The provision of safe and convenient potable water has been an important aspect of development programmes in the developing countries since the 1950s. Unprecedented attention was focused on this sector during the United Nations Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation2 ( UN water decade) in 1980-1990. The UN Water Decade stated that “All peoples, whatever their stages of development and their social and economic conditions have the right to have access to drinking water in quantity and qualities equal to their basic needs” ( Beyer 1991). The United Nation’s Water Decade recommended that countries of the developing world and the international donor agencies should direct their efforts to meet the decade’s targets.
