Self-supply: lessons learned in supporting self-supply water systems

Self-supply is a key component in achieving universal access to safe drinking water. This report summarises almost two decades of experiences in supporting self-supply water systems, and makes recommendations for implementing them successfully.

Self-supply refers to the construction of or incremental improvement to water supplies by households and small groups, largely through their own means, by using technologies such as rainwater harvesting, tube wells and shallow wells.

At current rates of progress, many countries will not meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030. Many households already rely on self-funded water supplies, especially in rural areas. They are therefore an important and complementary solution to other services, such as communal water systems, to help meet the SDG target.

Since 2005, we have worked on self-supply in Bangladesh, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia, and have supported research on their potential to complement public water supply systems in Mali, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia. This work has focused on:

• Increasing demand by raising community awareness of self-supply service options
• Supporting implementation by providing financing mechanisms and training local service providers
• Improving the enabling environment in local contexts

This report summarises our key learnings in supporting self-supply, including the drivers and benefits, water quality considerations, enabling factors, and the impacts on women and girls. It is suitable for water professionals, development partners and local and national governments working on self-supply in communities.

Top image: Water, sanitation and hygiene promoter, Antora Parvin, visits Josna Biswas at her home in Pakuria, Meherpur, Bangladesh. 2019.