Residents of Ghazni benefit from water system improvements made possible by ICMA program.

The water supply network in the Afghanistan city of Ghazni is supported by a multi-million dollar water infrastructure constructed with funds provided by USAID. One of the wells was out of service for more than a year because the Water Supply Department (WSD) lacked the technical knowledge to train local staff in proper operation and maintenance of its electric components. As a result, 65,000 residents of Ghazni city had to make do with a reduced water supply.

In July 2009, the provincial team of ICMA’s USAID-funded CAWSA project in Ghazni assessed the problem and hired an engineer from Kabul to procure and install the new electronic components necessary to restore service and improve the system’s efficiency. 

Thanks to an investment of only $200, the repairs have yielded these results:

• Ghazni residents are enjoying improved service, even while the system actually operates for fewer hours.
• The WSD is saving more than $5,200 in fuel costs per year, enabling the department to expand service to more customers.
• The WSD can recover the full cost of the repairs in just two weeks of operation.
• The WSD is catching up with a backlog of requests for new service, which accumulated when there was a lack of potable water.

Homes, businesses, government offices, and mosques are all benefiting from the improvements, and poorer families now have more reliable access to safe water from public water taps. The increased efficiency of the operations will enhance revenue generation for the WSD, as more water is now available for more customers, which moves the department closer to its goal of operating on a commercial basis.

“I appreciate the efforts and assistance of the USAID/CAWSA Kabul and Ghazni teams for the great work they’ve done to improve water supply services and the Water Supply Department’s revenues,” said Mohammad Azim Muslim Jar, who heads the department. “Now we are fully able to provide water for approximately 1,450 connections on a daily basis.”

To ensure high quality water service over the long term, the CAWSA team continues to work closely with the WSD to identify problems and prepare a training program to enhance its preventive maintenance management systems and technical repair capabilities.

ICMA has worked in Afghanistan since 2004, starting in Kabul and later expanding to work with municipalities in eleven provincial capitals and with water supply departments in four provincial capitals, including Ghazni. For more information, see the Afghanistan section of the ICMA International Web site.