Of the 53 systems, 12 reported spending no money on operational expenditure at all (Nyarko, et al., 2011a). Annual operational costs per person based on actual (observed) population are from US$ 0 to US$0.72, with a mean US$ 0.15 (median US$ 0.07). It can reasonably be assumed that the generally low expenditure reported on operations and minor maintenance is linked to the high observed levels of non-functioning systems (29%) (for more information see Nyarko et al., 2011b)
==Key documents==
* Gibson, J., 2010. [http://www.irc.nl/media/irc_symposium_2010_pdf_s/3_gibson_operation_maintenancecostsofrwssinsafrica3 Operation and maintenance costs of rural water supply schemes in South Africa]: paper presented at the IRC symposium ‘ Pumps, Pipes and Promises: Costs, Finances and Accountability for Sustainable WASH Services' in The Hague, The Netherlands from 16 - 18 November 2010. The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
* IRC, 2012. [http://www.washcost.info/page/2386 Providing a basic level of water and sanitation services that last: cost benchmarks]. (WASHCost infosheet; 1). The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
Information sheet provides an overview of the minimum benchmarks for costing sustainable basic services in developing countries. The benchmarks have been derived from the WASHCost project dataset and the best available cost data from other organisations all over the world. The benchmarks are useful for planning, assessing sustainability from a cost perspective and for monitoring value for money.
* Fonseca, C. et al., 2011. [http://www.washcost.info/page/1557 Life-cycle costs approach: costing sustainable services]. (WASHCost briefing note; 1a). The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
* Nyarko, K.B. et al., 2011a. [http://www.washcost.info/page/1441 Life-cycle costs in Ghana: post-construction costs of water point-systems]. (WASHCost briefing note Ghana; 2). The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
* Nyarko, K.B. et al., 2011b. [http://www.washcost.info/page/2319 Life-cycle costs in Ghana: functionality of rural water systems in Ghana]. (WASHCost briefing note Ghana; 6). The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
==Links==
<div id="WASHCost">'''WASHCost'''</div>
* The WASHCost project was a five-year action research programme, running from 2008 to 2012. The WASHCost team gathered information related to the costs of providing water, sanitation, and hygiene services for an entire life-cycle of a service - from implementation all the way to post-construction. The WASHCost programme was led by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre with several partners to collect data in the rural and peri-urban areas of Burkina Faso, Ghana, India, and Mozambique. For more information see [http://www.washcost.infowashcost.info]* The Costing Sustainable Services online course was developed to assist governments, NGOs, donors and individuals to plan and budget for sustainable and equitable WASH services, using a life-cycle cost approach. The Life-cycle cost approach is a methodology for costing sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene service delivery and comparing the costs to the level of service received by users. For more information see [http://www.washcost.info/page/2448washcost.info/page/2448]* Triple-S (Sustainable Services at Scale) is a six-year, multi-country learning initiative to improve water supply to the rural poor. It is led by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. The initiative is currently operating in Ghana and Uganda. Lessons learned from work in countries feeds up to the international level where Triple-S is promoting a re-appraisal of how development assistance to the rural water supply sector is designed and implemented. For more information see [http://www.waterservicesthatlast.org/waterservicesthatlast.org]
