A Working Asset Is Only One Link
A pump can run while a water service fails. The asset supplies a physical function; the service also depends on operators, power, consumables, monitoring, finance, access and authority to act. Begin with the existing WASH guide for technical reference selection. This page explains dependencies, not water-system design.
Follow a Fictional Service Chain
The fictional Lakeside utility operates one community water point. This simplified teaching case invents the roles and disruption; it establishes no technical standard or safe supply.
| Link | Fictional Arrangement | What Can Break the Service |
|---|---|---|
| Asset | Installed pump, tank and outlet | Physical breakdown or unavailable component |
| Energy | Electricity from the local network | Interruption when pumping is needed |
| People | Trained operator and designated deputy | Both absent or unable to reach the site |
| Consumables and checks | Supplies and testing under a technical procedure | Unfunded supplies, absent records or failed quality condition |
| Maintenance | Supplier contact and repair arrangement | Contract excludes the fault or parts cannot arrive |
| Authority and money | Utility manager can approve specified expenditure | Manager unavailable or no usable operating funds |
| Users | Accessible opening and information arrangements | Outlet exists but people cannot safely reach or use it |
On Tuesday the pump is mechanically functional, but a required consumable is unavailable. The team cannot conclude that the service is acceptable because the motor turns. The responsible technical owner determines whether service can continue and which lawful, safe alternative is appropriate. The project officer does not invent a workaround.
Locate the Dependency Before Buying Another Asset
A second pump might address a particular equipment failure. It will not restore missing consumables, create spending authority or give an absent operator a deputy. If both pumps use the same interrupted power supply, they share a dependency.
Draw the service from the user's task backward. At each step ask who provides it, what they need, who pays and what evidence confirms it is available. Distinguish an agreed role from a name on an old contact list. A maintenance agreement with no provider capacity or reachable contact is an unverified assumption.
Explain What Must Continue
In Lakeside's planning discussion, the manager identifies water access as the function to protect, rather than insisting that this particular pump must operate. Any alternate supply still requires technical, public-health and authority checks. The team records who can make the decision and what would trigger a handoff. It does not promise uninterrupted or safe supply from a diagram.
Use capital, operating and replacement costs to expose unfunded links. Use contingency and continuity planning to distinguish an emergency response from keeping the organization able to act.
Sources and Scope
UN-Habitat's Urban Basic Services overview, Objective and Strategy, connects infrastructure with institutions and service provision. Its undated page retains historical Millennium Development Goals wording; it is background, not a current service code. IFRC's contingency-planning page, definitions and continuity comparison, supplies the planning distinction. Both consulted October 29, 2026. The dependency chain is an original fictional teaching model, not an engineering assessment.