WaterCaRD -Water Capacity Rating Diagnostic

BACKGROUND

Water quality testing is critical for guiding water safety management and ensuring public health. In many settings, however, water suppliers and surveillance agencies do not meet regulatory requirements for testing frequencies. Most efforts to strengthen local monitoring address only one or a few elements of complex systems: for example, technology development, laboratory upgrading, personnel training, novel ICT applications, or regulatory reform.

To establish a more holistic capacity-building approach, Aquaya initiated the Monitoring for Safe Water (MfSW) program in 2012 with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Our partners include WHO, the International Water Association (IWA), and the African Water Association (AfWA).

Through MfSW we developed and tested incentives for better monitoring performance and produced the Water Capacity Rating Diagnostic (WaterCaRD). WaterCaRD was designed to evaluate five key identified constraint categories (Box 1).

WaterCaRD

To evaluate institutional strengths and weaknesses, WaterCaRD provides a framework for scoring the five critical components of monitoring programs:

1. Accountability (e.g., regulatory authorities, enforcement, vision)
2. Staffing (e.g., leadership, roles and responsibilities, training, recruitment)
3. Finances (e.g., resources, budgeting, accounting)
4. Equipment & Services (e.g., suppliers, maintenance, procurement)
5. Program Structure (e.g., methods, logistics, data management)
   

A comparison of Water Capacity Rating Diagnostic scores with water quality monitoring performance (measured, in this case, as levels and consistency of water quality testing) for our 26 collaborating water suppliers and public health agencies shows a positive relationship: on average, better performing institutions have higher total WaterCaRD scores.

Assessment Tools for WaterCaRD:

• Guidance Manual
• Questionnaire
• Observation Checklist
• WaterCaRD Tool score
• Peer–reviewed Publication