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The great majority of persons in rural areas of the developing world do not have access to a safe and convenient source of water, and where this is available, acceptable sewage disposal facilities are normally lacking. The authors examine a wide range of factors - physical, social, and economic - that are involved in improving the adequacy of water supply and sanitation in the coming years. Among the principal topics covered in detail are: (a) the character and extent of the problems connected with water supply and sanitation; (b) the goal of improved health, with specific reference to the relation between water supply and water-borne disease, on the one hand, and social and economic activity, on the other; (c) the effects of improved water supply and sanitation on productivity, incomes, rural-to-urban migration, and overall development; (d) problems of, and strategies for, program planning and administration; (e) the special problems of operation and maintenance; and (f) the importance of recovering program costs from beneficiaries. The book also contains a summary of findings of the study and lists a number of recommendations for improving rural water supply and sanitation.