The construction work of such structures should take place in the beginning of the short dry season or in the middle of the long dry season when there is no risk of an unexpected thunder shower that can flood the construction site.
Excavation of trenches for pipes, and the laying of pipes, should also take place in the dry season when the fields have been harvested to avoid spoiling crops in the field. Other activities that demand much manual labour should also be implemented when the farmers are less busy in the dry seasons.

Another big advantage of constructing water projects during dry seasons is that the provision of water is usually the biggest issue during those periods. It is therefore fairly easy to mobilize and organize people to carry out manual work.

Preferably, all the money required for the construction work should be available if the structure is expected to be completed within a short period. Alternatively, the structure can be built in stages according to the availability of funds.

A good example is where small earth dams are built in stages and financed by giving two jerry-cans of water to each person who has excavated 2 cubic metre of soil or where water is sold for cash which is used to pay for labourers doing the excavation works.

For further information on seeking funds for water projects click here See also datasheet on water as a business.

When interviewing artisans and contractors for their ability to construct a certain type water project or any other type of construction works, it is very rare to hear any doubts from the builders. Most builders are very convinced that they are the best ones who can be hired for that job, although they have no proof of having passed a trade test or having any Letters of Recommendation from former clients. Rather unfortunately, their last successful construction works were built so far away that a client would not like to spend a couple of days travelling there to see for himself. Some builders may be smart enough to give a mobile number of a very satisfied client who may, in fact, be the builder's friend doing him a favour in exchange for a few beers in the evening.

One of the best methods to sort out doubtful builders is to ask them technical questions, e.g.:

Where many structures are going to be built, e.g. for a community water programme, it is a good investment to train some 20 engineers and 40 builders while they construct the first structures.
For more information on training of project stuff click here.

It is wise to employ an artisan or a contractor before procuring and delivering building materials to a construction site to prevent e.g. wasting money on the wrong type of sand or off-loading building materials where it becomes inconvenient for the construction process. There are several differences between employing artisans and contracting contractors, such as:

According to normal procedures at least three quotations of each item of building materials should be obtained from various hardware shops and other suppliers. In practice this is done by photocopying the BQ with its quoted prices, by a quality surveyor, covered by a blank paper in a dozen copies. These copies of the BQ showing no prices are presented to owners of hardware shops and suppliers while asking them if they would be interested in giving a quotation for those items on the BQ which they may have for sale. The suppliers should also quote their delivery time and their mode of payments, such as should everything be paid in advance or upon delivery or is it sufficient to pay, say a 50% down-payment.

The obtained quotations are laid side by side in order to identify the cheapest supplier for each item. Thereafter the quoted delivery times and payment modes are compared and the most favourable suppliers are identified. Often the cheapest supplier is unable to deliver their goods within the given time. For community water projects, the communities are expected to deliver locally available materials such as sand, hardcore stones, ballast and water to the construction sites as part of their cost-sharing on the construction

As mentioned under the entrepreneurial approach, great cost reductions can be achieved on the implementation schedule by paying, to the communities, 50% cash of procurement cost of locally available materials, delivered to the construction sites, while the other 50% is accounted, but not paid, as their contribution. (See data sheet on "Community Management of Water Sources".

The requirements of labour and materials with estimated costs are usually listed in Bills of Quantities (BQ) of which an example is shown below.

Bill of quantities and cost of a 90 cu.m. tank built of ferro-cement

Be aware that the items measured in tonnes, such as sand and crushed stones (ballast), are difficult to measure without a weighing station and some suppliers are therefore tempted to cheat. Such suppliers can, however, be controlled by converting the volume of sand and ballast into tonnes using the following method:

While it is advisable to have an experienced builder from the community on the construction site to check whether the cement is fresh and the sand is coarse and clean from a riverbed when the suppliers bring in their materials, the hired artisan or contractor should not waste his time being on the site before all materials are stored there.

A community water project may often have hundreds of community members who should be managed to carry out useful work on constructing their water projects as part of their cost-sharing. This is achieved by the members electing practical persons among themselves to form a Project Committee responsible for the successful completion of the construction works. They learn the techniques and methods for this work during their First Community Training.

1. Elderly men will clear the access road and construction site of trees, bushes and stumps.

2. Elderly women will collect hardcore stones and crush some of them into ballast as well as cook food and nurse babies.

3. Middle aged men and women will bring river sand, hardcore stones and ballast to the construction site by means of tractor trailers, ox- and donkey carts, wheelbarrows, bicycles or sacks.

4. Young men and women will be trained as artisans while assisting the artisans and contractors constructing the water project. Those trainees who may wish, and who are capable, are sent to take trade tests where the successful ones will obtain certificates as artisans.

5. Young women having completed their education at Secondary Schools will be trained as store-keepers and office staff while doing the actual job under the supervision of experienced trainers, preferably from the community itself.

The work discipline is maintained by means of the muster rolls. Failures, due to coming late to work or being absent, are recorded and fines may be imposed according to the by-laws. The fines are kept by the Treasurer of the committee and usually spent on buying sodas and biscuits for important visitors.

Community members who have not worked on construction of a water project have to pay a considerable cash payment to the committee for being allowed to be a member and to draw water from the project.

Before completion of the construction works, the committee members attend the Second Community Training dealing, among other issues, with financial management.

Rural builders know how to build small houses of burnt bricks and roofed with corrugated iron sheets but often lack proper training and experience to work with cement, mortar and concrete. For example, in the mornings they may mix all the mortar or concrete they need for several hours without knowing that cement loses up to 50% of its strength one hour after it has been mixed, if it has not been applied.

Also rural builders often do not know that if mortar and concrete works are not cured by keeping them moist under cover for 28 days, the cement will lose even more strength. This neglect of proper handling of cement works does not matter for small rural houses but when this lack of skills is applied to water reservoirs, the results can be observed in the country-wide graveyards of failed water tanks and other structures.

Whenever a water programme is being planned for rehabilitation of old water projects or construction of new water projects, it should include a training course for community members identified by the development committee. The training can be implemented for a reasonable cost by using the hands-on methodology of learning-by-doing by which the trainees assist trained builders in the construction works.

A training course should deal with the types of water structures having the most potential for the people living in a certain environment. In the driest parts of the world the most potentially useful types of rainwater harvesting projects depend on the catchment areas and not the rainfall because where there is less rain it can be compensated for by larger catchments.
The table below prioritizes various types of catchment areas with the most viable structures for harvesting rainwater for domestic and agricultural use.

This section is based on the experience gained from implementing half a dozen training courses on water supply in arid and semi-aid zones of Africa and Asia.
After some meetings, the consultant presented a project proposal to a client who wanted to assist hundreds of communities with construction of small water projects. The methodology had to be implemented through the Water Services Boards by self-employed engineers trained as consultants and local builders trained as contractors. The engineers and builders had to be identified from the communities concerned.

A contract was signed when a detailed training programme and its budget was agreed upon. The training course was announced at relevant government offices and at places visited frequently. While applicants for the training course were preparing their documentation for the interviews, the training venues were identified, and designed with bills of quantities by some of the trainers, who also obtained the required approvals from the relevant authorities.

Other trainers obtained Implementation Agreements with the communities living near the selected riverbeds. Implementation Agreements describe the conditions and services to be delivered by the Manager of the implementing agency and the community concerned, such as:

A training course on Water from Dry Riverbeds takes usually takes 12 weeks to implement as follows: