Infrastructure Resilience of Small Water Supply Systems

The provision of safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030 requires robust infrastructure.

Small drinking water supplies are used by around a quarter of the global population and are the foundation of rural water supply.

Currently, about half a billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) rely on protected and unprotected groundwater point sources for their main drinking water supplies.

With the expected increases in rainfall variability due to climate change, sustainable groundwater sources will become more important in supporting resilience in the future (Danert, 2022).

Groundwater provides a natural buffer to climate change and natural hazards (e.g. floods and droughts) ensuring water-supply resilience (MacAllister et al.,2020).

However, 1:4 handpumps, which remain one of the most important technologies for accessing groundwater, are non-functional at any time across SSA, partly due to component failure or poor-quality materials.