Innovative Water Metering to Improve Provision of Water Services in Periurban Areas- a Comparison of the Delegated Management Model and the Communal Prepaid Meter

Abstract

Water utilities are continually finding it challenging to provide decent water services to periurban areas. Utilities need to deal with these challenges, and one way is to innovate in order to help contribute towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal # 6, universal access to safe drinking water for all by 2030. The objective in conducting this study was to assess the suitability of communal prepaid metering (CPM); and the delegated management model (DMM) in water service provision. In the CPM, which was installed in Nakuru, the customers interact with the meters through tokens which they use to purchase credit prior to consumption. In Kisumu where the DMM was applied, a master meter registers and monitors flow into a predefined area. As per the study design, each of the two towns were differentiated in that the sites without either the DMM or CPM were served by conventional postpaid meters. Samples were collected randomly in each of the study areas. Standard performance indicators were used to evaluate the performance of the CPM and the DMM against provided thresholds, and the data was collected through prevalent literature, existing service provider data, field visits and interviews. Results showed that CPM and DMM improved service delivery in comparison to conventional metering. CPM led to improving the performance of the following parameters by 70%, the cost of water and the time taken to fetch water. DMM led to improving the performance of the following parameters by 90% that is non-revenue water and coverage. It was concluded that the two metering technologies were found to improve the provision of water services among peri-urban areas in Kisumu and Nakuru. The study found that CPM impacted positively on coverage, water borne diseases, time to fetch water and potable water while DMM positively impacted on customer service, cost of water and non-revenue water. It was concluded that the DMM is suitable for Water Service Providers focused on commercialization and profitability while the CPM is suitable for utilities with customer service orientation. It is recommended that the two models used in this study be used as innovative technologies to assist water utilities in water provision in peri-urban areas, and that in order for more individual strengths to me identified, they be cross tested.