Sustaining School-Based Point-of-Use Water Treatment in Western Kenya

The challenge of providing sufficient quantities of safe water is staggering. While substantial effort has been providing support to households, schools and institutions represent a particular challenge. Providing safe water in schools with point-of-use (POU) water treatment technology provides the opportunity to reach hundreds of children and, by extension, their parents. A promising approach in institutional settings is the Safe Water System (SWS), a low-cost approach developed by the CDC which uses point-of-use water treatment technology (usually sodium hypochlorite), safe storage containers, and behavior change education. Like other POU approaches, there are important challenges with regards to sustainability.

In 2005, CARE Kenya implemented the SWS in 60 schools in rural Nyanza Province. An evaluation of the intervention was conducted in 2006 to estimate benefits and determine if program activities were ongoing at the school (O'Reilly et al, 2007). The evaluation showed a significant reduction in absenteeism since the implementation of the SWS and identified several potential threats to sustainability.

The ongoing five-year Sustaining & Scaling School Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene Plus Community Impact (SWASH+) project incorporated the CARE SWS intervention as one approach to addressing challenges of school WASH. In order to glean lessons learned from the previous project, a sustainability assessment was conducted in April 2008. The objectives of this study were to identify barriers to sustainability and assist CARE in making informed improvements to their programming. The assessment consisted of surveys and key informant interviews; direct observations of the SWS hardware; and testing drinking water in schools that reported treating their water at 55 of the original 60 schools.

Of the 55 schools visited, 36% of schools provided drinking water the day of the evaluation. While 20% reported treating drinking water on the day of the visit, only 9% had measurable levels of chlorine in their drinking water. Key barriers to the sustainability of the SWS identified as a result of this evaluation include technology, cost, water access, and institutional support. Results of the findings were shared with partners and several potential strategies to address sustainability challenges are currently being tested in a sub-set of SWASH+ schools.