Village rural water supplies in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.

The 1980's have been declared the "International Water Supply and Sanitation Decade". The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government has committed itself to spending K2.5 million between 1982-1985 on rural water supplies. The experience for such a programme in the Western Highlands is reviewed. Between 1975 and June 1981 there were 101 installation, 69 of which were inspected. Of these, 40.6% were working. Within one year 40% had broken down; after 4 years, 90% had broken down. Contributing factors to break downs were; the use of a cheap and inefficient hand pump on wells; use of plastic rather than metal pipes in reticulated water supplies; weaknesses in the design of reticulated supplies; and difficulties with regular maintenance. It is recommended that the government take steps to solve these problems before it commits itself to a significantly increased expenditure on rural water supplies.