Community Water Development

The UN Water Decade has been the catalyst for much research and development in water-related fields, and one result of the Decade has been improved dissemination of the water technologies being developed. Community Water Development presents some of the best material from leading researchers and practitioners in rural water supply in developing countries. The book sets out the original concepts and field experience for the development of appropriate technologies for water supply, and illustrates the changes in thinking which have taken place over the Decade. The various sections, originally published over seven years as articles in Waterlines and Appropriate Technology magazines, cover sources of supply, pumping methods, transport and storage as well as education and training, and questions of planning and management. People remain at the heart of every contributor’s concerns, and overall the sixty articles will provide and invaluable tool for anyone concerned with community-sensitive approaches to water-supply problems, whether they are teachers, students or engineers.

Charles Kerr one of the contributors, was a civil engineer and a specialist in water supply. He graduated from the University of Cape Town in civil engineering. He spent most of his career working abroad. Since retiring from full-time consultancy work he became well-known as an expert in low-cost water supply. For the last 15 years of his life he was the technical editor of Waterlines, the journal for low-cost water supply and sanitation. Charles Kerr died in 2001 while this dictionary was in the final stages of preparation.