Performance monitoring and sustainable management of piped water supply infrastructure in developing communities

The sustainable management of water infrastructure in low-income communities is a development objective that cuts across several global development goals including poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability. The monitoring of water infrastructure in developing communities is essential to ensuring the reliability of services and is a requisite for long-term sustainability. Development organizations, government agencies, and communities, however, lack tools to measure reliability and evaluate performance characteristics. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate an innovative approach to performance monitoring and show evidence that water quantity performance is linked to water management. This study included the monitoring of seventeen piped water systems in Madagascar and Nicaragua, wherein the reliability and availability of water was evaluated. A strength of management analysis reveals that good management improves both reliability and the availability of water. The conclusions from this study show scientific evidence that good management prevents system failure and that development agencies should focus efforts to improve local capacity. Recommendations associated with this study support the need for remote monitoring and better evaluation tools to ensure the sustainable management of water infrastructure.