“Getting the Pipe Laid is One Matter and Getting the Water Flowing through the Pipe is Another”: User Views on Public-sector Urban Water Provision in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Ghana and India

The arguments for a more market-oriented approach to urban water provision and their implications for user-provider relationships are reviewed. It is argued that, although there are convincing reasons for adopting a more demand-oriented approach than traditional in the urban water sector, a pure market orientation is inappropriate, infeasible and insufficient. Consequently, means of ascertaining user preferences are needed that are alternative or additional to the consumption choices of individual purchasers. Alternative ways of assessing user views are reviewed. Selected findings relevant to the water sector reform agenda from qualitative studies in four countries are presented. These focus on the choices made by users in the light of restrictions on the availability of piped supply, their perceptions of the services provided, their identification of desirable improvements, and their attitudes towards private-sector participation and increased cost recovery. It is concluded that information collected through qualitative methods (focus group discussions) can usefully complement quantitative information in ascertaining user views on water supply arrangements.