An Appraisal of the small town water supply schemes in Kuruwita & Kalawana which were implemented with user community participation

Abstract

This study was based on Small Town Water Supply Schemes which were constructed in Ratnapura District under a World Bank loan and implemented with user community participation. The study was limited to the first two Small Town Schemes, constructed by National Water Supply and Drainage Board, in Kuruwita and Kalawana small towns. The aim of the study was to evaluate the success with regard to technical and social aspects of the above two schemes implemented with active community participation during planning, construction and operation and maintenance phases. Technical aspects were compared with similar schemes constructed by National Water Supply & Drainage Board without participation of users while social aspects were compared by analyzing social improvement of the area before and after the new schemes. Technical data were collected from National Water Supply & Drainage Board offices. Social aspects were evaluated by using field survey with questionnaire and interviews. The study shows, for a sustainable Water Supply Scheme, it is necessary to obtain a user participation in planning, construction and operation & maintenance phases. In the planning stage of a community water supply scheme, it is necessary to obtain a user participation, because all the relevant data for accurate planning are available at the place where the scheme to be built; and also it is easy to collect data from users rather than collecting by out side officers or any other person. During the construction period it is also necessary to participate users to aware about quality of work, major components of the scheme, how to operate the scheme, and methods using for construction etc. Those will help to go for the sustainable operation and maintenance of a scheme. Sustainable Operation and maintenance system is the main objective of community water supply scheme. Therefore it is necessary to participate users during operation and maintenance of scheme, because the scheme should run to full fill their requirement.