THE ZIMBABWE WATER FORUM
October, 2012
POLICY NOTE 1.0
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The Zimbabwe Water Forum provides a platform for Government and Development
Partners to share international best practices in the water sector between Zimbabwe and
other countries. The forum was formed through a partnership between the Ministry of
Water Resources Development and Management, the Multi-Donor Trust Fund and the
World Bank and is hosted by the World Bank’s Zimbabwe Country Office of the World Bank
and the Urban WSS Thematic Group.
A 24/7 water supply is possible for Harare and other cities:
Lessons on what it takes from water manager Neil Macleod
Neil Macleod, the manager of water and sanitation services in eThekwini Municipality in South
Africa, visited Harare, Zimbabwe, to share his experiences of successfully managing a municipal
water utility in challenging circumstances. Key insights from this visit—applicable to Harare and
other cities—are shared in this policy note.
Water provision in two large cities—
Harare and Durban
Harare Water, a department of the City of
Harare, supplies water to an estimated
population of 2.5 million within the city
boundaries through 200,000 retail
connections and a further 2 million people
outside the city through wholesale bulk
connections. Although the system input
volume is about 150 liters per person per day,
only 20 percent of the 4.5 million people in
Greater Harare receive a 24/7 supply. The rest
receive water for only a few hours per week,
and many receive no water at all. As a result
of the intermittent supply, the water supplied
is not safe to drink. The sewer network, with
about 190,000 connections, is overloaded,
and treatment works treat only a small
fraction of the wastewater collected (80
megaliters per day treated of the inflow of
274 megaliters per day). Annual revenues are
about $70 million per annum (<$1 per person
per month) with a collection efficiency of
about 60 percent.
The Water and Sanitation department of
eThekwini Municipality (which includes the
city of Durban) provides services to about 3.5
million people with a 24/7 water supply
through 475,000 standard and low pressure
connections. Average consumption for the
whole area, including large industries, is 158
liters per person per day. About 76 percent of
the population are connected to the sewer
network (450 000 connections, 450 megaliters
per day treated). There are 40,000 VIP-type
latrines and over 80,000 Urine Diversion
toilets. About 300 communities in dense
informal settlements are provided with
communal toilet facilities. The annual water
and sanitation revenue is $567 million per
year ($13 per person per month) with a
collection efficiency of more than 95 percent.
Neil Macleod is Head of Water and Sanitation at eThekwini Municipality, managing over 2,500 staff. He has
35 years of experience and degrees in Civil Engineering and Business Administration. He obtained a PhD
for work on the sustainable provision of water services to urban poor communities. He is a Fellow of the
South African Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Municipal Engineers of Southern Africa
and a Senior Fellow of the Water Institute of South Africa. Neil is a director of Business Partners for
Development (London) and was previously a Director of Umgeni Water and Joburg Water.
THE ZIMBABWE WATER FORUM
October, 2012
POLICY NOTE 1.0
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Water provision in Harare and Durban—some key features
Sources: City of Harare, eThekwini Municipality (Durban), Profile of German Water Industry (2008), World Bank (GDP
data, 2011)
An uninterrupted water supply should be an
essential goal for utility managers. By
reducing water pressure and preventing water
losses, eThekwini was able to move to a 24/7
water supply. Harare has enough water to
achieve this goal.
An intermittent water supply, like the one in
Harare, pollutes the water, degrades the
network, and is difficult to manage. A 24/7
supply is more cost and energy efficient—and
customers are very happy to have consistent,
reliable access to water.
A key insight from eThekwini is that it is
possible to improve network reliability and
improve uninterrupted coverage using
available financial resources. By regulating
water pressure and curbing water losses,
eThekwini has managed to supply
uninterrupted water to almost all its
residents.
Harare has enough water to achieve this goal.
In 2005, when production was about 600
megaliters per day, most people in Harare had
an uninterrupted supply of water. Even
though production has been restored to
nearly that level, there are many areas in
Greater Harare that receive only an
infrequent, rationed supply of water—or none
at all. The volume of water available to the
network (about 150 liters per person per day)
should be enough to provide a large
proportion of Greater Harare with a 24/7
supply. But unaccounted-for losses are
huge—non-revenue water in the City of
Harare is estimated to be about 60 percent—
with uneven and high water pressure a
significant contributing factor. A strategic
approach to water supply, like the one used in
eThekwini, could allow Harare to provide an
uninterrupted supply of water to all its
residents.
Understanding the customer base and
demand is critical for effective management of
a water utility. By adopting new technology,
water managers in eThekwini significantly
improved their knowledge about their
customers—and how much water they
needed—at a modest cost.
Right now, it is difficult to know how many
people in Greater Harare are provided with
water, and how many people still need access.
Many cities in developing countries face a
THE ZIMBABWE WATER FORUM
October, 2012
similar problem. In eThekwini, managers
found that aerial photographs, available
satellite imagery, and sample surveys could
help them to find out more about their
customer base quickly and at a low cost. GPSenabled meter readers allowed them to check
the exact position of water connections and
to identify missing or bypassed meters.
Providing free water for every city resident is
neither affordable nor sustainable. In
eThekwini, managers found that by targeting
subsidies to poorer households, they could
ensure that everybody had access to the water
they needed, without bankrupting the system.
Managers in eThekwini have found that it is
not affordable to provide even a limited
amount of free water to all customers. With
financial help from the national government,
they targeted subsidies to poor households
and charged all properties above a threshold
value the full cost of water service.
Households with an unrestricted supply living
in properties below the threshold value
receive an allocation of water (6,000 liters per
month) at no cost, but pay for additional
water at full cost. Households with a lowpressure, restricted-volume connection
receive free water.
Water managers and politicians in Harare will
need to develop a revenue formula that suits
the local context and economic environment,
while earning enough to allow the water
system to work sustainably. Harare’s much
smaller economic base cannot achieve the per
capita revenues obtained in eThekwini, but it
can still substantially improve its revenue
base. Based on a basic assessment of Harare
Water, the managers for eThekwini were of
the view that Harare Water should aim to at
least triple their revenue over the next two to
three years.
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Improving revenue collection is essential for a
sustainable water supply network. eThekwini
water managers achieved a cash collection
efficiency of over 95 percent by improving
their accounting and collections management.
Careful attention to customer management,
billing, credit control, and good
communications has allowed eThekwini’s
water utility to set a best-practice benchmark
for cash collection.
Cash collections for Harare Water have
increased from close to zero at the time of
dollarization of the economy in March 2009 to
US$6 million per month at the end of 2011. At
the same time, collection efficiency has
increased to about 60 percent. But these
improvements are not enough to allow
Harare’s water system to operate sustainably.
All water revenues in eThekwini are allocated
to the Water Services Department, which
then pays the city based on a financial
agreement. Harare could benefit from a
similar system of “ring-fencing” revenues,
instead of the central collection system used
now.
It is critical to build a culture of trust within
the organization and with customers.
eThekwini Water and Sanitation has
cultivated trust among its staff by
encouraging innovation and training, and with
its customers by paying real attention to their
feedback.
Neil Macleod has been the manager for water
and sanitation services in Durban (later
eThekwini) for over 20 years. Over this period,
eThekwini Water and Sanitation have
developed an organizational culture that
encourages innovation and is tolerant of
mistakes. The utility also develops new skills
by sponsoring engineering bursaries and
engaging actively with local universities.
THE ZIMBABWE WATER FORUM
October, 2012
Understanding customer needs and
perceptions is essential. The eThekwini water
and waste department has a dedicated
customer management unit staffed with
people skilled in languages, marketing,
communication, and customer care. Focus
groups and customer surveys are held
regularly, and an effective 24-hour toll-free
call center ensures that customer complaints
are dealt with quickly. Customer service
agents visit households that are unable to
come to customer service centers.
One customer perception survey revealed
that users wanted a toilet not only to be clean
and safe to use, but also to be a place of
privacy where they could read, sing, or cry. In
response, eThekwini are pioneering the
implementation of managed communal toilet
and ablution facilities in informal settlements.
The city has also teamed up with the Gates
Foundation which uses their city as a testing
site for innovations in urban sanitation,
including waterless toilet systems.
Harare Water’s plan to implement a 24-hour
call center will be an important step in
improving customer management.
Good management is the ‘art of the possible’.
eThekwini managers have found that the key
to effective management is to be both
pragmatic and strategic.
eThekwini Water sets well-defined
maintenance standards. Maintenance is done
proactively; cleaning sewer lines every five
years has substantially reduced sewer
blockages. But the utility is also pragmatic
about its capabilities and always looks for the
least-cost alternatives; for example, all
pipework for pipes with a diameter greater
than 200 millimeters is outsourced.
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Finding the right balance between new asset
creation and asset rehabilitation is a
challenge. Over the past ten years, the major
emphasis has been on new asset creation,
extending the water network to more than
one million additional people and basic
sanitation to more than 700,000 people. The
allocation of spending is now shifting toward
asset rehabilitation and replacement. About
2,000 kilometers of pipes have been replaced,
and these efforts have resulted in a reduction
of non-revenue water from 42 percent to
about 33 percent.
In Harare, the required investments exceed
the available resources. This requires careful
choices that are strategic and pragmatic.
Priority investments for water need to be
focused on the distribution network. For
sanitation, new thinking will be required to
achieve both public health benefits and
reduced impact on the environment with
limited resources.
Water is political. Utility managers in
eThekwini recognize that their success has
been built in part by harnessing the political
will to make it happen.
Water is inevitably political. Good utility
manages are able to both understand and
manage the politics of water. Political terms
are short (typically 5 years) relative to the
time spans required to manage water
effectively (15 to 25 years). In many
developing countries there is a high turnover
of politicians, and a water utility manager
must constantly educate new politicians
about the essential features of the water
business. A successful management team is
able to work with elected officials to make
wise choices that are in the long-term
interests of customers.