The primary objective of this report is to provide practical guidance to World Bank teams advising on the design and implementation of reforms of urban water supply and sanitation (WSS) sectors. The reform of urban WSS sectors is needed to increase access to the infrastructure, improve efficiency of operations, and enhance the reliability, sustainability and affordability of the service.

The aim of this capacity building programme is to improve the efficiency and positive impact of urban, community-managed water and sanitation schemes.

An inadequate piped water supply from the public utility, characterized by intermittence and unreliability, and supplemented by private uncontrolled groundwater abstraction, is a common feature of most Indian cities as well as other developing cities in the world Given the high level of pollution of urban aquifers, the usual diagnosis consists in considering private groundwater abstraction as an u

This Sourcebook is part of a broader program of work on governance and corruption in the water supply and sanitation sector. The Sourcebook is meant as a resource to assist water and sanitation sector practitioners to assess the extent and risks of corruption in the sector and to improve governance in ways that reduce corruption.

The focus of this publication is efficient water use in urban and domestic environments and decision-making about sustainable development of human settlements. The book is written as a Sourcebook, highlighting essential questions that will have different answers in different situations.