Water service quality in Tanzania: access and management

Abstract

Problems related to water access and quality are significant in several countries around the world. Thus water management becomes a key issue, especially in developing countries, where the institutional and regulatory context is not always properly designed. The aim of this research is to analyze the residential water service in Tanzania, using data taken from several government reports and the survey “Views of the People 2007”. This survey includes information on perceived problems and improvements on water services, allowing identification of the key drivers of Tanzanian households' perceptions of water services. The best-performance framework is also identified, and some policy recommendations are provided.

Keywords:

• water access
• water quality
• Tanzania
• water services management
• household perceptions

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Innovation (through the project with reference MICINN-09-ECO2009-08824) and the comments and suggestions we received after presenting a previous draft at the Workshop on Water Pricing and Roles of Public and Private Sectors in Efficient Urban Water Management, organized by the Third World Centre for Water Management, the International Water Resources Association, Global Water Intelligence and the University of Granada in May 2011. All errors remain our own.

Notes

 1. For further information about the UN's Millennium Development Goals in Tanzania, see http://www.mdgmonitor.org/country_progress.cfm?c=TZA&cd=834.

 2. In a demand-responsive approach, the allocation of resources is not supply driven but responds to the demand expressed by communities and service providers.

 3. Detailed description of the legal structure of the water sector can be found in the Tanzanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation's Water Sector Status Report (2009).

 4. According to the Water Supply and Sanitation Act of 2009, a water point is a single source of water, which may be a well, borehole, a tap or a public tap.

 5. Number of donors corresponds to the information compiled by the OECD Creditor Reporting System (OECD, n.d.).

 6. See REPOA (2007) and Openmicrodata (2010) for further information about the data-set. For more information on this and other Tanzanian Household surveys and links to the sources of information, see the Twaweza website (http://twaweza.org/go/householdsurveys).

 7. The sample used corresponds to the respondents on the modules, including the questions related to water.

 8. In this setting, some issues related to the enforceability of the tariff need to be clarified. For example, examination of the tariff schemes and metered customers shows great variance among urban authorities. So, being billed may or may not imply being metered and forced to pay, while enforcement is more likely when there is face-to-face contact with the vendor.

 9. Only half of the rural population has access to a water source, a status that is considered ‘improved’ by the WHO, and only 9% use improved toilet facilities that are not shared with other households (Tanzanian National Bureau of Statistics, 2010).

10. In our sample, 80% of rural households get water from a community-managed source, while the percentage is 45% for rural areas and 11% for Dar es Salaam.

11. For a survey of equity and social issues in water pricing, check OECD (2003, 2010).

12. Regarding regional effects, we find that shortages during the dry season are perceived as a more significant problem in the regions of Singida and Shinyanga. However, shortages during the rainy season seem to be more problematic in Tanga, Dar es Salaam, and Lindi. Affordability problems emerge in Dar es Salaam and Lindi, and queuing is a significant issue in Dar es Salaam and Singida.