Most Low-Income Areas in cities of developing countries like Malawi face numerous
challenges to access potable water. Water kiosks have proven to be an appropriate solution
in most cases. In Blantyre City, most areas are currently under this arrangement. A major
challenge, however, has been that many households are not properly served; unsecure and
unreliable sources such as shallow wells and springs are used instead. This study
investigated the sustainability of water kiosks in Low-Income Areas of Blantyre City. The
study areas were Bangwe, Chilomoni, Kachere-Nkolokoti and Nancholi. The study used
multi-criteria analysis, which focuses on four main criteria that affect sustainability of water
supplies namely: technical, financial, social/environmental and institutional. This was done
using informant interviews, structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and
observations. The sustainability categories used were: sustainable (70-100%), partially
sustainable (30-70%) and unsustainable (<30%).
Results have shown that water kiosks in low-income areas of Blantyre City are partiallysustainable with Bangwe 54.2%, Chilomoni 66.7%, Kachere-Nkolokoti 60.1% and Nancholi
67.2%. This is attributed to mainly technical problems such as failure to maintain design
flow, inadequate design of feeder tanks for all study areas and lower capacity of the system
to meet additional demand. To ensure full sustainability, this study recommends that wa t e r
production capacity be increased b y r epairing or replacing worn out pumps and/or
replacing of worn out pipes. It is also recommended that for proper operation, management
and maintenance of water kiosks, there is need to have a robust financial and institutional
governance structures by all concerned stakeholders.