ABSTRACT
The trouble is that the water available for the majority of low income communities is neither wholesome to drink nor conveniently accessible. Sometimes national governments, international agencies, and bilateral donors compete to provide towns and cities with water supplies. Hard-headed bureaucrats, vote- hungry politicians, villagers who have migrated to cities and abroad, Rotarians, Lions, women’s groups and classes of schoolchildren find cash to provide village water supplies. A satisfactory sanitation system must also be sustainable. Getting rid of human waste is not so attractive to donors as providing water to the thirsty. A large part of the blame for this state of affairs lies with those who maintain that the only ‘satisfactory’ form of sanitation is what they have themselves – water-carried sewerage and nothing except water-carried sewerage. A dilapidated dirty ill-kept pit latrine may stink to high heaven and be a focus for fly breeding and spread of worms, in effect adding to the health risks.
