Preface

More than two decades have passed since IRC first published Small Community Water Supplies. Over that time, the book has been a regular IRC bestseller. A large part of its appeal has been that it is one of the few textbooks to link water supply science and technology with the specific needs of small communities in developing countries.

A great deal has changed since 1981. The International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-90) focused attention on the sector and led to lots of new experiences. Technological research and development was accompanied by intensive efforts to promote community participation, and to link water supply improvements with parallel improvements in sanitation and hygiene promotion. The lessons learned in the 1980s prompted further enhancements in technological, institutional and social approaches in the 1990s. Entering the new Millennium, the focus was very clearly established as community-driven development involving partners from local and national government, resource centres, non-governmental organisations and the private sector. Gender-based approaches that were only a gleam in the eye for the original handbook authors are now recognised as crucial to the success of community water supply programmes.

It was apparent to IRC that the book needed to be updated. The changing sector meant a changing audience too. While the book was primarily written for an engineering readership, this new publication is intended to appeal also to the wider group of stakeholders now involved in planning, designing and implementing programmes to bring improved water supplies to literally billions of people in the next two decades. So, while the latest water supply technology remains the foundation for the book, design and technology are continuously addressed in the context of the social and institutional support structures needed to bring sustainable water supply improvements.

The changed approach is also reflected in the new document's authorship. The original handbook was mostly written by three university professors and a WHO sanitary engineer, all with great experience in water technology and Third World problems. The new book has had a total of 29 authors contributing to its 24 chapters. As the list at the back of the book shows, they are all practising water sector professionals, and come primarily from the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. There are more chapters now than in 1981 because of newly emerging issues like fluoride, arsenic and the need for responses to emergencies and disasters, and also because of technological advances in the fields of multi-stage filtration and desalination. Change has not been made for its own sake. Those who are familiar with the original book will see that a lot of text remains in the new version. The aim has been to update the guidance without losing the intrinsic value brought to the book by the knowledge and experience of the original authors. Another important addition this time is in chapter 3, which deals with community water supplies in Central and Eastern Europe. Political reforms of the 1990s have made it possible to address water and environmental issues in this region from new perspectives. There are helpful lessons to be shared among sector professionals in the CEE and those in the developing countries of the South, and IRC hopes that this publication will be a catalyst for the exchange process.

The years since Small Community Water Supplies was first published have been eventful and productive for hundreds of millions of people in small communities around the world. Through their own efforts and with support from enlightened partners, more and more of the world's poorest people have been reaping the health and social benefits of an improved water and sanitation system. Sadly, despite intensive efforts, WHO statistics show that at the start of the new Millennium there were still more than a billion people without access to a satisfactory water supply and more than two billion lacking any form of hygienic sanitation. The good news is that we have started the Millennium with water, sanitation and hygiene high on the political agenda, and with laudable targets to bring improved water services to all by the year 2025.

The authors, reviewers and editors of Small Community Water Supplies: Technology, People and Partnership hope that it will prove as popular as its predecessor and will contribute to early achievement of the targets in small communities throughout the developing world.