103622 THE ZIMBABWE WATER FORUM April 2013 POLICY NOTE 4.0 Page 1 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 and the Urban WSS Thematic Group. The Future of Sanitation in Harare and Other Cities: Perspectives on Possible Pathways to Recovery Perspectives on potential recovery pathways for urban sanitation in Zimbabwe are shared in this policy note based on a presentation given by Clarissa Brocklehurst to the Forum on 11 April and the ensuing discussion. Clarissa, until recently the global head of water, sanitation, and hygiene at UNICEF, is part of the team advising the government on the Greater Harare Water and Sanitation Strategic Plan. Discussants to the presentation included Peter Hawkins, WSP, World Bank; Barbara Evans, Lecturer, University of Leeds and Murtaza Malik, UNICEF, Zimbabwe. The Forum was moderated by Michael Webster, World Bank. The Policy Note also draws on the work being undertaken by the World Bank with the City of Harare and satellite towns on the development of a Greater Harare Water and Sanitation Strategic Plan. Sanitation in urban Zimbabwe Municipalities are struggling to maintain existing sewerage networks and treatment facilities and Sanitation services in Zimbabwe used to be the many households in urban areas (or on the envy of the continent, driven by the principles of periphery of urban areas) do not have adequate high service standards and universal access. As sanitation facilities. cities expanded, roads, water supply systems, and sewers were built before homes were occupied, According to the 2012 census, about a third (31 so that services could keep pace with urban percent) of Zimbabweans live in urban areas, and growth. In the late 1990s, a severe economic the numbers are increasing at a rate of about 4 crisis coupled with a rapid increase in the number percent per year. Many towns are unable to of people moving into cities, left many city provide a reliable and continuous (24/7) supply of residents without adequate sanitation or water water. Households are finding it difficult to supply services. The services that were there fell maintain functioning toilets without reliable into disrepair for lack of funds for maintenance. flushing, and the sewer system as a whole suffers By 2008, the sanitation systems in most cities had from frequent blockages, creating overflows and virtually shut down, resulting in a public health impeding the operation of wastewater treatment crisis and contributing to a cholera epidemic that works. claimed 4,300 lives, most of them in cities. Although emergency measures halted the Without access to adequate sanitation, many epidemic, diarrheal disease continues to be a urban households are forced to rely on threat, and typhoid cases are on the rise. improvised facilities or open defecation, creating serious health risks. Poorly maintained sewers Although the Joint Monitoring Programme and treatment works contribute further to these reported that access to improved and/or shared health risks by contaminating rivers and dams. facilities decreased from 99 percent in 1990 to 96 The sanitation system not only needs major percent in 2008, the data collected for the refurbishment, but rapid urban growth has Greater Harare Sanitation Strategy, as well as created a need for a greatly expanded system as more recent data for other towns collected well. Given the current economic conditions, the through a benchmarking study, suggests that the funding for improvements and expansion are actual situation is worse than this (see below). simply not available. THE ZIMBABWE WATER FORUM April 2013 POLICY NOTE 4.0 Page 2 National sanitation policy & strategy of the network only receiving water a few times a Recognising these challenges, the Government week and some of the network no water at all — and much of the wastewater still flows into recently launched a National Water Policy and a waterways without being treated. National Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy (2011 to 2015). The Policy and Strategy recognise the need The City of Harare supplies water to its own area to adopt lower standards in the economic as well as bulk water to Chitungwiza, Norton, recovery period. Epworth, and Ruwa. Supplies to Ruwa are The Water Policy states: “for all urban residents augmented by its own smaller supply system. the normal high service standards will be However, provision of water across the temporarily relaxed during the recovery period. metropolitan area is highly unequal due to The relaxation will include permitting certain inequitable allocation of the bulk supply and onsite sanitation technologies for plots of a because each municipality is responsible for the minimum prescribed size to allow housing distribution of water and for the collection and treatment of wastewater. delivery to recover. This will be followed by a full resumption of high standards once the situation is Current sanitation service coverage in Greater normalized. The policy is therefore to temporarily Harare is insufficient (see figure). The data show lower the technical standards during the recovery three notable features. First, there are a large phase and upgrade them to the current standards number of households using sanitation that does during the normal development phase.” Evidence not meet current standards (24 percent of gathered over the past decade, indicated that, households are not connected to a sewer given current economic conditions in Zimbabwe, network). Secondly, the distribution of types of it would not be possible to simultaneously sanitation used varies by area. Finally, there is a maintain high standards of sanitation delivery and lot of uncertainty in the data with no information universal access. The policy also points to the for a large number of properties. need to clarify the role of central government, Only a small fraction of the wastewater collected urban authorities, and ZINWA and to the is treated (39 megaliters per day treated, 231 importance of developing institutional megaliters per day untreated). The untreated mechanisms for regulations, tariff-setting, and sewage runs into the water sources on which financing. The policy calls for the adoption of Greater Harare is reliant, creating a significant affordable, efficient, and sustainable solutions to health hazard. sanitation service delivery. Even if the existing wastewater treatment Practical ways of implementing this Policy and facilities in the Greater Harare area are restored Strategy in the Greater Harare area were to full design capacity, these facilities will not be explored by the Forum. able to treat the existing volumes of wastewater Sanitation in Greater Harare generated and major expansions would be According to the 2012 census, there are about 2.1 required to both treat existing flows and cater for million people in Greater Harare (City of Harare more households if they were connected to the and the four surrounding towns —Chitungwiza, sewer network. Epworth, Ruwa and Norton). At the nadir of the A survey of sanitation practices in the Greater economic problems in 2008 and early 2009, water Harare area found a wide range of alternative and sanitation service delivery collapsed as a solutions being implemented. Some innovative result of chronic power shortages, an inability to practices were found: for example, the use of procure essential inputs such as chemicals to ecosan toilets and the conversion of standard pit treat water, and significant disruptions in the latrines into pour-flush latrines. However, the pumping and treatment of water and absence of effective regulations, guidelines, and wastewater. This resulted in an outbreak of support for these alternative practices places waterborne disease —Greater Harare accounted households at considerable health risk. Pit for 26 % of the 4300 reported cholera deaths. latrines, septic tanks, and soakaways were found An emergency response enabled services to be in close proximity to shallow wells. In many cases partially restored, but large challenges remain. plot sizes were too small to properly support a Water supplies are still intermittent — with much sustainable septic tank solution. THE ZIMBABWE WATER FORUM April 2013 POLICY NOTE 4.0 Page 3 The absence of effective urban planning, in which the nutrients from human waste including land release and zoning policies, also are made available for reuse as fertilizer. contributes to the unsatisfactory urban  Septic tanks with a soakaway. These sanitation conditions. normally require a minimum plot size and A sanitation strategy for Greater Harare suitable soil conditions. The City of Harare, in collaboration with the Historically, Zimbabwe has been a leader in four satellite towns, is in the process of the innovation of rural sanitation and urban developing a strategic plan to restore water wastewater treatment technologies. This rich and sanitation services in the short term, and heritage can be drawn on and reactivated to to expand and improve services in the long find the most appropriate approaches to term. This strategy needs to take into account meeting current and future needs. national plans as well as funding strategies Urban sanitation solutions adopted by other that make use of limited resources while cities can also be used as models. For example, keeping tariffs affordable for all residents. eThekwini Municipality in South Africa Sanitation needs to be improved with recognized that it would not be able to afford available resources that are wisely spent for to invest in the sewer network and treatment maximum benefit. facilities needed to serve the whole municipal Alternative approaches to urban sanitation area. A well-planned urban sanitation policy The National Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy defined a “sewer boundary ” that restricted states that, “In urban areas, rehabilitation of sewer service to the central city. Areas lying wastewater treatment systems will be given outside this boundary are served by a range of priority, while expansion will focus on low alternative sanitation solutions. The energy, low maintenance systems such as municipality has found from experience that septic tanks and stabilization ponds .” The pit latrines in urban areas filled quickly, were Water Policy recommends adoption of onsite expensive to empty, and were not a cost- technologies for plots of a minimum effective and sustainable solution. Instead, the prescribed size. municipality promoted the use of double-vault urine-diversion toilets and has developed (fully There are a wide range of technology options serviced) communal toilet blocks in some of including: the very dense urban settlements where  Double-pit pourflush latrines, commonly toilets for each household were not practical. used in South Asia. They have constructed more than 50,000 double vault urine diversion toilets and are  Small bore, simplified or condominial working in partnership with the Bill and sewers, used in some towns and cities in Melinda Gates Foundation and other agencies Latin America. to pilot other sustainable urban sanitation  Urine diverting dry toilets, one of a number solutions. of “ecosan” (ecological sanitation) options THE ZIMBABWE WATER FORUM April 2013 POLICY NOTE 4.0 Page 4 Key premises informing strategy  The lack of adequate data to support planning and budgeting (for example, The strategy is being developed based on the following premises: basic data on the number of properties and the type of sanitation facilities being  It is not practically or financially possible used) severely constrains the development to extend the sewer network and provide of an informed sanitation investment plan. wastewater treatment facilities to all These data gaps need to be urgently households settled in the Greater Harare addressed. area given the current economic conditions. Wider lessons  National policy supports the development In most African cities a significant proportion of alternative sanitation solutions during of households do not have access to a flush the economic recovery phase. toilet linked to a sewer network. Given scarce resources, a choice must be made between  A key mechanism for managing urban expanding conventional systems (which will sanitation effectively is to define a clear not be able to provide services to all ‘sewer boundary’ for the whole Greater households) and supporting better health Harare area—based on a financial outcomes to households without access to investment and affordability assessment— conventional systems. Experience strongly that defines the areas that will be suggests that the following questions need to provided with sewer connections in future be asked in order to develop appropriate and and those that will not. long-lasting solutions to a complex problem:  Urban settlements— particularly land release and housing developments—need  It is helpful to think about solutions in to be managed in terms of this ‘sewer terms of outcomes. What are household boundary’ and with a clear set of policies preferences and what are the health and guidelines. impacts of different approaches?  These policies and guidelines need to be  Improving access to sanitation does not uniform (or at least consistent) between necessarily lead to improved health. What the five cities/towns comprising the changes are needed in hygiene behaviours greater Harare Area (including the urban and how best can these be achieved? fringe just outside the existing municipal  How should municipalities regulate and boundaries) and effectively enforced. invest in the management of fecal sludge  A clear financial framework needs to be to reduce illegal dumping? developed to ensure that available subsidies are used to maximize the public  Under what conditions can decentralized good and promote equity, without treatment facilities be cost effective? creating perverse incentives. In almost all  Experience shows that good support to cases, this will involve allocating available operations and maintenance for on-site subsidies in a way that best reduces public systems, such as pit latrine or septic tank health risks. emptying, can result in better outcomes.  The institutional mechanisms to support What role should municipaliteis play in these policies, regulations, guidelines and supporting on-site sanitation systems? financial and subsidy framework need to  What roles can and should the be carefully explored to ensure alignment municipality play in the full spectrum of of incentives and sustainability. This may activities related to sanitation, from include the consideration of a education to service provision? metropolitan-wide planning mechanism and coordinated land-release policies and  Investing in an improved water supply can practices. produce important health benefits. How can decision-making related to water and  When considering and comparing sanitation investments be more fully alternatives, full lifecycle costs need to be integrated? taken into account.