MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN Author:

Dr Katrice King PHE WASH Coordinator Oxfam Juba, South Sudan

kking@oxfam.org.uk

RESEARCH

JUNE 2015

DETERIORATING

ECONOMIC SITUATION

AND ITS EFFECT ON

SAFE AND

ADEQUATE WATER

SUPPLY IN JUBA,

SOUTH SUDAN NNN

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Contents

Copyright © 2015, OXFAM, All rights reserved. This publication or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without written permission given by

Oxfam, except for the use of brief quotations. For permission request, please write to Dr Katrice King at kking@oxfam.org.uk

Summary 3

Objective 6

Methodology 6

Water Supply Capacity in Juba 7

Public Water Supply and Operational Framework 7

Private Water Supply 9

The Impact of the Economic Situation in South Sudan 10

Water Supply Providers 10

Public Services 10

Water Trucking 11

Treated Bottle Water 12

Bicycle Vendors 14

End Users 17

Gaps and Constraints in Service Due to Worsening Economic Situation 19

Possible Interventions to Support and Build on Existing Water

Infrastructure to Increase Access to Safe Water 21

Support Production of Safe Water 21

Support Delivery of Safe Water 23

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Summary Public water supply provision for drinking and domestic use in the city of Juba, South Sudan is limited, with only a small piped network in operation, which suffers from a lack of investment; hand pumps (boreholes), with half deemed non-operational; and a river filling station for truck vendors (Juba station). This has seen a dynamic private sector supplying water in Juba to fill this gap in public service provision. This is being achieved through water tankering, bottle manufacturing and bicycle vendors. However, this service provision is available at a high cost and often delivered at a very low quality. The current service provision in Juba has been dramatically affected by the deteriorating economic situation in South Sudan. By May 2015 inflation rose to 38.4%, which saw a significant depreciation of the value of the South Sudanese Pound (SSP) within the last 3 months. This has resulted in the price of commodities rising exponentially. The increase in the cost of fuel and food has consequently reduced levels of production, businesses have had to close, delivery patterns have changed and purchasing power of households has reduced. Acuminating in a city further exposed to disease outbreak and households struggling to meet their basic needs to survive.

The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of the deteriorating economic situation on the access to water supplies in Juba, specifically looking at how production and delivery of treated and untreated water has changed, effect on the cost to the end user and how this has impacted water consumption and use. Survey results found that the main supply of water in Juba, which is achieved through water trucking, delivering both treated and untreated water and bottle manufacturing, have suffered significant increases in operational costs, doubling in just a few months. For water truck filling stations this has seen a reduction in production and an increase in daily tariffing of water truck vendors, which has led to around 30% less trucks filling up at filling stations. For bottle manufacturers the increase in fuel and raw materials has significantly impacted production, reducing to as much as 10% capacity or closing factories completely. Decreased production has impacted availability of water in markets, with water bottle sellers struggling to locate distributers and, consequently, being forced to travel to the factories to collect directly, sometimes at restricted quantities. Vendors are now paying more per carton and selling at significantly reduced quantities. With government price setting on water sales, vendors are struggling to make any profit, deeming the sale of water

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as an unviable venture for many, with some vendors considering selling on the black market at high prices. Water truck vendors, due to the rise in fuel, are opting to deliver closer to the filling stations, as it has become less profitable to deliver to areas further out of the city. This has seen supplies become irregular, reduced in quantity and increased in cost (up to doubling in some areas) in vulnerable peri-urban areas, such as Gudele, Gureyi, Jebel and Hai lowilili. There are a significant number of bicycle vendors that deliver both treated and untreated water up to 1km from the filling stations along the bank of the river Nile. The economic situation has seen an increase of station filling fees by up to 50% for treated water, due to their heavy reliance on diesel fuelled pumps for extraction and treatment. The increase in food prices and spare parts has seen minimal daily profits gained through the sale of untreated water become void, with vendors trying to eat cheaper foods to keep this type of work viable. The minimal public infrastructure that exists, including a piped water network and boreholes, have not been affected by the crisis. However, the reliance on existing boreholes will increase, as fewer households are able to pay for vendor delivery or have access to those services. This will lead to extended queuing times, more frequent breakdowns and potential conflict at water points. This decrease in production and change in supply patterns has affected end users with the household surveys clearly highlighted that the cost of water has dramatically risen, with the majority of households now paying from 50% to 150% more for their daily water consumption. Along with the reduced frequency of vendors and quantities of water made available in many neighbourhoods. Resulting in households reducing the quantities of treated and untreated water purchased, some as much as by 50%, seeing daily allocation reducing to 5 ltr per person per day for some families. This has led to the prioritization of water for drinking and cooking and little for domestic and personal hygiene uses, resulting in development of unclean environments that will add to the spread of diseases, such as cholera and typhoid. Households note that with reduced purchasing power they may need to find alternative water sources, such as rivers, streams, unprotected shallow wells and vendors that sell untreated water cheaply, all offering a significant reduction in quality. This will, consequently, increase household exposure to diarrhoeal diseases and outbreaks. Other sources include boreholes, which are frequently noted as located at far distances from the

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home, highlighting a protection issue for women walking alone over far distances. Also noted was the refusal by borehole owners/communities to allow access to boreholes. The study has shown a significant reduction in access to water, both untreated and treated, highlighting communities that are more vulnerable to the impact of the economic situation through either limited ability to pay for water and/or access by vendors or to other water sources. These communities include: Gudele, Gureyi, Lologo, new site, Northern Bari, Jopar, Jebel, Malakia and Juba Na Bari. The crisis will leave these communities exposed to disease outbreaks, such as cholera. This concern is further exacerbated by the start of rainy season and cholera outbreak being already confirmed in Juba1.

There are a number of interventions the international community can carry out to support and build existing safe water supply capacity in Juba, by supporting production and delivery through activities such as:

Borehole rehabilitation and borehole upgrade to solar supported motorized system with distribution networks, to build up free or low cost safe water sources.

Installing solar supported motorized pumps at filling stations, reducing dependence on fuel and supporting the provision of affordable treatment chemicals.

Increasing water treatment infrastructure at filling stations and creating new infrastructure.

Encouraging bottling manufacturers to sell in volume with a low cost refill option, which requires less imported raw materials, bringing down wholesale cost for vendors.

The installation of storage capacity in vulnerable areas for water trucking to deliver and sell in volume to reduce cost to end users.

Subsidize filling station fees and taxes for bicycle vendors to encourage an increase of vendors delivering safe water.

If some of these interventions are put in place in the coming months, the impact of the current economic situation, particularly for vulnerable, high risk communities, can be significantly reduced, thus decreasing potential exposure to disease outbreaks. Many of these emergency interventions have also the capacity to permanently build on existing safe water supply infrastructure, stimulating an increase in safe water supply improvements throughout Juba for the future.

1 Ministry of Health surveillance week 22

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Objective This research was designed to understand the current supply capacity of treated and untreated water throughout the city of Juba as well as how the current deterioration in economic situation is affecting production and access to safe water for the city’s residents. It aims to provide recommendations to the international community on what is needed in order to improve production capacity and delivery of safe water within Juba, especially to vulnerable urban/peri-urban communities impacted by the current economic situation.

Methodology A rapid survey was undertaken by Oxfam’s WASH team from 25th May – 01st June 2015 by conducting a total of 104 interviews with all relevant key stakeholders in Juba related to the supply of water for drinking and domestic use. Interviews undertaken and their locations are detailed below (refer to Table 1 and Figure 1).

Stakeholder Number of interviewees

Locations

Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) 1 Juba

South Sudan Urban Water Corporation (SSUWC) 2 Juba

Rural Water Supply (RWS) 2 Juba

Juba City Council 1 Juba Water truck filling station owners 4 Hai Gabat, Kator, Juba Raha,

Juba Bridge

Water truck vendors 14 Hai Gabat, Juba Bridge, Konyo Konyo, Juba Raha, Juba na Bari

River filling station owner - Treated 1 Hai Gabat Bicycle vendors- Treated water 7 Hai Gabat, Gumbo

Bicycle vendors- Untreated water, direct from river

20 Western Bank -Juba Port, Juba Bridge, Juba Raha, Hai Gabat, Kator, Juba Na Bari

Water bottle manufactures 4 4 companies

Water bottle sellers 12 Jebel market, Custom Market, Rock City Market, Konyo Konyo

Vulnerable Urban and Peri-urban Households 36 Gudele, Gumbo, Gureyi,

Total 104

Table 1. Stakeholder interviews and locations

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Figure 1. Locations of interviews undertaken around Juba

Water Supply Capacity in Juba

Public Water Supply and Operational Framework Public water supply infrastructure is limited, with 1 functioning treatment plant that has the capacity to produce 7’200m3 per day that delivers to 3 storage tanks (20’000 ltr capacity each) in Katroro, Juba teaching hospital and Munki. Only 13% of Juba residents accessed this municipal water supply system in 20092. Limited improvements to this system have been made, due to a lack of investment by the national and local government in service provision. This lack of investment has been aggravated by conflict within the country. The South Sudan Urban Water Corporation (SSUWC) has reported deterioration of the system over the last 5 years. The system is currently experiencing over 50% losses through leakage, resulting in the need to invest in the renewal of current infrastructure.

2 JICA report 2009

Hai Gabat

Juba Raha

Kator

Gumbo

Juba Bridge

Konyo Konyo Market

Western Bank Juba Port

Juba Na Bari

Jebel Market

Custom Market

Gudele 2 Gudele 1

Rock city

Gureyi

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Urban and rural water supply is administered by the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) whose main roles is policy making, planning and ensuring investment on water supply. The existing legal framework for water supply in the Republic Of South Sudan is fragmented and incomplete, currently including the 2007 Water Policy, the 2011 Water Strategic Framework and the drafted 2014 Water Bill. The Southern Sudan Urban Water Corporation (SSUWC) operates under MWRI and is mandated to provide water supply services to urban citizens. Alongside the public piped water network, SSUWC also run a water pumping station- Juba station, that supplies low cost treated water for delivery by private sector tankering. SSUWC also aims to provide chlorine for water treatment where needed. The corporation plans to increase water filling stations producing treated water, decentralized water supply by adding pipe networks to high yielding boreholes, as well as utilising low cost technologies, e.g. motorization of boreholes using solar. However, a capacity assessment done by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2009 shows that SSUWC is generally characterized by institutional weakness, inefficient operation and maintenance, insufficient infrastructure and severe financial constraints 3, which limits their capacity to deliver sufficient water supplies within Juba. Rural Water Supply (RWS) also operate under MWRI and is mandated as the official rural water supply provider of South Sudan. The organization is also responsible for regulation and maintenance of the network of boreholes and hand pump that still exist in Juba city. There is a high level of non-functioning boreholes throughout Juba, currently estimated at 50%, due to the lack of resources and maintenance capacity of RWS, as well as the lack of functional community water management systems. There are several motorized boreholes with water kiosks being managed by the private sector installed in 2012 in areas, such as Gumbo and Munuki. There are plans to rehabilitate wells, install blue pumps and drill new boreholes in schools with the support of (I)NGOs. Juba City Council is not under the MWRI, however, have a role in the regulation of private water vendors. The council divides the city into 3 blocks: Juba block, Ator block and Munuki block, the Council also supports Rejat payam and Northern Bari payam. The 3 blocks are further divided into quarters, through which Council functions are decentralized. The only rudimentary form of regulation of private water vendors carried out by the Council is currently in the form of water tank registration. Tankers are not allowed to operate in the city without a sanitary license. Juba City Council at the beginning of each year directly requests tax from the tank owners. The taxation system is very similar to the Sewage 3 JICA (2008) Juba Urban Water Supply and Capacity Development Study in the Southern Sudan. A JICA Publication

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Exhausts Tanker license system in Juba4. This license is controlled in each riverside loading station. A license is not currently required for bicycle water vendors. Juba City Council do not set water selling price or vendor tax, this comes down from the national government. However, the Council are responsible for enforcing government set selling price in their zones, zones that are divided and charged differently based on the distance from the supply, with zones located further from the supply paying more, to account for the extra fuel cost to deliver to those locations. Currently the agreed rates per 250 ltr drum are 10 SSP for Gudele 2, 6 SSP for Gudele 1 and 5 SSP for zones within the town. The national government also taxes filling station owners 1’000 SSP per month and truck vendors 5 SSP per day, which is collected by the revenue office.

Private Water Supply There is a dynamic private sector supplying water in Juba that is filling the gap in public service provision. However, this is achieved at a high cost and delivering at a very low quality. Water trucking undertaken by the private sector is the main supply of water in the city, with 500 registered water tankers in 2014, with an average tank capacity of 5m3. Tankers have been loading from around 7 filling stations in the river Nile. The cost of a 250 ltr drum of untreated water in 2014 averaged 5 SSP. There are a further 8 fetching locations along the Nile where more than 50 water vendors that use bicycles to deliver untreated water in 20 ltr jerrycans. These vendors serve communities and businesses up to 1 km from the river Nile, selling a jerrycan for 0.5 - 1 SSP in 2014. There are 2 filling stations along the river that have been set up to treat water for delivery by bicycle vendors. These were set up by Oxfam to respond to the cholera outbreak in 2014 and were then handed to either SSUWC or the community for management. However, this is short-term infrastructure that will need to be upgraded to function in the long-term. The main source of treated water comes from bottle manufacturing, with many factories operating in 2014. They distribute high quality treated drinking water in small and large

4 SUWASA (2014) Opportunities for Feacal Sludge Management in a Post-conflict Situation: A Case study of Juba. AFWA - Abijan 2014 Congress, 17th – 20th February, 2014.

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bottles and jerrycans to markets and businesses. Treatment processes used include sand filtration, reverse osmosis, ozone and UV.

The Impact of the Current Economic Situation in South Sudan The inflation rate in South Sudan was recorded at 38.4% in May of 2015, compared to an averaged 17.1% from 2008 until 2015, (experiencing an all time high of 79.5% in May 2012 and a record low of -20.1% in November 2014)5. This level of inflation has seen a dramatic depreciation of the value of the South Sudanese Pound (SSP) within the last 3 months, raising the price of commodities exponentially. The increase in cost of fuel and food have affected businesses and households alike, seeing production reduce, businesses close and households struggling to meet their basic needs. This next section looks at how this economic crisis has affected the production of and access to water supply within Juba.

Water Supply Providers Public Services Juba station currently charges 6 SSP per 1’000 l for water. Due to the increase in fuel cost to pump the government has reviewed the tariff and has suggested a rise to 8 SSP per 1’000 l, which is currently awaiting cabinet approval. SSUWC state that operational costs can only be reduced if more efficient systems are introduced, having competent, well trained staff and a reduction in pilfering of materials. The existing systems and structures make this difficult to achieve. Due to serious financial constraints they are now facing SSUWC state they are no longer able to support the City Council with chlorine, who distribute to vendors in their zones. This will result in a dramatic reduction in access to treatment chemicals for water vendors that actively deliver treated water. Proposed interventions by SSUWC, as noted previously, include increasing the number of water filling stations, with key identified areas being Lologo and Gabati, to increase quantity of treated water and quality of trucked water. The development of decentralized water supply systems through piped extensions from boreholes in areas with good ground water potential, areas for this include Gudele 2, Juba Na Bari and Gabati. Also low cost technologies, such as motorized boreholes using solar are being actively encouraged.

5 National Bureau of Statistics, South Sudan, May 2015.

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Water Trucking The majority of trucked water is untreated, with some adding chlorine at the filling site (e.g. Juba station) and some vendors adding chlorine to the tanks. However, no water quality testing was noted by filling station owners or truck vendors. Supply capacity of the trucking stations interviewed ranged from 80’000 – 7’500’000 ltr per day, all operating 7 days a week, from 07:00-18:00. Each filling station receives between 20 - 60 trucks each day (with average tank capacity of 6’500 – 7’500 ltr) filling between 5 - 10 times. Filling station operations heavily rely on diesel, engine oil and access to spare parts to maintain their daily supply capacity, with an average of 20 – 40 ltr of diesel and 2 – 5 ltr of engine oil used per day. Owners reported that operational costs have almost doubled, with fuel prices currently ranging between 170 SSP – 230 SSP per 20 ltr jerrycan. Owners noted a 40 SSP – 110 SSP increase in the price of a 20 ltr jerrycan of diesel and a 65 SSP increase on 5 ltr of engine oil over the past 3 months. The significant increase in cost of fuel and spare parts and demands for salary increases, due to the current economic situation, has seen a reduction in water supply production and an increase in tariffing on truck vendors (earlier in the year it was 10 SSP per day, now it has raised to 15 SSP per day). This has resulted in the reduction of water trucks filling and delivering on a daily basis. One owner states in January and February they received on average 180 trips by water trucks per day, in April and May this has dropped to between 118 - 160 trips a day, indicating delivery capacity reduction of up to 30%. Daily operational cost for water tank vendors, which were 140 SSP – 250 SSP per day, has also significantly increased to 200 SSP – 350 SSP per day, due to their heavy reliance on diesel for transport. Increased operational costs have seen the price for the end user go up, with a 250 ltr drum costing up to 10 SSP for urban households (i.e. Gumbo), while it used to be at 6 SSP, and for peri-urban households (i.e. Gudele) a drum averages 15 SSP, which is an increase from 10 SSP, indicating that the truck vendors are selling water beyond the government set prices. The increase has seen households less able to pay, which has caused water tank vendors opting to deliver closer to the filling stations, reducing amount supplied to peri-urban areas (i.e. Gudele, Gureyi, Munuki, Jebel, Hai Lokwilili etc.). Several truck owners noted that they would also resort to selling water on the black market at high prices. When asked “How can your operational costs be reduced?” filling stations noted that only reduction in the cost of fuel or taxes paid to the government could make a difference. Truck vendors, as mentioned earlier, are reducing fuel consumption used for transport by undertaking less trips and delivering closer to the filling stations.

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If the economic situation worsens filling station owners contingency plans to ensure they are able to keep supplying include, saving money to buy more fuel at any price, stocking fuel and chemicals, and selling water on the black market. Truck vendors noted stocking of fuel and chemical, changing to the sale of treated water (due to its high value and opening up of the market) and setting up storage points for low cost public distribution. Many mentioned that they had no mitigation or contingency plans and if the economic situation declines, then they would have to stop operating. Capacity building needs suggested by the filling stations includes the provision of pump spares and materials for repair, fuel for the pump at reasonable cost and training on water treatment and rainwater harvesting. Truck vendors also highlighted training for water treatment and the installation of large storage tanks in public places to enable the distribution of water at low cost. What was strongly highlighted within the survey was that the majority of filling station owners and truck vendors are willingly and ready to provide treated water, as there is a recognised demand for the product and therefore, huge value in it in terms of a viable business. To ensure this change would be viable filling station owners indicate that large capacity treatment systems would be required and that the system would be self-management, as opposed to government management. Support for the supply of chemicals, training and maintenance by either government or NGOs was requested in order to ensure sustainability. Treated Bottle Water A large quantity of highly treated water is being produced in Juba, with bottled water being one of the main sources of safe drinking water currently. There are many bottled water manufacturers operating in Juba, producing varying bottle sizes: 600 ml, 750 ml, 1.5 ltr and 20 ltr. The production capacity ranged from 10’000 – 60’000 small bottles per day, 6-7 days a week. Manufacturers source their water from either surface water (i.e. rivers) or boreholes, all using sand filtration, reverse osmosis, UV and ozone as their method of treatment. Some had highly developed laboratory for chemical and biological tests within their facilities. The need for US dollars to purchase imported items, has seen it difficult for manufacturers to get hold of the raw materials they need to bottle and package. With the addition of increased fuel costs production costs have risen significantly by around 35%, seeing production capacity drastically drop. Several manufactured noted that they were operating at just 10% of their total production capacity and others noted many factories have

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completely closed down, resulting in a limited and irregular supply reaching the market. This has been reflected by the bottle sellers who are now struggling to find distributers in the markets, while bottle sellers highlighted that they now have to go directly to the factory to pick up cartons of bottles for sale, adding to their overall capital invested in the product. Currently a carton of 600 ml bottles costs for the market sellers ranges between 21 SSP – 22 SSP (previously 18 SSP). A 20 ltr bottle is now 20 SSP, while it was 12 SSP 3 months ago, seeing the wholesale price rise by 17% - 60%, depending on the product. This increased wholesale cost, the cost of transport to and from the factory (for some) and the increased fuel cost for refrigeration has resulted in the sale cost doubling for some products. Bottle vendors sell 600 ml bottles for 2 SSP, instead of 1 SSP and 1.5 ltr for 3 SSP, instead of 2 SSP. The government puts a fixed price on the sale of bottled water, which is intended to ensure affordability; however, this squeezes the profit considerably. Many vendors noted that if the economic situation gets worse, they will either sell on the black market for much higher prices, or will have no other option left but to close the business. Quantities of bottles sold have significantly changed with vendors selling less than half the usual quantities or more. “I used to sell 12-14 cartons a day, now I sell only 7 cartons”, states one water bottle vendor. The customer base for the majority of sellers has also changed, due to many unable to now afford bottled water, and the irregularity of supply, which sees new customers searching for available stocks and regular customers being put off by the lack of available products. Some vendors plan to sell in different markets to reach customers, particularly in Juba town reducing access around Juba and centralizing availability. Bottle manufacturers stated that there are limited ways to reduce operational costs due to the automatic nature of the machinery they use for treatment and packing. However, a contingency strategy presented by many of the bottle manufacturers is to produce treated water in 20 ltr bottles/jerrycans, as the volume can be sold at a more reasonable cost (20 SSP) to a larger customer base, offering a low cost refill option at 8 SSP. This strategy is reflected in the bottle seller’s approach, seeing the only way to continue to make treated water available to customers and make profit from the sale of water is to buy the 20 ltr bottle/jerry can and sell by the cup at 1 SSP. No bottled water vendors were willing to sell untreated water as an alternative, as there is a clear understanding of the link between safe water and health. Only some bottled water vendors were willing to sell purification chemicals, such as chlorine, PUR and aquatabs, understanding the benefits of treating water, however, others saw that these chemicals are

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often imported and are hard to access. It was noted that there were currently shops in the market that sold these types of purification chemicals. Bicycle Vendors

Bicycle vendors collecting untreated water direct from the river reported that they collect between 40 - 120 jerrycans per day per vendor on average 6 days a week, with some operating to 7 days. The vendors collect water directly from the river Nile at a number of locations along the riverbank, as well as at some truck filling stations along the riverbank. Vendors stated that they collect water between 06:00-19:00, often working over 12 hours a day. Bicycle vendors that fill up at pumping stations have been paying an average 5 SSP per week to collect the untreated water. This payment has remained the same for some sites including: Juba Raha and Juba bridge, but has drastically changed at other sites, such as: Hai Gabat and Kator, where the vendors need to pay 1 SSP per jerrycan. Profits currently made by the vendors averages 0.5 SSP per jerrycan, seeing daily profits range from 15 SSP- 50 SSP. Average profits made were around 20 SSP – 25 SSP per day, but due to the increase in food prices and the prices of spare parts to keep bicycle vendors operational, they are only taking home minimal profit. This has resulted in some vendors stopping this type of work. Current challenges facing the bicycle vendors include, as noted previously, limited profits, fuel access for filling stations (seeing irregular production), access to spare parts, less money received from the customers or customers asking for credit, filling points along the riverbank are not good for easy access and there is tension with the local community. The vendors see the economic situation affecting their business through reduced level of savings due to increased expenses and reduced ability of customers to pay, reduced number of customers, with some thinking they will have to close their business or leave South Sudan and return to their home country. When asked how the economic downturn will affect end users, many highlighted that there would be a reduction in water delivery and households will not be able to pay, which will hit vulnerable areas first. This will result in limited to no access to water. “Households will not have enough water for drinking and cooking, which may lead to sickness”, states one bicycle vendor. Measure that vendors proposed to ensure they could maintain delivery included raising the price of a jerrycan to 3 SSP, on the understanding that this will be against the price set by the government, and the consumption of cheaper foods. “I will have to start eating cheap food stuff, e.g. only green vegetables to reduce costs, but it gives us less energy”, states a

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bicycle vendor. The only way suggested to reduce operational costs was through the government bringing down the price of food and spare parts. When asked “How can your capacity be build to ensure you can continue to deliver water if the economic situation worsens?” bicycle vendors proposed the provision of bicycle spare parts cheaply, provision of new bicycles so that less money is needed for the spare parts and continual repair, and for the government to increase the price of a jerrycan from 1 SSP to 2 SSP. Sixteen of the 20 bicycle vendors indicated they would be interested in delivering treated water, due to an understanding of the high demand for treated water and the link between treated water and health. “The clean water makes customers safe from getting diseases” was often stated by many bicycle vendors. Four vendors said they would not be interested in delivering treated water because they believe their current customer base would not be able to afford it and would search out other cheaper sources of water. They also stated that they would not be able to deliver as much due to the need to queue at treated water filling stations. If more treated filling stations were introduced, the vendors would prefer to see them privately managed, managed through a WASH committee or managed by an NGO (i.e. not managed by the Government). NGO support was particularly requested for the supply of chemicals and to ensure rapid maintenance, due to the government failing to achieve this. However, the government was recognized to be a useful management entity when it comes to controlling citizens around the filling areas and better security of the sites for safe and undisturbed access by vendors. For bicycle vendors that collect and sell treated water their average daily collection has droped at 50-90 jerrycans, accessing the 2 filling stations from 07:00-18:00, 6 days a week (Hai Gabat) and from 09:00-17:00, 5 days a week (Gumbo), seeing vendors working between 8 - 10 hours a day. Both filling stations used to charge the vendors 10 SSP per day, which changed at the Gumbo plant to 15 SSP per day, thus seeing a 50% increase over the last 3 months. This forced some vendors to collect straight from the river. The Hai Gabat plant has kept the 10 SSP tariff, but vendors fear it will change soon. For vendors selling treated water, the average daily profits were between 50 SSP – 70 SSP. This highlights the increased profitability for less trips compared to the sale of untreated water, where the average daily profit was 20 SSP – 25 SSP. Vendors noted that selling treated water has increased their customer base due to the suitability of the water for both domestic and business users, profits have increased and the filling stations have easy access compared to the river.

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Challenges experienced include breakdown of the system, pumps and connection problems, late or no deliveries, high daily tariffs, pump operators can be harsh (Hai Gabat) and customers can sometimes demand the water for free, asking for credit or delaying payments. Suggestions to improve the management of the filling stations by the bicycle vendors included the provision of fuel and chemicals at lower cost, increased tank capacity, a treatment mechanic should be present at all times to ensure constant operation, the filling stations should be open 7 days a week, training should be provided for local community members on maintenance and repair, chemicals should be provided by NGOs or government and there needs to be better supervision from SSUWC (Gumbo). To reduce operational costs vendors suggested increase in the number of treatment systems in place, the provision of chemicals for free or lower cost and the continual presence of a technical person for maintenance to keep the plant operating effectively. When asked “How do you see the economic situation affecting your ability to deliver water” vendors noted that there could be a potential reduction in quantities delivered due to the price of fuel to pump water, they may lose customers due to higher price for treated water or have more customers not paying or asking for credit, or vendors may start delivering closer to the filling stations. This will affect end users, as there will be less treated water available and at high cost, which may see households choosing to source cheaper untreated water or collect straight from the river, leading to increased illness. Contingency plans suggested by vendors, if the economic situation gets worse, is the production of more treated water and increasing the number of vendors able to deliver (which will meet the demand in the markets). Some vendors expressed that their only option would be to close the business and take on other work. To build capacity of the vendors to continue the delivery of treated water, vendors suggested measures should be taken to ensure the cost at the filling station doesn’t increase, training operators on water treatment and ways of harvesting water, giving vendors replacement bicycles because some stop the work due to lack of transport, provision of fuel and treatment chemicals at low cost, the repair of the current SWAT system and increasing the capacity of tank storage.

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End Users Four areas were assessed in Juba through this survey: Gudele, Gudele 2, Gureyi and Gumbo. The communities in Gudele 1 and 2 noted their heavy reliance on water truck vendors supplying untreated water - and some have started using unprotected shallow wells. Each household on average purchases 1 x 250 ltr drum/12 jerrycans a day for varying family sizes of 4-10, equating to 24 - 60ltr of water per person per day, with the majority of household family ranging from 7-10 members (in average, 24 – 34 ltr per person/per day). When asked “Do you have any problem with your water service?” households stated that due to the road access not many vendors come, sometimes suffer scarcity if vendors do not show up, the quality of the water is bad, the price is very high and only sold buy a drum. The accessible shallow wells contain salty water. All households noted that they treat their water at the household level through various methods, from boiling and filtrating (with cloth), or using treatment chemicals, such as PUR/aquatabs. The deteriorating economic situation has significantly affected the price of water and access in this area. A 250 ltr drum used to cost 6 – 8 SSP up until February 2015, while a 250 ltr drum is now sold at 10 – 15 SSP, thus reaching 150% in price increase. When asked what their maximum affordable rate for a drum was, households stated between 6 – 10 SSP, seeing current pricing exceeding a manageable rate for a household. Access has also decreased with households noting fewer trucks arrive to deliver water in the past few months. This has seen less water in the home with many households contemplating using the local unprotected wells, installing rain water harvesting, begging for water from neighbours or even leaving Juba to return back to their village, if security allows, in order to ensure sufficient amount of water. Communities in Gumbo currently source water through water trucks and bicycle vendors, boreholes, rainwater and tapstands. Each household’s daily purchase varies dramatically between 2 - 10 jerrycans of treated water for an average family size of 8, highlighting an extremely low daily water intake as low as 5 ltr per person per day. The average price of a jerrycan has gone from 1 SSP to 2 SSP, seeing a 100% increase. This has resulted in households reducing the quantities they are able to purchase. “I can only buy 4 jerrycans a day for my family of 8, it used to be 8 jerrycans before the economic crisis”, as stated by the head of a household in Gumbo. Household’s maximum affordable rate for a jerrycan was stated to be 1 SSP. Due to scarcity it has been noted that hygiene is not being well maintained.

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Service issues seen in the area include long queue times at boreholes and tapstands, access to treated water through vendors is irregular and there is less water available, borehole water quality is poor often containing worms, are often at a far distance from the home and sometimes the owner refuses access. The economic situation has affected household’s ability to pay for the commodity, seeing the purchase of food prioritized over the purchase of water. Households accessing boreholes, tapstands or shallow unprotected wells are currently unaffected. However, when households who currently purchased water were asked “If you have a shortage of water would you look for new sources? If yes, where?” all stated they would collect from local boreholes and shallow wells, which would see a major increase in users trying to access this source, queue times will increase as well as potential frequency of breakdowns. A concern was raised that the distance of wells and boreholes can be far from home and the women would have to walk the distance alone, raising potential protection issues. The peri-urban community of Gureyi access water mainly through truck vendors who supply untreated water, other sources are unprotected wells and rainwater. On average households purchased 1 x 250 ltr drum per day for a family size ranging from 4 - 12 people, with several households stating that they use only 5 jerrycans (100 ltr) a day for a family of 12, resulting in a current daily allocation as low as 8 ltr per person per day. Water quality supplied by the vendors is often poor, with households treating the water through aquatabs of PUR purchased in the local market or through boiling. Other issues experienced with the current service in Gureyi are higher prices, decreased quantity of delivered water with supplies becoming infrequent, which is understood to be a direct impact from the economic deterioration. Price for a 250 ltr drum of untreated water has stayed mainly at 10 SSP, with some reporting an increase to 15 SSP. On average, households state that the maximum price they would be able to manage for a 250 ltr drum of water is between 10 – 11 SSP. The worsening economic situation has caused households to struggle with hunger, stress and frustration. Higher price of food has resulted in less money being spent by households on water. This has resulted in less water being consumed per day, irregular bathing and cloths washing. Alternative sources suggested, if price doesn’t drop down to an affordable level, were boreholes, shallow unprotected wells, collecting from the stream and rainwater. Some households noted that there are no other options and will have to continue paying at the current price, but reducing quantities to dangerous levels. All households prioritized the use

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of water for drinking and cooking, indicating that the level of personal and domestic hygiene will reduce significantly, creating an unhealthy environment, which will contribute to the spread of disease. The most vulnerable areas highlighted by the stakeholders within this survey were: Gudele, Gureyi, Lologo, new site, Northern Bari, Jopar, Jebel, Malakia and Juba Na Bari. Gudele, Gureyi, Lologo, new site, Jebel and Malakia, due to their distance from the river and/or road access, which will see less truck vendors delivering due to cost of fuel and the increased cost to the end user that will be incurred as a result. This will make it unaffordable for the household, deeming the activity non-profitable. The rainy season will further hinder access to these areas due to road quality. Gumbo, Northern Bari, Gudele, Gureyi and Jopar were noted to be the most disadvantaged communities (stated by SSUWC). These communities should be considered amongst the highest risk from the effects of the economic deterioration on access to safe water, and intervention activities should focus on mitigating the effects in these areas as a priority.

Gaps and Constraints in Service Due to the Worsening Economic Situation Based on the assessment of the survey results, the gaps in current service delivery were identified, looking specifically at public and private sector’s capacity to currently deliver and the level of safe water that is accessible. There is limited levels of functioning public water supply infrastructure and operational and maintenance capacity within SSUWC and RWS. Most of the water network that exists in Juba has been destroyed due to increased construction, which has exposed areas on the Western Bank of the Nile. Fifty percent of boreholes in and around Juba are estimated to be non-functioning and RWS have limited resources and capacity to rehabilitate and maintain. The main production capacity in Juba, which is through water trucking and bottle manufacturer, have motorized infrastructure that requires fuel, spare parts, chemicals and raw materials to maintain functionality. The current economic situation has seen the rapid increase in the cost of fuel and commodities, seeing these essentials become less affordable and less accessible. There has been a reduction in production and delivery capacity across the board, which has resulted from a number of issues. For the truck filling station owners the rise in fuel

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price has seen a reduction of water being pumped on a daily basis and the tariff that is charged for the truck vendors to fill. The increased tariff and cost to transport water around the city has seen an estimated 30% decrease in trucks filling at the stations, with truck vendors changing their delivery locations, often choosing to deliver closer to the filling stations to keep profits viable. For bottle manufacturers the increase in fuel cost, cost of raw materials and the need to pay in dollars for imported materials has seen the production of highly treated water as a business become unviable, resulting in many factories to close down. The few that have remained open now sell cartons of bottles at an increased price, whereas bottled water sellers need to collect water bottles directly from the factory rather than purchasing through distributers. Bottled water sellers can now only stock minimal amounts of water bottles for sale. Due to the government‘s fixed sale price, many sellers are unable to make profit and have stopped selling and closed their business. Bicycle vendors who sell treated water have seen daily tariff increases, increase in the cost of spare parts to maintain their bicycles and an increase in food prices, which is considerably reducing their overall profits. Treatment station owners are struggling to get spare parts to fix breakdowns, with longer periods of the treatment plant being non-operational. Vendors have to resort to collecting river water for sale. There is minimal water treatment infrastructure to produce low cost treated water. Currently the majority of water delivered in Juba is untreated. Almost all filling stations pump water directly for storage and distribution to vendors, with only Juba station, run by SSUWC, chlorinating pumped water for distribution. However, this treatment method is not effectively monitored to guarantee safe water is being delivered. A number of truck vendors add chlorine to the truck before delivery, again without testing chlorine residual. Two SWAT systems have been installed by Oxfam that produce treated water for delivery by bicycle vendors, with one run by the community and the other by SSUWC. There is high demand for treated water by households and filling station owners and vendors recognize the profitability in the production and delivery of treated water, stating their willingness to convert with support. It is clear that there is limited technical capacity at filling stations to ensure effective maintenance, several filling station owners requested technical support, as they felt unable to undertake major maintenance repairs, resulting in filling stations being non-operational for longer periods.

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Reduced profitability of water sales for vendors, which is due to increased collection tariffs or wholesale prices, government price setting and the reduction of purchasing power of consumers due to the increase in living costs. This has squeezed profits available for vendors, with many deeming the business unviable and closing. With significantly reduced production of treated and untreated water, changes in delivery locations and reduced purchase power of consumers, access by vulnerable communities to affordable water has been compromised.

Possible Interventions to Support and Build on Existing Water Infrastructure to Increase Access to Safe Water Assessing the current context of water supply in Juba, as a result of economic deterioration within South Sudan, the opinions of stakeholders and suggested interventions, the following section presents potential interventions the international community could undertake to build capacity of existing water supply infrastructure and increase the production and availability of safe water, with the aim to build a sustainable infrastructure for long-term safe water supply in Juba, for the benefit of entire population and especially the most vulnerable ones. Two areas are being elaborated: supporting production and delivery of safe water.

Supporting Production of Safe Water Options:

1. Borehole rehabilitation. There are a significant number of non-functioning boreholes in Juba (≈50). Simple rehabilitation could be carried out to get this crucial water source available in a short time. These simple rehabilitations should be supported with the development of water user committees and community pump mechanics training. RWS capacity should be developed through the training of pump mechanics to build technical capacity and through the supply of spare parts. To increase production from functioning boreholes, RWS and SSUWC have stated that high yielding boreholes should be motorized using solar powered submersible pumps, installing storage capacity and distribution networks to support access. These systems are considered more sustainable for vulnerable communities and have the ability to

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provide low cost water. Areas considered to have higher water yield are Gudele, Juba Na Bari, Lologo and Gabati.

2. Decrease reliance on fuel by installing solar supported motorized pumps at filling

stations. Replacing diesel run pumps at filling stations, which consume large amounts of fuel, with a solar supported system will dramatically reduce the quantity of fuel required to pump water (a solar pumps will need to have a back up diesel run generator to ensure continuous, un-interrupted operation, which will still require a limited amount of fuel). This intervention can be achieved quickly, ensuring a longer-term solution at the same time.

3. Support the provision of affordable treatment chemicals. The production of safe water could be dramatically increased in the short-term through the provision of chlorine to truck vendors and filling stations that have storage infrastructure. SSUWC has stated that they are currently unable to provide chlorine. This gap in provision needs to be filled. Provision should be seen as increasing access through support to the supply chain and enabling the product at a reasonable cost. Increasing access and use of chlorine should be supported with training on how to treat water effectively and how to monitor chlorine residual. This should be seen as a short-term intervention to cover a crisis period; however, it is an intervention that can stimulate uptake for more sustainable use of chlorine by truck vendors.

4. Increase water treatment infrastructure for filling stations. For a longer-term approach for the production of safe water, the introduction of new treatment infrastructure at filling stations/areas should be done. Many truck filling station owners want to provide safe water, due to its high demand and profitability. Therefore, filling stations are willing to install treatment infrastructure. Low maintenance treatment system should be used, such as slow sand filtration, activated carbon and chlorination, to ensure ease of operation and minimal spare parts requirement.

To increase delivery of safe water by bicycle vendors quickly, to cover the crisis period, new filling stations supported with SWAT systems could be installed along the river where current filling takes place, managed either by the community, SSUWC or an SME (Small to Medium Enterprise). Training, supervision and treatment chemicals should be provided to support initial set up and operation.

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5. Support the supply of affordable spare parts to keep filling stations operational. To ensure uninterrupted production at filling stations in the short-term, spare parts should be provided as well as support to the supply chain, thus enabling production of safe water at a reasonable cost.

6. Encourage bottling manufacturers to sell in volume. Both manufacturers and bottled water sellers recognized that supplying highly treated water by the jerrycan with a refillable option will significantly reduce the cost of production and increase profitability for both manufacturer and seller.

7. Encourage rainwater harvesting at the household level. Households could capitalize

on the upcoming rainy season through rainwater harvesting, which will provide a free source of water. Training/public education on the treatment of collected and stored rainwater should be delivered in most vulnerable areas.

Support Delivery of Safe Water

1. Install storage capacity in vulnerable areas for water trucking to deliver and sell in volume to reduce cost to end users. Creating storage points with distribution to tapstands will allow water trucks to deliver water at volume, which will see the cost reduce per litre. With community management in place, water can be sold at a low cost or provided for free if a sustainable tariffing scheme is set up.

2. Subsidise filling station fees and taxes for bicycle vendors to encourage collection and delivery of safe water. To encourage new bicycle vendors to supply treated water, daily filling rates should be subsidized for an initial couple of months to allow vendors to establish a customer base and begin to make profits. This will encourage buy in from the vendors, who will then be able and willing to pay at normal sustainable daily tariffing rate.

3. Supply of affordable bicycle spares to keep vendors operational and ensure

profitability. The majority of bicycle vendors mention frequent breakdowns and need for spare parts. Many vendors are unable to fix their bikes and are becoming non-operational. Support to the supply chain for these parts and the subsidization to enable the purchase of these essential items at an affordable price will ensure more bicycle vendors selling treated water remain operational and delivering through this crisis period.

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4. Advocate for fuel and treatment chemicals to be subsidized by the government for

the production of safe water within this difficult economic period. This will ensure profitability that is not at the expense of the end user. Provision of subsidized fuel and chemicals for the private sector treated water producers during the current economic challenges will ensure profitability, maintain production and reduce inflated tariff/wholesale cost, allowing distributers and vendors to achieve reasonable profit margins that will keep them in business, whilst maintaining acceptable cost to the end users.

5. SSUWC stated that if they had access to their own fleet of water trucks they would

be able to supply water at low cost to vulnerable areas. Currently SSUWC sell their treated water to private sector trucks for a fixed price of 6 SSP for 1’000 ltr, which vendors re-sell at 75 SSP per 1’000 ltr (more than twelvefold). If SSUWC has delivery capacity they would not seek such a high profit from the sale, which would therefore drastically reduce the cost to the end user.

Deteriorating economic situation has left the residents of Juba exposed to disease outbreak. It is paramount to factor in current service delivery and reduced purchasing power of households, highlighted within this study, with the approaching rainy season and declared cholera outbreak in Juba. If production of safe water and service delivery are not supported, many households will struggle to meet daily water consumption needs and will have no alternative but to use unprotected water sources that will lead to direct exposure to cholera and other water-borne diseases.