Role of district/local water experts

District/local water experts in urban settings focus mainly on providing support to ensure continuous water supply to communities. They regularly:

• provide technical support to facility managers and operators, such as utilities in medium and large towns, WASH Committees  in small towns
• provide training to facility managers and operators on operation, maintenance and tariff setting
• provide supportive supervision to ensure utilities are operating and managing facilities properly
• conduct minor or major maintenance to water supply facilities, depending on their skills and expertise
• conduct water quality checks at different points in the water supply and distribution system and on any alternative sources that the community is regularly using.

These water experts are sometimes asked to address WASH facility management issues. This usually calls for community meetings to identify issues and decide on appropriate actions. On these occasions, these water experts work closely with communities to develop and implement participatory plans (Figure 7.3).

Figure 7.3 Groupwork in the community.