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1. Hand pumps, their delivery rates, height of lift they can be used for, availability and prices (I am aware of the introduction of boreholes and submersible pumps in the area I'm going to and of their adverse effects on the water table in other areas) You can use handpumps for any lift, but going over 60m tends to be difficult. Deeper boreholes generally work better with a shaft driven rotor pump like a mono than with an India Mark II or other piston pump. The rule is to use whatever can be maintained locally, as this is the big issue with handpumps. Handpump yield vary, but are typically less than 0.2l/s under normal conditions. Hand pumps rarely have any impact on water tables - only is you have perched lenses of water. The big problems come with motor pumps, especially when used for irrigation (irrigation demand can be estimated at 1l/s/Ha). Afghanistan has a lot of Qanat water systems - basically audits that run into hillsides to exploit aquifers of low permeability. The systems can be 10s of km longs, and are built by sinking a shaft every 50 to 100m. I don't know how common these systems are in the South.

2. Appropriate next steps in sewerage for villages that have traditionally relied on households looking after their own needs and disposal but have sewage, seepage or primary effluent spilling out into roads. Communal septic tanks and perhaps reed beds prior to soakaway/river outfall spring to mind but I am unsure about their cultural acceptability.

Nightsoil systems are common in Afghanistan. Houses typically have latrine system with night soil collecting at ground level. You can typically see small doors on the outside to give access to night soil collection. The problem come when night-soil collection stops due to social breakdown. or when the access doors are damage leading to nuisance. Night soil in urban areas is usually collected by a service provider who sells truck-loads of night soil to farmers as fertilizer. Rural families may well use it on their own plots. Waterborne sewerage is not an option unless you have plumbed houses. Reedbeds are usually not an option as flat land near villages is usually a priority for agriculture.

Regards,

John