Terms of Reference

Consultancy Services to undertake a Feasibility Study and Technical Assessment for Water Supply in selected communities in the West Mamprusi and Savelugu Municipalities in the North East and Northern Regions in Ghana

About Water and Sanitation for the Urban Populations (WSUP)

Water & Sanitation for Urban Populations (WSUP) is a not-for-profit company that helps transform cities to benefit the millions who lack access to water and sanitation.   We work alongside local providers, enabling them to develop services, build infrastructure and attract financing so they can reach low-income communities. As urban specialists in water and sanitation, we are committed to sharing evidence and approaches so that our innovations can drive change around the world. To learn more about our work, values, vision and approach, please visit www.wsup.com

About the Project – Advancing Community Agency and Government Accountability WASH (ACAGAW)

The ACAGAW project represents a strategic partnership between WSUP and Spark Microgrants, operational from 2026 to 2028. This initiative is designed to address the systemic fragility of WASH services in Northern by simultaneously fostering community agency and municipal government accountability. By working with the West Mamprusi and Savelugu Municipalities, the project aims to bridge the gap between service provision and citizen demand, creating a replicable model for development that moves beyond mere infrastructure delivery to sustainable and integrated systems.

The ACAGAW seeks to transform lives by delivering grants and technical facilitation to over 100 communities, enabling families to launch local projects while advocating for improved municipal services. The intervention is anchored in a comprehensive Theory of Change (ToC)that integrates infrastructure investment, such as new water and sanitation units, with governance strengthening, specifically targeting the adoption of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for water utilities and the creation of municipal WASH master plans. The initiative prioritises the inclusion of women and youth, ensuring they are central to leadership decision-making within the WASH sector.

Background of the assignment

WSUP, with funding from an Anonymous Donor, in collaboration with the West Mamprusi Municipal Assembly, the Savelugu Municipal Assembly, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), and relevant water service providers, is implementing an initiative aimed at strengthening partnerships and improving water supply systems in the Northern Region of Ghana. The initiative seeks to enhance collaboration between key stakeholders and support ongoing efforts to improve access to safe, reliable, and sustainable water services.

The focus of the intervention spans the West Mamprusi Municipal Assembly, where CWSA operates small-town water systems, as well as the Savelugu Municipal Assembly, where the Pong Tamale and Savelugu water systems are in operation. Water supply in these areas faces challenges including infrastructure limitations, system inefficiencies, growing population demand, and operational constraints. Addressing these challenges requires a coordinated and evidence-based approach.

To understand the depth of these challenges and obtain relevant technical data for improve water services in the target communities, a comprehensive assessment of the existing water supply systems, including their design configurations, infrastructure layout, operational performance, and management arrangements, is needed to provide a clear understanding of the current system capacities, gaps, and opportunities for improvement before any infrastructure investments or interventions are made.

WSUP seeks to engage a qualified consultant to undertake the feasibility and technical assessment. The Consultant will be expected to ensure that all outputs align with national standards, engineering best practices, and environmental and social safeguards.

Table 1: Selected Communities and their respective Municipalities for the Assignment – West Mamprusi and Savelugu Municipalities

Objectives of the Assignment

The overall objective of the assignment is to undertake a comprehensive technical assessment of existing water supply systems — including community-managed boreholes and piped water networks — in selected communities within the West Mamprusi and Savelugu Municipalities, and to provide evidence-based recommendations on system rehabilitation, expansion, and strengthening that will inform WSUP's subsequent design, investment, and intervention decisions.

Specific objectives include:

1. Assess the boreholes – Conduct technical and hydrogeological assessments (yield testing, water quality, reliability) of community-managed boreholes in Walewale/Tinguri, Wongu, Wulugu, Gbimsi and Loagri, checking them against national standards.

2. Assess the piped water systems – Evaluate the CWSA-operated systems in Walewale/Tinguri, Pong Tamale and Savelugu, covering network layout, assets, operation and maintenance, and current supply versus demand.

3. Map and document infrastructure – Verify existing assets and produce or update hydraulic drawings/layouts for all assessed systems, with particular focus on Wulugu and Loagri.

4. Analyse water demand – Estimate current and future (10- and 25-year) water needs for each community, across both borehole and piped-network systems.

5. Assess capacity and identify gaps – Review the institutional and operational capacity of West Mamprusi and Savelugu Municipal Assemblies, CWSA, and community structures, and identify infrastructure gaps with recommended interventions (rehabilitation, expansion, compliance improvements).

6. Engage stakeholders and report – Consult community and municipal stakeholders throughout, and produce consolidated, community-specific reports with maps, data, and prioritised recommendations to guide WSUP's future decisions

Scope of Work

The consultant's assessment services cover the boreholes and water systems listed in Table 1 across the West Mamprusi and Savelugu Municipalities. The scope of work and overall approach are detailed in the tasks below.

Task 1: Inception and Assessment Planning

• Review key project documents, existing data, reports, and maps relevant to the water systems in the West Mamprusi and Savelugu Municipalities.

• Prepare and submit an inception report detailing the assessment methodology, data collection tools, stakeholder engagement plan, team composition, and work plan.

• Undertake a reconnaissance visit to each of the seven target communities to plan fieldwork logistics and confirm data requirements.

Task 2: Borehole Assessment — West Mamprusi Communities

• Conduct yield testing and water quality analysis of the community-managed boreholes in Walewale/Tinguri, Wongu, Wulugu, Gbimsi and Loagri.

• Assess the physical condition, assets, and operational status of each borehole system.

• Review, or where necessary produce, design layouts or hydraulic drawings for the Wulugu and Loagri systems.

Task 3: Water Supply System Assessment — CWSA and Municipal Networks

• Assess the CWSA water system serving Walewale/Tinguri and the Pong Tamale and Savelugu water systems, including hydraulic mapping/network layout, asset inventories, and operation and maintenance arrangements.

• Determine the current demand and supply status and estimate projected future demand for each system.

Task 4: Demand Analysis and Hydrogeological Review

• Carry out demand analysis and project water needs over 10- and 25-year horizons for each community.

• Conduct hydrogeological review of existing data and fieldwork to confirm borehole reliability and compliance with national water quality standards.

Task 5: Institutional and Management Capacity Assessment

• Assess the capacity of the Municipal Assemblies, CWSA, and existing community management structures/water user associations to operate and maintain the systems sustainably.

• Identify capacity gaps and training needs for local operators and community management teams.

Task 6: Gap Analysis, Recommendations, and Reporting

• Synthesise assessment findings across all communities and systems.

• Identify infrastructure and performance gaps and propose prioritised, costed recommendations for rehabilitation, expansion, and optimisation.

• Confirm the compliance of proposed recommendations with national standards, engineering best practice, and environmental and social safeguards.

• Prepare and submit consolidated, community-specific assessment reports, including hydraulic maps/drawings, data annexes, borehole test results, and water quality reports.

• Prepare a final consolidated assessment report summarising findings and prioritised recommendations to inform WSUP's future design and investment decisions.

Sport and guidance to be provided by WSUP to the Consultant

WSUP will facilitate the Consultant to have access to contact details and other information of key project stakeholders, relevant data, reports, other related project documents and maps. However, it is the duty of the Consultant to check availability, quality, and suitability of the availed information. Assistance in obtaining permits and approvals and office space for meetings (if applicable).

Deliverables

 Table 2: Schedule of deliverables

All deliverables will be produced as a draft for discussion and finalised once WSUP has had an opportunity for review and comment.

The Consultant should expect to be asked to respond to at least one round of comments and questions on draft documents before acceptance by WSUP of final versions.

Deliverables will not be accepted as evidence for payment processing until they are completed to the satisfaction of WSUP.

Reporting and Liaison

The Consultant will be expected to liaise closely with the Task Manager, for this is Michael Adrah, Project Lead, WSUP Ghana

Expected schedule of the assignment

The assignment is expected to take an estimated maximum period of 7 weeks between 7^th September 2026 and 23^rd  October 2026.

Budget and payment schedule

This consultancy would be a lump sum contract. Payment will be made based upon activities and deliverables being completed to the satisfaction of the Client, as follows:

• 20% on the acceptance of the inception report

• 40% on the acceptance of deliverable 3

• 40% on acceptance of deliverable 5

Contract Terms

A standard WSUP consultancy contract format will be used, subject to the Consultant's agreement with the terms. The full template is available on request. The following clauses should be noted:

• All parties must adhere to the guidelines set out in the Safeguarding Policy as set out in WBP1000 (see link https://www.wsup.com/content/uploads/2022/01/WBP1000-Safeguarding-Policy_July2021.pdf)  and agree that any allegation made against you or anyone working on your behalf, directly or indirectly, relating to safeguarding or the protection of children, will be reported to WSUP within 72 hours.

• All parties must adhere to the highest standards of business ethics, and in particular, both Parties shall abide by WSUP’s Business Ethics policy detailed in: https://www.wsup.com/content/uploads/2022/01/WBP800-Business-Ethics-Policy-July-21.pdf.

• It is the responsibility of the Consultant to ensure that its staff who are working on WSUP projects are covered by appropriate Health and Safety and Insurance policies, including all insurances mandated by the law of Ghana.

• The Consultant shall use reasonable endeavours to maintain in force public liability and professional indemnity insurance cover which is adequate to protect WSUP against claims arising from the services. The cover arranged by the Consultant shall indemnify WSUP against claims by third parties.

Consultant Profile

To achieve the desired quality and efficiency, WSUP seeks to engage a consultancy with the following profile:

TABLE 3 - The consultant shall provide a multi-disciplinary team of experts with proven experience in water supply projects as specified in the table below.

All experts must be registered with their respective professional bodies and have experience in at least 5 similar assignments in the last 10 years.

Consultant’s Responsibilities

The consultant will be responsible for providing all staff, vehicles, equipment, survey instruments, software, and other resources required to perform the services.

Confidentiality and Intellectual Property

All reports, drawings, and documents prepared under this assignment shall remain the property of the client. The consultant shall maintain confidentiality of all project-related information

Bidding Procedure

Bids, including the following components, should be submitted to Michael Adrah at madrah@wsup.com and copy wsupghana@wsup.com on or before 26^th August  2026.

 Note that late arrivals will not be considered.

The consultant will submit separate technical and financial proposals addressing the objectives/tasks of the TOR. The technical proposal should provide the following information (max 15 pages, not including team CVs):

1. A brief description of the consultant or firm and an outline of similar projects/assignments conducted in the last three years

2. Proof of registration, including a business registration certificate (for companies/organizations) or a Ghana Card number and Tax Identification Number (TIN) (for individuals)

3. Summary of relevant experience of lead organisation and other participating organisations or key individuals

4. Description of consultants’ approach and methodology for the assignment. PowerPoint (or other similar app) presentation on how the consultant plans to address the objectives listed in section 3.1. Describe the proposed methodology for each objective, and broadly who from WSUP and/or WMMA and SMA should be involved.

5. Concise statement of understanding of the objectives and requirements for this assignment, including proposed approach and a provisional work schedule for the tasks, clearly indicating task dependencies, duration, days spent in each water scheme on field visits, meetings and workshops.

6. Introduction to the consultants’ team for executing the assignment, providing various staff and a brief overview of their relevant expertise for the assignment.

7. A financial proposal including the following:

a.  Consultant’s fees comprising the day-rate and a detailed listing of day allocations to different task components. The day rate should be inclusive of all applicable taxes, including Withholding Tax (WHT).

b.  All required expenses, including transport, accommodation, and associated costs

c.  Financial proposals must be priced in Ghanaian Cedis (GHS)

d.  Exchange rates for international bidders will be determined by www.oanda.com rates on the deadline date for bid submission.    Bids must remain valid for a period of not less than 30 days after the deadline for bid submission. A bid valid for a shorter period shall be rejected by the Employer as non-responsive

8. Individual CV(s) or company profile of no more than two pages per CV. Please provide all CVs, including the lead consultant who will take primary responsibility for the design and management oversight of this assignment and any sub-contracted participants, with participants named as far as possible.

Evaluation criteria will be as follows:

Technical

• Formal adherence to bidding requirements (10 marks)-see Bidding procedure section above

• Strength of relevant experience and performance history, including references from others, previous experience with WSUP. (10 marks)

• Evidence of understanding of the ToR and the context (10 marks)

• Strength of technical proposal, including: (20 marks)

  1. Technical quality; approach and specifications

  2. Consideration of gender and inclusion

• Programme/workplan and expected ability to deliver within the timeframe. (20 marks)

• Experience of the team put forward, both professional and diversity criteria (20 marks)

Financial

• Price compliance and Clarity (10 marks)

• Arithmetic accuracy and consistency (10 marks)

• Taxes, duties & levies treated as required (15 marks)

• Value for money/Cost competitiveness (30 marks)

• Professional fees vs qualification (15 marks)

• Cost realism and risks (10 marks)

• Bid validity compliant (10 marks)

The proposals will be evaluated independently by a panel of at least three (3) members of WSUP. Each evaluator will score the submissions against the established technical and financial criteria.

A combined scoring approach will be applied, with a weighting of:

• 60% for the Technical Proposal, and

• 40% for the Financial Proposal.

The final score for each bidder will be calculated by aggregating the weighted technical and financial scores. If the combined scores do not produce a clear top-ranked bidder, WSUP reserves the right to invite shortlisted applicants for an interview. The purpose of the interview will be to clarify key aspects of the proposals and support the final selection decision.

WSUP may also consider qualitative factors arising from the interview, including the bidder’s understanding of the assignment, proposed approach, and team composition, before making the final award decision.

Consultants may wish to propose different approaches that will deliver the required benefits for WSUP whilst remaining within the budget available. All negotiations will be documented.