14.

nijkamp, p., rietveld, p. and voogd, h. (1990), Multicriteria Evaluation in Physical Planning, Amsterdam, Elsevier Science Publishers.

oecd (organisation for economic co-operation and development) (1998), Water Management Performance and Challenges in OECD Countries, Paris, OECD.

parai, a., benhart, j. h. and rense, w. c. (1994), ‘Water supply of selected mega cities of Asia’, in A. K. Dutta, F. J. Costa, S. Aggarwal and A. G. Noble (eds.), The Asian City: Process of Development, Characteristics and Planning, Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 205–12.

rao, m. v. s. (1978), ‘Concept, scope and methodology of development indicators’, in M. V. S. Rao, K. Porwit and N. Baster (eds.), Indicators of Human and Social Development, Tokyo, The United Nations University, 77–101.

shubert, c. (1986), ‘Providing urban basic services’, in G. S. Cheema (ed.), Reaching the Urban Poor: Project Implementation in Developing Countries, Boulder, CO, Westview Press, 207–36.

singha, d., and dushtha shasthya kendra (2001), Social Intermediation for the Urban Poor in Bangla-desh, Dhaka, Dushtha Shasthya Kendra.

unchs (united nations centre for human settlements) (2001), The State of the World’s Cities, Nairobi, UNCHS (www.unchs.org/Istanbul+5/statereport.htm, accessed 24 October 2001).

undp (united nations development programme) (2006), Human Development Report 2006 – Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and Global Water Crisis, New York, UNDP.

unep (united nations environment programme) (1996), ‘Environmentally-sustainable manage-ment and use of fresh water resources’, paper presented at Beijing Water Conference on Managing Water Resources for Large Cities and Towns, Beijing, China, 18–21 March.

un-habitat (united nations human settlements programme) (2003a), Water and Sanitation in the World’s Cities: Local Action for Global Goals, London, Earthscan.

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 317 12/12/07 10:06:17


un-habitat (united nations human settlements programme) (2003b), Guide to Monitoring Target 11: Improving the Lives of 100 Million Slum Dwellers, Nairobi, UN-HABITAT.

who (world health organization) (2000), Tools for Assessing the O&M Status of Water Supply and Sanitation in Developing Countries, Geneva, WHO.

who (world health organization) (2005), Minimum Water Quantity Needed for Domestic Use in Emergencies, Geneva, WHO (http://w3.whosea.org/LinkFiles/Update_on_SEA_Earth-quake_and_Tsunami_waterquantity.pdf, accessed January 2005).

who-unicef (world health organization and united nations children’s fund) (2000), Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 Report, Geneva, WHO, UNICEF and Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council.

who-unicef (world health organization and united nations children’s fund) (2001), Access to Improved Drinking Water Sources, Bangladesh: Coverage Estimates 1980–2000, Geneva, WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (www.wssinfo.org/en/pdf/country/Bangladesh-water1.pdf, accessed January 2003).

winayanti, l. and lang, heracles c. (2004), ‘Provision of urban services in an informal settle-ment: a case study of Kampung Penas Tanggul, Jakarta’, Habitat International, 28, 41–65.

world bank (2000), Entering the 21st Century, World Development Report 1999–2000, New York, Oxford University Press (published for the World Bank).

world bank (2001), World Development Report 2000–2001: Attacking Poverty, New York, Oxford University Press.

world bank (2004), World Development Report 2004: Making Services Work for Poor People, New York, Oxford University Press (published for the World Bank).

wsscc (water supply and sanitation collaboration council) (2000), Vision 21: A Shared Vision for Hygiene, Sanitation and Water Supply, Geneva, WSSCC (www.wsscc.org, accessed February 2003).

yeung, y.-m. (1985), ‘Provision of urban services in Asia: the role of the people-based mecha-nisms’, Regional Development Dialogue, 6, 148–63.

IDPR29_3_2_Akbar.indd 318 12/12/07 10:06:17

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

Assessing the performance of urban water supply systems in providing potable water for the urban...

Documents

Transcript of Assessing the performance of urban water supply systems in providing potable water for the urban...