Water For People pilots asset management tool in Rwanda.
Published on: 17/01/2018
In March-April 2017, Water For People piloted IRC’s Asset Registry Assessment Tool in Rwanda’s Rulindo district. The tool allows users to determine the level of priority to replace or repair a water system, the risks based on age and current condition, and the action required per service level. Water For People Senior Program Officer Bruce Uwonkunda presented the tool at a workshop during the July 2017 WEDC International Conference in Loughborough, UK. We asked him how useful the tool is and how it can be improved.
Bruce says the tool is easy to use in terms of collecting and interpreting data. He mentions that the pilot test spurred Water For People engineers to go into the field to find out why some newly constructed systems were not working or in a bad condition. However, he says assistance and training from a senior manager was needed for him to understand some of the tool’s Excel formulas, which he found difficult to modify or adjust.
What will really make the tool useful according to Bruce, is if it can be linked to costing data. Then only will you be able to prepare annual budgets for operation and maintenance, repairs and replacements. Luckily, Water For People partner and fellow Agenda for Change member, Aguaconsult, is helping out by developing a costing module for the tool.
The next step after the pilot test in Rulindo district, is to roll out use of the asset management tool in 5 more districts: Bugesera, Gicumbi, Karongi, Nyamagabe and Ngororero. Bruce recommends using the tool on a regular basis for a certain period, say up to 3 years, in all the Water For People districts. He believes that scaling up to the national level will depend on buy-in from the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Before rollng out the tool, Bruce would like to get some of the difficult formulas simplified. Otherwise it will be difficult for him to demonstrate and explain how the tool works in the 5 new districts.
There was one last suggestion that Bruce shared. Please expand the asset management tool to cover not only water but also sanitation.
Concluding, Bruce finds the tool, very useful. “We are trying to get the best use of it to improve water services, and water system management”.
Interested to know more? You can download a set of costing and budgeting tools, including the Asset Registry Assessment Tool, from IRC’s WASH Toolkit.
You will find Bruce’s presentation below under Resources. An Excel with raw data and calculations that he used for the Rulindo district pilot and the IRC Tool Uptake form used for his interview are included below under Downloads.
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