The Management and Sustainability of Water Supply Facilities in Rural Communities: Lessons from the Volta Region of Ghana

Abstract

This article is based on research conducted between July 26 and September
12, 2007 to find the extent to which target communities, working through
Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Committees, were able to continuously
maintain water supply facilities extended to them under the Volta Region
Community Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (VRCWSSP). Attempts were also made to determine the factors that influenced their ability
to achieve uninterrupted water supply through an efficient maintenance
management culture. The results of the investigations became the basis for
making some policy recommendations for, first, enhancing the capacity of
the Watsan committees to maintain the water supply facilities on a sustainable basis and, second, developing a framework for re-shaping thinking
about community management of water supply systems in general.