Impact Evaluation Study of a Rural Water Supply & Sanitation Project

: Provision of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities is cited as the highest social priority to communities. The Government of Sri Lanka is committed to improve the quality of life of the people by providing access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities. The main objective of the project is to assess the positive and negative impacts of a newly constructed water supply project in Warakagoda, Kalutara. The data samples were collected through questionnaires and then analyzed. The results based on the analysis are discussed in this article.


Background
It is difficult to imagine any clean and sanitary environment without water.
The objectives of water supply systems are: • To supply safe and wholesome water to the users, whether these constitute a family, a group of families, or a community; • To supply an adequate quantity of water; • To make water readily available to the users, in order to achieve personal and household hygiene.
The positive and the negative impacts of water supply and sanitation projects are assessed to ascertain whether the project objectives are being met. In measuring the effects, care would be taken to identify impacts derived only from the project interventions, since other interventions can also occur simultaneously in the project area. Only then will it be possible to clearly attribute observed impacts to project interventions. Some parameters, which are used to monitor the impact of water supply and sanitation facilities, are listed below.
• Comparison of the number of facilities before and after the commencement of the project, using the information from continuous progress monitoring.
• Number of occurrences of water borne diseases before and after the project.
• Number of people with unsatisfactory sanitation facilities before and after the project.
• Change in property values due to improved water and sanitation facilities. One of the Grama Nilathari Division's (GND's) in Kalutara district under this project was selected for the study.

Study Area
The Kalutara district is located in the Western province of Sri Lanka. It is situated in the wet zone of Sri Lanka with a mean annual rainfall ranging from 1900 mm to 2500 mm. Before implementing the project the people from Warakagoda east were using common and individually used dug wells to meet their dayto-day water needs. The project includes rainwater harvesting, gravity yard tap, common dug well, individual dug well, common hand pump and individual hand pump water supply. The total number of households covered by the project is 237 households. The community contribution for this project is approximately 45% of the total cost. And the operation and maintenance is done by appointed Community Based Organizations (CBOs) after implementing the project.

Objective & Scope of the study •
To assess the positive and the negative impacts of the newly constructed water supply and sanitation project.
• To identify causes of the negative impacts, and to propose mitigatory measures.

Study Methodology
Since the study involved the collection of data before and after the implementation of the Project, a questionnaire survey had to be carried out. Due to lack of time and resources, only a sample of the population was covered in the survey. A desk study, discussions with stakeholders and laboratory analysis of water samples were carried out to gather the necessary data. • In and Out of the project.
• Different types of facilities available in the project.
• Different type of ethnic group.
The details of the samples are given in Figure 1.

Questionnaire
A draft questionnaire was prepared first, field tested and then revised. The final questionnaire was then prepared. The research team filled these questionnaires by interviewing an adult member of each selected household sample.

Water sample collection
Water samples were collected from each category of the water source such as rainwater harvesting, gravity source, gravity yard tap, dug well (common) -inside the project, dug well (individual) -inside the project, dug well (common) -outside the project, dug well (individual) -outside the project, hand pump (common) and hand pump (individual).
Then these samples were tested for their physical, chemical, microbiological characteristics.
Under the physical characteristics, pH value, colour, turbidity, conductivity & temperature of water sample were measured and for chemical characteristics, nitrate, nitrite, free ammonia and fluoride levels were measured.
Finally, the microbiological test was done and the E.Coli and total coli form values were measured. Details of the sample results were tabulated in Table 1. The Microbiological and the chemical tests were done within 24 hours of sample collection.

Data Entry and Analysis
The collected data were tabulated in the Excel spread sheet and these data were analyzed with regard to aspects of technical, social, financial, quality, quantity, affordability, service level, etc. and the results were also tabulated.

Observations and Results
To ensure the rural water supply systems and sanitation facilities are operating efficiently and the target groups are realizing anticipated benefits, an impact evaluation study has to be established. It will monitor the delivery, use and benefits of the water supply and sanitation improvements. The study has to be undertaken at intervals after the new and upgraded infrastructure has been operating for some time. Such a study assists in incorporating valuable lessons of experience into the ongoing and future activities.
From this study many lessons have been learnt. If the complete pre project conditions in social, economic and environmental aspects are available, the results in this study could have been compared and the study would have been better and more effective. So it is desirable to carry out the benchmark surveys of the social, economical and environmental conditions of the project area prior to the project implementation.
As per the information collected from the sub project office at Warakagoda (East) the total cost of the project is around SL Rs. 1,279,652.00 for the listed water supply facilities together with the toilets. The cost of different water supply options together with the sanitation on a household basis is summarized below and compared with the average household income per month. From Table 2, it is observed that except in the case of Rain water harvesting, the community had contributed more than 50% of the cost of the facilities.

Reduction in travel time and travel
Distance.
Around 23 numbers of households (out of a total number of 36 households) had to walk long distances (2-3 km) to fetch drinking water before the implementation of the project. After the implementation of the project, the travel distance of 21 numbers of households (out of 3T households) was reduced considerably. The average travel time has reduced by 20 minutes. The burden on the women of carrying heavy loads has been reduced a lot. The women highlighted this during the interviews. The people were participating in recreational activities to spend the time saved above. This will lead to . the improvement of the relationships between people and to better health and fitness.

Improved behavior in hygiene
The results from the questionnaire show that, after the project, the households are taking baths and washing clothes etc. daily whereas before the project, it was done every other day. This shows an improved behavior in hygiene. It also suggests improved sanitation in the households. Hence, spreading of infection will reduce. Life without disease will lead to a pleasant existence.

Improved sanitation facilities.
With regard to sanitation, 94% of the households were having private toilets at the time of the survey. Before the project implementation estate workers especially were having common toilets where five toilets were grouped together in a line discharging sewage to a single soakage pit. During the project, around fifty water sealed latrines were constructed for this community. A subsidy of Rs. 3000/= was given to the beneficiaries to purchase materials. The labour required for construction was provided by the communities. The locations of the toilets were approved by Public Health Inspector (PHI) and a minimum distance of 30 ft. was maintained between the drinking water source and the latrine. At the interview conducted, the women showed their pride about the privacy they had experienced after the toilets were constructed. If there is no proper sanitation facilities the environment will get polluted further this causing health hazards.

Improved social status of the households.
When an household in the project area is compared with one outside the project area, it is clearly seen that the social status of the household has increased considerably and this is remarkable. This is because these households get more recognition in society as they have the basic needs of life. For example a grown up girl who has a property with these basic facilities, waiting to get a life-partner has a better chance of getting married soon. The people expressed this statement during the interviews.

Project planning
It was noticed that the pumping scheme constructed at Geekiyana Kanda Estate for 152 households with common taps was not in operation for more than one year due to unavailability of electricity. This was revealed by the project officials and it was informed that a special type of cable is required for the power supply and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is taking a long time to purchase this cable, as the correct power requirement was not identified at the planning stage of the project. This shows the importance of identification of critical activities at the planning stage.

Dug wells
Nine numbers of households (out of 36 households) using dug wells complained that there are floating and settled particles of dead leaves and other organic matter, which leads to bad odour and color in the water. The reason for this is the non-availability or inadequacy of covers. An awareness programme regarding the need of a cover has to be given to the households. Further, the fluoride levels are higher than the permissible levels.

3.7.2
Gravity piped scheme When the water quality of a yard tap of a gravity scheme was tested it was found that it was more contaminated than the gravity source. This may be due to the pipe connection from the source to the yard tap not being properly sealed. This must have arisen from technical defects in the system and needs further investigation. It was found that chlorination is not practiced in the pipe scheme. At the interview conducted, the households indicated that they do not like the chlorinated water which has a special taste and odour. It is evident from this statement that the households are unaware of the health hazards caused by contaminated water. The importance of chlorination has to be conveyed to the households by awareness programmes.

Dug well with individual hand pump
The bacterial quality tests of this facility indicates contamination. However, this quality is much better than the dug well without hand pumps. This proves that contamination occurs during drawing water from the well. Further, the fluoride levels in these wells too were higher than the standard.

3.7.4
Rainwater harvesting As per the test conducted during the study, rainwater harvesting showed good quality water on physical, chemical and bacteriological parameters. This is the only perfect facility in the study area.
As per the above study, it has been observed that all the facilities except the rainwater harvesting indicated high fluoride content. High concentration of fluoride will lead to dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis. The Fluoride removal techniques have to be introduced in these community water supply schemes where the fluoride levels are higher than acceptable limits.
A major draw back in the project is that the water quality in the constructed facilities has not been tested once. The microbiological test conducted showed high content of contamination of E.Coli and coli form bacteria in all facilities except rainwater harvesting. It is found that the chlorination is not practiced even in piped schemes. Further, most of the households indicated that they do not know whether boiling is necessary before drinking. Therefore even at this stage an educational program has to be conducted among these households regarding the water quality and the effect of bacteria.

Operation and maintenance
Even though CBOs have been organized to do the operation and maintenance, the participation of the CBO members in some of the facilities is not adequate. When repairs arise in a piped scheme, it takes a long time to rectify the defect. This shows that the operation and maintenance is not organized well and the CBO's lack of preliminary technical knowledge. They are unaware of whom to contact for the repair. An overall knowledge on preventive maintenance and O&M has to be transferred to the CBOs at least now. Further, they do not have a proper coordination with other stakeholders in the area. For example, replantation of rubber was done and the pipeline was removed for a long time. The residents revealed that even though they have made several complaints it was not reinstated immediately and they did not have water for more than two months. The CBO's should have had cordial contacts with other stakeholders in the project, so that they could arrange this kind of job without delay. This could be developed only at the social gatherings held in the village.

Solid waste management
It is found that no solid waste disposal program is implemented in parallel with the water supply and sanitation program. In spite of the vast open space available, some of the residents have dumped the waste by the side of the wells and this has caused the quality problems mentioned above. This should have been taught to the households through the awareness program, which was conducted during the project.

Conclusions
The results obtained from the study reveal that the project has achieved some of the set targets and goals.
The beneficiaries have achieved the following benefits.
• Improved social status When, the projects are properly planned and implemented, most of these impacts are likely to be the ones that were anticipated during the planning process. However, there can be unexpected impacts, since it is impossible to predict all potential impacts for any development project.
The following causes of negative impacts were identified in this project. 2) The water supplied from each and every facility except rainwater harvesting constructed in the project has quality problems. Since, fluoride levels in most of the facilities (80%) are very much higher than the allowable levels, it is recommended that fluoride removal plants be installed. Chlorination has to be done as the water is contaminated with bacteria.
3) The CBO's or any authority maintaining the project has to arrange water quality tests on a monthly basis. For future projects it is recommended that the Executing Agency conduct routine quality checks at least for one year after completion of construction.
4) An awareness about the water quality be created in the households through educational programs.
5) The households have to be educated on safe solid waste disposal techniques.
6) The project should make necessary operation and maintenance arrangements and train the CBO's during the latter part of construction. 9) The questionnaire developed in this study may be used to assess the impacts from rural water supply and sanitation projects, after modification to suit specific project sites, where necessary.