Chapter 1: Conditions of access to drinking water

Chapter 1: Conditions of access to drinking water

Reading 1: A national gives free water - 7'00"

A national from Nioro-Madina gives free water to a rural center in the Sahel. A national financed a standpipe network and gave free access to inhabitants. Nationals in Paris and a Malian anthropologist react to this gift which does in fact pose a threat to the sustainability of facilities: what will happen when the national can no longer – or no longer wishes to – pay operating and maintenance costs?

Reading 2: Paying for water - 12'22"

 How are water costs fixed? Billing must integrate network operating costs, but if prices are too high inhabitants may reduce their consumption and contract illnesses due to a lack of hygiene. If this happens standpipes will create a problem of financial access and simply replace the problem of physical access for women who carry out chores at the wells… And is it men or women who pay for water?

Reading 3: Women, use and water management - 16'55"

 Women are responsible for access to domestic water on plots (i.e. family areas) and are the first concerned by the installation of standpipes since the proximity of these “public taps” both reduces travel for them and allows them to use dietary water which is healthier than well water and reduces family illness. But does that mean they can play a key role in the choice of installing standpipes and in network management? Otherwise, what is their role in such projects?