This presentation has been developed for submission towards World Bank's PPP MOOC.

1. PPP for
decentralizing
potable water supply
Bringing potable water supply to urban poor in areas outside
piped water supply network
Developed for submission towards World Bank’s PPP MOOC (June 2015)

2. Issues
• Urban poor typically stay in informal settlements which are beyond the ambit of municipal
piped water supply
• With current levels of city limits expansion and growing urban population, Indian water
utilities and municipalities are unable to cover all areas with piped water supply; also they
are financially crunched to invest in cost extensive piped networks for all
• Urban poor either get water from illegal network connections, which are at a high risk of
contamination, or from inherently unreliable sources like tube wells, hand pumps, open
wells, tankers whose water quality is many a times unfit for consumption
• Water borne diseases highly prevalent in these areas
• Point of use water treatment systems not affordable for these low-income households
• Informal service providers are now filling this gap however this, largely unorganized, sector
remains questionable as a solution because of their
• Water quality
• Non-transparent and non-credible operations
• High charges

3. Informal potable water vendors

4. • Decentralized potable water kiosks with
water ATMs and distribution channels
• Locally managed model which ensures
financial and operational sustainability
• Reliable with extremely low downtime
Small Water Enterprises (SWEs)/ Community Safe Water Solutions (CSWS)
• Affordable for urban poor
• Strict adherence to water quality
standards
• Easily accessible
• Part of an organized sector
What is a feasible solution?

5. • Capital to create clusters of SWEs
• Access to land, water, electricity
• Urban poor’s trust (translates into demand)
• Operational efficiency
• Preventive maintenance to ensure extremely
low downtime
• Expertise to run non-conventional water supply
systems
• Capacity to train locals
Requirements Public Private
• Indian water utilities and municipalities primary service delivery
mechanism is piped water hence they lack capacity and expertise to
operate SWEs as a sustainable complement to piped water supply
• Organized sector private players have failed to scale without govt.’s
resources and help
Why PPP?
NOT EXHAUSTIVE

6. • Capital could be provided by the service provider provided they are
given long term contracts with some condition-based flexibility on
pricing
• Provision of land, raw water and electricity could be subsidized by
the state to keep costs and thereby price under control
• Private player shall have to
• Install remote monitoring systems to carry out preventive
maintenance and ensure low downtime
• Conduct periodic water quality testing to ensure adherence to
standards
• Educate consumers about the impact of water on health and the
importance of consuming clean water
• Train local youth to manage these kiosks, thereby generating
livelihood
Contractualagreements- Basics
NOT EXHAUSTIVE

7. • Political risk – Successive governments shall have to consider
water supply improvements while taking into account the
concerned impact on the prevailing SWE arrangement (else
private player might not even be able to recoup capital costs)
• Financial risk – State to allow for financially sustainable pricing
• Competition from illegal players and activities – State players
shall have to ensure crackdown on ‘water mafia’
Public
Private
• Construction risks – Ensure appropriate civil structure and
technology set up
• Consumer related risks – Maintain water quality standards,
generate awareness about water and its impact on health to
ensure demand
• Operation phase risks – Follow preventive maintenance measures
to ensure reliability
Risksandrecommendedmitigationmeasures
forpublicandprivatestakeholders
NOT EXHAUSTIVE