Community water supply in developing countries : lessons from experience : evaluation summaries and conference findings

in 1979 began a 3-year effort to analyze its experience with community water supply projects. From 1979-1982, 15 projects funded by A.I.D. and other donors in Kenya, Korea, Panama, Peru, Tanzania, Thailand, and Tunisia were evaluated in terms of the water systems' reliability, benefits, and accessibility (i.e., equity). proceedings and recommendations of a 1982 conference held to discuss the results of these evaluations, which were conducted to field test the relevance of the following hypothetical attributes of successful water projects: host country and community commitment; realistic national goals; financially sound support institutions; coordination of donor support with all project needs; appropriate technology; the presence of complementary health, education, and sanitation activities; and increased availability of clean water. In general, the evaluations found the hypotheses to be verified; indepth discussions of each point are presented. The participants went on to recommend that: (1) A.I.D. use both Health Account and Food and Nutrition Account funds for water projects; (2) the issue of water quality be addressed within a project's socioeconomic setting; (3) community interest be guaged early on and projects be designed to be locally self-supporting; (4) strong financial and technical institutions be developed to oversee system construction and maintenance; (5) related training needs be adequately addressed; and (6) special sanitation and education components not be included automatically but on the basis of local need and demand. Lists of the conference participants and evaluation team members are appended.