Defining and delivering appropriate technology for sustainable access to safe drinking water in un- and under-serviced rural South Africa

Abstract

This paper presents the experiences and lessons from the Accelerating Sustainable Water Services Delivery (ASWSD) initiative that is currently being implemented in South Africa. The initiative is being spearheaded by the Department of Science and Technology in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Millions of South Africans still do not have access to safe drinking water and the rate of coverage has slowed down over the years despite sustained financial investment into the sector and development of water supply technologies. The majority of the unserved citizens are in the hard to reach rural and other second economy areas. Thus, the ASWSD initiative is seeking to harness available technologies to accelerate the sustainable access to water services by those presently without.