Namibia is a very dry country in Africa, where almost half the people live below the poverty line of US$1.25 a
day. This is why supplying water at an affordable price is a challenge. Collecting payments is a challenge as well:
with conventional water meters there were many unpaid bills and a total debt of over N$20 million (€2 million)
(Municipality Otjiwarongo, c) The municipality of Otjiwarongo is one of the cities that started installing prepaid
water meters on standpipes years ago, making people pay before use. Now, since a few years the municipality
of Otjiwarongo also installed prepaid household water meters. This research wants to evaluate the choice for
this intervention for both the users as the responsible institution. The research question is:
“What is the impact of prepaid household water meters in Otjiwarongo on the effectiveness and the efficiency
of the municipality’s water supply and on the quality of life of inhabitants, and how can public participation
contribute to improve the quality of life?”
There are two areas of the city where the municipality is installing prepaid household connections, both with
different goals. The first is Orwetoveni where lower- and middle income households live. Conventional water
meters are replaced for prepaid water meters in order to force people to pay, preventing more debts and
recovering debts at the same time (as the municipality struggles with collecting money for services and from
debts). The other area is the informal settlements where the poorest people live. Prepaid household water
meters are used in this area to enable people to get a household connection, instead of using the (prepaid)
public standpipes.