New Model Ensures Clean Water for Rural Africa

Research from the University of Notre Dame helps NGOs provide more consistent and safe access to water for over a million people across three African countries.

Mar. 11, 2026 at 6:12am

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More than 184 million people in rural sub-Saharan Africa rely on shared handpumps for clean water, but over 50,000 of these pumps are broken, leaving millions without safe water. New research from the University of Notre Dame studies how local NGOs in Ethiopia, Malawi, and the Central African Republic decide when to maintain and repair community handpumps when information about pump functionality is incomplete. The research has helped these NGOs provide more consistent and safe access to water for over a million people.

Why it matters

Access to clean, reliable water is a critical issue for rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. This research provides a model to help NGOs operating with limited budgets and information optimize their maintenance and repair strategies to keep more water pumps functioning and deliver sustainable, safe water access to underserved populations.

The details

The researchers developed a dynamic optimization model that adapts to each NGO's current maintenance approach and identifies optimal schedules for mechanics to visit and conduct necessary maintenance and repairs, with the goal of reducing water pump downtime while balancing logistics costs. Applying the model across thousands of water handpumps revealed substantial reductions in downtime, ranging from 42% to 62% in the three countries studied, with varying cost impacts.

  • The research findings are forthcoming in the journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management and won the 2024 Service Science Best Cluster Paper Award.

The players

Chengcheng Zhai

Assistant professor of information technology, analytics and operations at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business and lead author of the research.

Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez

Notre Dame's Greg and Patty Fox Collegiate Professor of IT, Analytics and Operations and co-author of the research.

Rodney Parker, Kurt Bretthauer, and Jorge Mejia

Co-authors of the research from Indiana University.

Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business

The institution where the research was conducted.

NGOs in Ethiopia, Malawi, and the Central African Republic

Local organizations that operate and maintain the community water handpumps studied in the research.

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What they’re saying

“Our results show that well-timed preventive maintenance can substantially reduce downtime and, in many cases, lower logistics costs — an important factor for NGOs with limited budgets.”

— Chengcheng Zhai, Assistant professor of information technology, analytics and operations at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business (Manufacturing & Service Operations Management)

“This vital research offers a clear path to keeping water flowing, delivering sustainable, safe water access for underserved rural communities across Africa and strengthening health and long-term resilience.”

— Chengcheng Zhai, Assistant professor of information technology, analytics and operations at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business (Manufacturing & Service Operations Management)

“This paper is part of our comprehensive research agenda on water management in sub-Saharan Africa. We are using analytics to improve the location, allocation, maintenance and funding of water projects in countries like Malawi, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic.”

— Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez, Notre Dame's Greg and Patty Fox Collegiate Professor of IT, Analytics and Operations (Manufacturing & Service Operations Management)

What’s next

The researchers plan to continue their work, expanding the model to additional countries and exploring how it can be used to optimize the location and funding of water projects across sub-Saharan Africa.

The takeaway

This research demonstrates how data-driven analytics can be leveraged to help NGOs operating with limited resources provide more reliable and sustainable access to clean water for rural communities in Africa, a critical issue for public health and long-term resilience.