Social and economic preconditions for water supply and sanitation programs

This study, prepared for use by development planners, begins by reviewing existing literature to identify relevant social and economic preconditions to integrate into CWSS project design; these include a community"s education and income level; social customs regarding water quality, hygiene, and sanitation; existing CWSS infrastructure and institutional capacity; and the level of technical CWSS sophistication acceptable to the target population. A five-step model is provided for identifying and assessing the relevant preconditons: (l) identify the area"s CWSS needs (e.g., high-quality water) and the development objectives of the community, domestic government, and USAID (e.g., promote self-help efforts); (2) determine the community"s socioeconomic status and existing water and sanitation facilities by using a composite of poverty performance indicators, the Physical Quality of Life Index, a crude wealth index, and data on CWSS facility quantity, quality, accessibility, and reliability; (3) define a hierarchy of technically and socially appropriate CWSS technologyical interventions; (4) determine required support conditions such as training, infrastructure, and maintenance); and (5) predict short- and long-term project impacts (e.g., behavioral and institutional changes). For practical use in areas which have never experienced formal program designs, this general theoretical framework must be field tested to fit site-specific CWSS situations. In designing specific CWSS projects, the authors recommend that from the general preconditions presented here, CWSS planners choose those most related to national objectives and those for which institutional support will most likely be available. Intervention sites can then be selected and the nature and scope of the intervention determined according to perceived community needs and available resources. A 67-item bibliography (l953-8l) is appended.