Planning Water Supply and Sanitation Projects in Developing Countries

Despite the laudable objectives of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (IDWSSD) launched in 1980, developing countries are still faced with inadequate water supply and poor sanitation in rural and periurban areas. This problem may be attributable to the issue of equity in the provision of water supply and sanitation. In most developing countries, governments still provide water supply and sanitation mostly to urban areas whilst the rural and urban fringes are poorly served. There are case histories of project failures in rural areas due to many factors including choice of inappropriate technology, lack of effective backup support, noninvolvement of user community in the planning and implementation process, and implementation of projects for political gains. In order to solve these problems, the issue of equity should be vigorously pursued in the development of water supply and sanitation projects. A sequential procedure for total involvement of the user community in the planning construction, operation, and maintenance is proposed here to help provide equity.