NCT06570005

Evaluating a Water Quality Assurance Fund Intervention in Ghana and Kenya

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 4,800 (estimated)
• Sponsor: The Aquaya Institute · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of a novel financial and capacity strengthening intervention (the 'Water Quality Assurance Fund' program) on water safety management in rural Ghana and Kenya. The investigators hypothesize the intervention will improve water system operator knowledge, chlorination practices, and water quality at the point of collection, as well as improve consumer satisfaction, awareness, and willingness-to-pay for water that is tested and treated.

Detailed description

Regular water quality monitoring by water suppliers is essential for maintaining adequate treatment processes and verifying safe water quality to protect public health. Yet, many small water suppliers are unable to conduct regular water quality tests due to financial, logistical, and capacity constraints. The goals of the Water Quality Assurance Fund program are to address these constraints by incentivizing established laboratories to extend their services to these smaller water systems and, in parallel, promote the use of water quality data for better water safety management. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of a novel financial and capacity strengthening intervention (the 'Water Quality Assurance Fund' program) on water safety management in rural Ghana and Kenya. As part of the intervention, written legal agreements between water systems, centralized laboratories, and the organization facilitating the Assurance Fund will provide water systems with regular water quality testing and provide laboratories a guarantee of payments if water systems fail to pay for testing services on time. The Assurance Fund program will also deliver capacity strengthening, technical guidance, and community sensitization activities. The investigators hypothesize the intervention will improve water system operator knowledge, chlorination practices, and water quality at the point of collection, as well as improve consumer satisfaction, awareness, and willingness-to-pay for water that is tested and treated. A secondary aim is to assess implementation challenges and enabling factors associated with the expansion of water testing services by existing professional water quality laboratories to rural water suppliers.

Conditions

• Water Quality
• Water Treatment
• Knowledge
• Satisfaction

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Water Quality Assurance Fund	* At the water system level: Written legal agreements between water systems, centralized laboratories, and the organization facilitating the Assurance Fund will provide water systems with regular water quality testing and provide laboratories a guarantee of payments if water systems fail to pay for testing services on time (for up to three concurrent unpaid invoices). Regular debrief meetings will be held with water operators and local government authorities to discuss test results and water treatment options, and to encourage water systems to share water quality information with their consumers. Technical guidance to improve water treatment will be provided, if requested by water system operators or local government authorities. * At the community level: Community engagement, primarily at the onset, to inform the community about the water quality testing program and answer questions.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-12-06
• Primary completion: 2025-09-30
• Completion: 2025-09-30
• First posted: 2024-08-26
• Last updated: 2024-08-26

Locations

2 sites across 2 countries: Ghana, Kenya