This brief provides an estimation of the annual costs of professional water services for 1,700 primary and secondary schools and 300 healthcare centres1 in Bangladesh’s Khulna district, based on observed data from a pilot in 171 schools and 33 healthcare centres in eight unions.
Research theme
Valley formation aridifies East Africa and elevates Congo Basin rainfall
Published in Nature, this study uncovers how east-west river valleys direct millions of tonnes of water vapour from the Indian Ocean away from East Africa and towards the Congo rainforest, and, in doing so, limit East African rainfall.
Water Services Maintenance Trust Fund Impact Report, 2016-2021
The Water Services Maintenance Trust Fund has tested a professional service delivery model in two counties and attracted new sources of results-based funds to guarantee water services in rural communities. Water users pay an affordable share of the costs to guarantee repairs are completed in a few days rather than weeks or months. This summary reports some of the impacts from maintaining rural handpumps and small piped systems.
Costs and benefits of improving water and sanitation in slums and non-slum neighborhoods in Dhaka, a fast-growing mega-city
This paper presents the results of a large-scale survey focusing on slum and non-slum residents’ experiences with urban water supply, water pollution and flood risks and associated costs of illness (COI).
Participatory water resource management
A para-hydrology initiative in two regions of Ethiopia trained citizen scientists to collect quantitative data on rural hydrological systems. The data has been successfully used in several peer-reviewed studies to predict and assess the impact of sustainable land management interventions.
Protecting groundwater for climate resilience and water security in Turkana
In Turkana County, research by the University of Nairobi around Lodwar’s underlying aquifers is addressing critical data and knowledge gaps. Groundwater quality mapping indicates areas with poor groundwater quality to inform water infrastructure investments. This work contributing to new policy and practice to protect the Lodwar Alluvial Aquifer System and enhance resilience to climate risks.
REACH Exit Strategy
REACH’s Exit Strategy scopes out actions to promote the legacy of the programme, highlighting opportunities to sustain, scale-up, and scale-out our work.
Socio-spatial and seasonal dynamics of small, private water service providers in Khulna district, Bangladesh
Small water service providers operating in informal markets across the Global South address critical gaps in public investments in the rural water sector. This study analyses the growth and operations of private desalination plants and distributing vendors in Khulna, Bangladesh, within the broader landscape of uncoordinated investments by government, donors and households. Household water choices and payment behaviour vary spatially and seasonally, with observable wealth differences in self-supply investments in rainwater tanks and tubewells. Monitoring and regulating informal private providers can improve sectoral coordination, increase efficiency of service delivery and unlock commercial finances against the backdrop of declining aid-based financing.
Improving water security through Sustainable Land Management
This Story of Change discusses the role of Sustainable Land Management activities in securing water for livelihoods and household use.
Addis Ababa’s water crisis: challenges and opportunities
This brief lays out options to better monitor and manage groundwater use, and to improve the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater to support sustainability for Addis Ababa’s water supplies.