On 2 – 3 October 2012 first thematic meeting of RWSN working group “Management and Support” took place in Hague, Netherlands. It was devoted to maintenance and exploitation of centralized water supply networks in villages and small towns. 

Experience of such countries as Senegal, Kenya, Ukraine, Madagascar and Brazil were presented and discussed during the event. Special emphasis was made on small water supply schemes.

Vyacheslav Sorokovsky, DESPRO expert, presented the model of service cooperative used in rural water supply management. “Level of rural population coverage with centralized water supply is pretty low in Ukraine. It amounts for only 22%, which can be compared to South and South-Eastern Asian countries. This figure can no longer meet the needs of our population as water from other sources, like wells, is not enough and its quality is constantly deteriorating. At the same time, centralized water supply system requires proper maintenance, exploitation, funding and support”, - expert said. 

Working group meeting resulted in recommendations, which will be submitted to experts, members of International rural water supply network.

International rural water supply network (RWSN) is a global network of professionals and practitioners working in the sphere of  related to rural water supply retraining, technical and professional competence, practice and policy development as well as implements the concept of sustainable water supply.