Adapting the life-cycle costs approach for rural water supply in DRC through the DRC WASH Consortium

Investments in rural water infrastructure in DRC are generally made without good information on what financing and technical support is required in the long term for the infrastructure to provide a sustainable service to the users. Given the under-developed policies and local government structures for water supply, the responsibility for organising and financing long-term operation, maintenance, and minor and major repairs is left to the users by default, usually through community-based water management committees. The DRC WASH Consortium is trying to address this issue by adapting the life-cycle costs approach (LCCA) to permit informed investment decisions by local actors which are based on an analysis of long-term economic, technical/environmental and social/institutional feasibility. This paper explains how the Consortium has developed this approach so far, the lessons learned, and recommendations for other WASH sector actors implementing the life-cycle costs approach.