A water committee is the small group that owns a community water system, and it should have at least 3 people with named jobs: a caretaker who inspects and repairs, a record-keeper who logs tests, repairs and money, and a trained deputy for each key task. Give it written rules, a fee it controls and the authority to ration water in a shortage, and make it report to the community on a fixed date.
Part of Community Water System
A water committee is the body a community appoints to run its water supply: to maintain it, test it, hold its money and spare parts, enforce the rules of use and settle disputes at the taps.
A Committee Works Because Every Duty Has A Name Beside It
The community water system page asks for a committee of at least 3 people with four duties: a weekly inspection of intake, tank and every standpipe; a monthly flush by opening the lowest valve for 5 minutes; a small stock of spare fittings, pipe and tools; and enforcing the rules (no washing clothes at the standpipe, no unauthorised branch lines, no taps left running).
Three is a floor, not a target. With three people each job has one holder and one illness stops it. A larger group can hold two people per job. The wider community-organization guidance suggests a council of 3-7 members (Community Organization), and the water committee fits inside that structure.
What You Need
- Members chosen openly, with a handover plan
- A list of duties, with a name beside each
- A ledger or log for tests, repairs, stock and money (Test Log, Decision Archives)
- A written rule set, read aloud to the community
- An agreed fee and a rule for who may spend it
Method: Appoint, Write, Train, Report
Step 1: Define the jobs. A typical split is a caretaker (inspects and repairs), a record-keeper (logs tests, repairs, money and stock), and an operator for the treatment steps (Operator Training). With three people, one person may hold two of these but never all.
Step 2: Name a deputy for each job and train them while the main holder is still there.
Step 3: Write the rules short enough to be remembered, and post them at the standpipes.
Step 4: Agree the enforcement ladder before the first breach: a warning, then a fixed contribution of labour or goods, then loss of tap access for a period. Whatever it is, it must be the same for everyone.
Step 5: Pre-authorise rationing. The committee should have the power to set the order of cuts in a shortage (Dry Season Backup).
Step 6: Report on a fixed date, showing test results, repairs done and the money held and spent.
Worked Example: Splitting The Weekly Round
A committee of 3 covers 1 intake, 1 tank and 5 standpipes in the weekly inspection, which makes 7 sites.
- 7 sites ÷ 3 people = 2.33, so two people take 2 sites and one takes 3.
- Rotate the pairing each week so that every person visits every site within 3 weeks. That spreads knowledge of the system, so any member can stand in for another.
- The record-keeper writes each visit into the log, so a missed week shows as a gap.
Common Mistakes
- Choosing the loudest person instead of the reliable one. The duty is routine, not prestige.
- Letting one person hold all the knowledge. They leave or fall ill and the system fails.
- Collecting a fee and keeping no accounts. Trust collapses at the first doubt.
- Rules that favour committee members. The first breach by a member ends enforcement for everyone.
Safety
The committee's most important decisions are safety decisions
The committee must be able to issue a boil-water advisory and close a source without waiting for a vote (Responding to Failures). Pre-agree who may do so and how the notice is given, so that an outbreak does not wait on a meeting.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Repair Schedule — the tasks the committee assigns
- Combine with: Community Roles — where the water jobs sit among the community’s other roles