Functional water sources that don't work: a case for household self-supply through the Mzuzu SMART centre

There remains a challenge of technically functional water sources in developing countries under the Millennium Development Goals not being used for a variety of reasons, including cost, traditional beliefs, convenience or politics. This paper presents a focus on self-supply at a newly developed water and sanitation focused centre, the Mzuzu SMART Centre. The SMART Centre concept aims at increasing the availability and functionality of water sources through increasing household ownership of low-cost systems and build-up of entrepreneurs. The primary self-supply, low-cost, technology at the Mzuzu SMART Centre is the Rope pump, a simple technology using locally available materials. It has shown great success. Encouragement of a focus on self-supply through a dedicated training centre may also be the best accompaniment towards improved household water sources in other areas of Southern Africa.