WELL Factsheet: Scaling up community management of rural water supply

Community management is the leading model for implementing rural water supply systems. It is regarded as the best way to secure sustainable water supply in rural areas. However, many communities struggle with their management tasks and many water systems break down after some years. “Scaling up” is a new approach, set out in a number of recent documents (see References below), which seeks to strengthen community management. It advocates continuous support to communities in the management of their water services, and seeks to expand coverage from the current “islands of community success” to larger areas, reaching entire populations.

Author: Ton Schouten, April 2006 Quality assurance: Sandy Cairncross Edited and produced as a PDF document: May 2020

Produced by WEDC and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for the Department of International Development (DFID) of the UK government (now the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)), this archive collection of WELL factsheets remains relevant. It covers topics ranging from the anaerobic treatment of municipal wastewater through to water quality and safety plans.