‘There are probably very few countries in which public water supply can reach every citizen, every household or every community. In many cases this is because of remote locations, but it is also the case in lower-income countries that limited government budgets render the progressive realisation of safe and sustainable services for all painfully slow. As a consequence, individuals, households and communities take their own initiatives – and invest their own resources – to gain access to water, and to improve the standard of that access. Such self-supply initiatives have been known about for many decades, especially as a result of the work of Dr Sally Sutton, the main author of this book. Now Sally and Dr John Butterworth have put pen to paper in this comprehensive account of the extent and nature of self-supply. The authors demonstrate the potential to incorporate self-supply into national strategies which recognise the need for multiple solutions to the challenges of water supply and its financing and management. Self-supply is an important component of both rural and urban water services, and this book is the resource for understanding its place. I strongly commend the book to all who are working in or interested in the water sectors of nations.’
Richard Carter, WASH specialist

'It is a pleasure to endorse this skilfully written and well researched book on self-supply for our most precious of resources – water. The writing of such a book is long overdue and records what may be little known or appreciated to many. That simple, yet practical means of gaining water for domestic use, as a largely private enterprise, is quite widely used in many parts of the developing world. And not so long ago in our human history, was used in countries which now call themselves developed. It is immensely practical, and where rain water or ground water permit, and where governments are not able, for one reason or another, to provide the water that people so desperately need, then the concept of self-supply must step in to fill the breach. The authors provide evidence, from several parts of the world, where self-supply of water has proven to be totally invaluable and often vital for people’s survival.'
Peter Morgan - researcher and consultant; author of ‘Rural Water and Sanitation Supplies’; Stockholm Water Prize winner

'Self-supply is a critical, and under-examined component of access to basic water services globally. If we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for universal access to safe drinking water, strengthening best practices and support for self-supply is imperative. These expert-authors have produced a well-researched and thoughtful guide to help communities, practitioners, service providers, researchers, governments and donors learn about, and contribute to, community capacity for drinking water self-supply.'
Evan Thomas, University of Colorado Boulder

'In Ethiopia, like many other sub-Saharan countries, self-supply is a simple investment by families against poverty and millions of people depend on it in rural areas. This is the first book that discusses how to support and improve their efforts. It is a valuable resource for building capacities of sector professionals and we must now use it!’
Tamene Hailu (PhD), Director General of Ethiopian Water Technology Institute

'Self-supply has long been overlooked because it is largely unmapped, unmonitored and unregulated, and therefore invisible to policy-makers and decision-takers. This wonderful new book shows what they are missing by providing an accessible but comprehensive overview of self-supply in its many forms and contexts, from the lowest income countries to the highest. It puts people at the centre of the challenge to achieve universal water access and is a celebration of ingenuity and resilience – and highlights that household investment and remittances can play a vital role in plugging the investment gap in rural water infrastructure. This book is destined to become a classic reference that all rural water supply professionals should become familiar with.'
Sean Furey, Director, Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN)

'One of the great challenges of the next decade is how to get safe and sustainable water to the hundreds of millions who currently lack it. Whether as temporary stopgap or long term ‘service model’, self-supply has the potential to reach those people and places that public utilities can’t. This timely and useful book, at once rallying cry, history and how-to manual provides a wealth of useful detail for anyone interested in promoting self-supply as part of delivering safe water for all, forever.'
Dr Patrick Moriarty, IRC Chief Executive Officer

‘A comprehensive overview of a neglected topic; this is a must-read for anyone serious about ensuring access to water especially in the most remote rural areas of the world. Sally Sutton aided by John Butterworth draws on her extensive experience to leave no stone unturned in explaining why and how self-supply remains a key strategy in pursuit of the SDG target for safely managed drinking water services.’
Pete Harvey, UNICEF

'What contribution can self-supply make towards realisation of water access for all people? This book provides thoughtful insights into a much overlooked water supply service delivery model that holds many answers to the problem of poor water access. It makes a powerful case for decision makers to get behind supporting and enabling self-supply. If this doesn’t happen there is a question about whether water access targets will ever be fully met.'
Vincent Casey, Senior WASH Manager, WaterAid

‘Self-supply is a crucial first step towards safe drinking water services but is too often overlooked. This book calls on policy makers to recognise and support the extraordinary efforts of millions of rural households to develop their own solutions.'
Tom Slaymaker, Co-Lead WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene

Sally Sutton

Sally Sutton has worked in rural water supply and sanitation in the Middle East and Africa for four decades. Her experiences of the parallel efforts of governments/ development partners and of households to improve water supplies were the motivation for this book.

John Butterworth

John Butterworth is the lead of the Global Hub at IRC, a think tank focused on improving water, sanitation and hygiene services.