非洲在水供应方面未得到满足的需求是巨大和巨大的 广泛传播，尤其是在农村地区。本文着眼于 供水的基本类型:低产点水源 通过钻孔和人工挖井开采地下水。数据 这些数据来自中国一个高降雨量国家的三个项目 西非和非洲干旱之角一个国家的一个项目。 这四个项目共有603个供水点（以下简称 开采地下水的钻孔和挖井的统称）。 从两方面分析详细的财务和工程数据 生产性和非生产性用水点有助于确定 建立基本供水系统的主要问题，即:。， 他们的成功率低，成本高。 简单的工程、经济和人为指南 建议降低农村钻孔和水井的成本，以及 提高成功率。这项研究表明，农村的水资源 积分价格大约为200美元/米（61美元/英尺）。虽然 来自其他几个非洲国家的证据表明，价格 通常要高得多，作者认为这是主要原因 增加到中央，而不是 用户自己承担供应实施的责任 和维护。这四个项目导致了私有化 西非国家的农村供水和 在欧洲之角开放该行业进行竞争性招标 非洲国家。包括表格，如图所示。

Africa's unmet needs in water supply are enormous and widespread, especially in rural settings. This article looks at a basic type of water supply: low-yielding point sources tapping groundwater through boreholes and hand-dug wells. Data were obtained from three projects in a high-rainfall nation in West Africa and one project in a country in the arid Horn of Africa. The four projects comprised a total of 603 water points (the collective term for boreholes and dug wells tapping groundwater). Analysis of detailed financial and engineering data from both productive and unproductive water points helped pinpoint a principal problem in establishing even basic water supplies, i.e., their low success rate and resulting high costs. Simple engineering, economic, and human guidelines are suggested to reduce the costs of rural boreholes and wells and to improve success rates. The study suggests that rural water points should cost approximately $200/m ($61/ft). Although evidence from several other African nations indicates that prices are often considerably higher, the author attributes much of this increase to the fact that central authorities, rather than the users themselves, assume responsibility for supply implementation and maintenance. The four projects led to the privatization of the rural water supply in the West African country and opened up the sector to competitive bidding in the Horn of Africa nation. Includes tables, figure.