EOI for Safe Water Data Collection
Statement of Work (SOW)
INTRODUCTION
Evidence Action is a non-profit dedicated to scaling proven, cost-effective interventions to alleviate poverty. In India, we operate through our technical consultant EAII Advisors Pvt. Ltd. We are currently working with Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to conduct a pilot project testing the performance of selected water treatment technologies in the most common types of water tanks servicing single village schemes and multi-village schemes (definitions below). Specifically, we are testing a variety of water chlorination devices.
A sound monitoring, learning, and evaluation plan is essential to accurately evaluating the performance of the different devices during this pilot. Monitoring data collection would occur in three phases: baseline data collection before the pilot begins, data collection throughout pilot implementation, and data collection at the end of the pilot for that water point. Throughout pilot implementation, devices and subsequent water systems would be monitored to track the performance of devices. A partner vendor would be responsible for all data collection activities during the pilot, data cleaning, sharing data with EAII, and providing field reports detailing the data collection process with key successes and challenges.
BACKGROUND
The pilot will take place across 3 states – Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and a third state to be determined – with devices installed at 6 locations within each state, for a total of 18 installed water chlorination devices. The locations will be evenly split between single-village schemes (SVS), village-level locations in multi-village schemes (MVS), and intermediary pumping points in MVS. Installation of devices will commence in mid-February 2023 for all locations, and will begin to be used in mid-March. The devices will be piloted in the single-village schemes for 3 months, until mid-June. For villages within multi-village schemes, the devices will be piloted for 5 months, until early August. For intermediary points within MVS, the devices will be piloted for 11 months, until February 2024. Therefore, data collection services will be required intermittently across a period of 12 months, from February 2023 to February 2024.
DETAILED SCOPE OF WORK
The key pieces of information to be collected are:
Efficacy of the devices as the right-fit technology to correctly and consistently dose water with chlorine; high-level metrics including:
- Levels of total and free chlorine residual in the water at outlet points at the 18 locations selected for the pilot, prior to the pilot commencing
- Levels of total and free chlorine residual in the water at outlet points at the 18 locations selected for the pilot, multiple times during the course of the pilot
- Levels of total and free chlorine residual in the water at outlet points at the 18 locations selected for the pilot, after pilot has concluded
Device installation at selected water sources in terms of complexity, as well as effort and time required for device installation; high-level information including:
- Time required for installation
- Expertise required for installation
- Complexity of installation
- Adherence to installation protocol
Operation of devices at selected water sources in terms of operating, refilling, and maintenance; high-level metrics including:
- Devices’ required refill rate (for consumables, e.g. liquid chlorine)
- Expertise required for normal operation
- Expertise required for preventative maintenance
- Ease of sourcing consumable material
- Ease of sourcing preventative maintenance parts
- Company’s performance under warranty
- Likelihood of corrective maintenance required
The high-level metrics enumerated above are not necessarily comprehensive. Evidence Action and Vendor will collaborate to generate a full list of specific metrics to be collected for each of the key pieces of information.
To collect data related to chlorine dosing, it will be necessary to collect water samples from a number of collection points. We estimate that for SVS and village-level MVS sites, water samples should be taken from 5-20 water collection points (WCPs) connected to the system we will be treating. For each intermediary point in an MVS, samples should be taken from 5-100 water collection points. Evidence Action will work closely with the vendor to determine in advance the methodology for selecting these WCPs.
The key responsibilities of the agency are:
Surveying key stakeholders at the water tank/system to identify and record relevant details of all water collection points connected to each of the 18 water tanks that are included in the pilot, including geographic location, identifiable information, distance from water tank, number of households using each water collection point, and number of water collection points.
- Evidence Action and Vendor will collaborate to create a system for assigning IDs to water tanks, water collection points, and other locations.
Ensure that each water collection point from which water samples are taken are uniquely identifiable and are correctly associated with all relevant features
- Relevant features include but are not limited to: Distance from water tank where device is installed, number of households using water outlet, type of water outlet (communal, private)
- Ensuring that collected data is comprehensive and representative by collecting across various outlet points (e.g. private residences, outdoor communal taps, outlets at schools, etc.), distances from water tank (e.g. outlet closest to water tank, outlet furthest from water tank), times of day, etc.
Conducting baseline data collection prior to device operation to determine level of preexisting chlorination at the outlet points of the pilot locations, via measuring total and free chlorine residual levels
Conducting data collection 2x a week at SVS sites during the course of the pilot to monitor levels of total and free chlorine residual at water collection points at the selected pilot locations
- For MVS village-level and and MVS intermediary points, data collection will begin with a once a week frequency and continue at that frequency for as long as the SVS pilot is running. Once the SVS pilot is complete, data collection for MVS pilots will decrease to 2x a month frequency
Conducting a post-pilot survey on levels of total and free chlorine residual in the water at selected pilot sites after devices have ceased operation
In collaboration with Evidence Action, designing surveys to collect the metrics outlined in the above section for device installation and device operation, and any additional metrics not outlined above that are agreed upon with Evidence Action
Administering the surveys to relevant stakeholders, who will most likely be the vendors of the water treatment devices and a small number of community members who participate in device operation and maintenance
Using survey tools designed and shared by Evidence Action to collect all data in a consistent and standardized manner
Cleaning and processing collected data as needed to prepare it for analysis, e.g. ensuring that all data are ascribed to the correct outlet points
Conducting regular quality checks of all collected data and promptly informing Evidence Action of any issues or challenges
Ensure that the final format/presentation of collected data is in .csv, .xls, or .dta format
Definitions:
Single Village Schemes (SVS): Are typically a groundwater-based system that is not treated via a centralized site. If treatment is occurring in SVS it is likely the result of a local government initiative or market-purchased bleaching powders by the local water committee.
Multi-village Scheme (MVS): A water treatment system serving multiple villages, typically a surface water source, constructed and run by JJM or another government agency and reaching tens to hundreds of thousands of people. There are two identified water treatment intervention points in Multi-village Schemes: Village-Level Water Tanks and Intermediary Water Tanks. Intermediary water tanks, for the purposes of our pilot, are tanks that take in water from centralized treatment sites in MVS and pass the water one to the tanks and outlets at the end-points of the scheme. The intermediary tanks may not have outlets themselves.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION
Proposals will be assessed under following evaluation heads:
- Agency will be evaluated based upon their previous experience conducting water baseline surveys, water monitoring mapping, and water monitoring execution. Specific requirements will include flow rate testing, total chlorine residual, free chlorine residual, and water quality testing.
- Agency must be able to conduct tests at multiple locations throughout identified water treatment systems.
- Agency must be able to operate throughout Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Final locations within those states will be identified in the coming weeks.
- Agency must have relevant team size and presence required for strong relationships throughout the state.
- Agency must be able to provide reporting within 24-48 hours of tests being conducted.
- Agency must provide identified experiences and technical qualifications to conduct the requirements outlined in the above sections.
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The proposal need to be submitted on or before February 2, 2023, to procurement@eaiiadvisors.in Any questions about this proposal request need to be addressed in writing at the specified email before January 30, 2023. Please mention in the subject line – “EOI for Safe Water Data Collection”.
| Job Email id: | procurement(at)eaiiadvisors.in |
| Download Attachment: | EOI-Safe Water Data Collection.pdf |
