Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Decentralisation: Combating Rural Water Poverty

Poor performance of conventional water treatment plants and water supply systems in rural areas can be attributed to substandard maintenance and planning.
On a dirt field, a child in a red shirt clutches a worn soccer ball while drinking from a water bottle, embodying the spirit and resilience found in rural communities impacted by poverty.

Table of Contents

Around 70% of the world’s extreme poor live in rural areas and when compared to urban water supply, rural areas present a different set of operational threats.

Poor performance of conventional water treatment plants and water supply systems in rural areas can be attributed to substandard maintenance and planning. The maintenance bill problems are related to the complexities of the centralisation and management of such essential systems. Local community members are not equipped or trained to maintain the supply systems, creating another avenue for reduced service delivery – Leading to a situation where a large portion of the budget of domestic water service providers is used to operate and maintain existing aging schemes.

Generally speaking, the cost per capita of implementing water systems is higher in rural than in urban areas, due to a remote and smaller population, that is dispersed over a large area. This leads to high operational expenditure, that is to be recovered by a small number of consumers. Furthermore, inadequate collection of water fees, ultimately leads to poor operation and maintenance of the rural water supply systems.

MEB’s robust intervention models include the entire value chain from efficient clean water and wastewater treatment to maintenance and monitoring. We accurately assess methods to develop the most cost-effective approach to build rural water supply projects. By implementing practical decentralised solutions for cost-effective rural water supply and sanitation projects, we help you design regular system reviews for the improvement of OPEX, that ensures that there is maximum cost-recovery.

We specialise in decentralised total solutions, because we believe that the entire water value chain needs to be addressed in order to achieve long lasting, environmentally conscious and economical water service supply packages for utility scale applications.

Share:

Case Study

A revolutionary approach to water supply

To cope with a crippling and prolonged drought crisis, MEB installed a containerized desalination plant at Richards Bay, South Africa. The project was completed in just seven months. The containers were easily transported to the designated location.1

More Posts

Related Posts