Operation and maintenance of handpumps in Afghanistan

One problem in water programs is the operation and maintenance by communities. DACAAR has pioneered in Afghanistan a system where the community is responsible for their wells but pays a mechanic (selected by the communities and trained by DACAAR). A contract binds each community to the mechanics and he gets paid in kind by each community. The mechanic serves around 100 pump sites. The community pay for the sparesand a spare parts shop is organised. HITeams (Handpump Inspection Team) have been created, each covers 2,000 wells, and they visit all wells twice a year. The HITeam solves problems but does not repair the pumps. The HITeam reports on the wells and the data are entered in to a database and in this manner DACAAR know the percentage of wells functional and keep the down-time low, not more than 15%. The mechanic has proven to be self sustaining. The HITeams will have to be taken over by the government.