尽管在过去20年里，在向拉丁美洲的城市和小城镇提供水和卫生设施方面取得了进展，但在小村庄和人口分散的地区，仍有数百万人得不到服务。快速增长的农村人口加剧了满足需求的挑战。在本文中，作者概述了拉丁美洲发展中国家所做的工作以及未满足需求的范围。以下是成功实施水和卫生项目的关键要素:培训农村准专业水技术人员；使用最合适的技术； 促进对从项目中获得最大利益至关重要的补充活动；使用村庄自筹资金的技术，利用当地资本延长有限的预算；培训村民操作和维护该系统；建立机制，使社区能够为扩建、维修或改造提供资金；以及在小规模项目和使用适当技术的基础上组织全国性的管道供水系统建设工作。包括8个参考文献、表格、图表。

Although progress has been made within the last two decades in supplying water and sanitation facilities to cities and small towns in Latin America, millions of people in small villages and in areas with dispersed population remain unserved. The challenge of meeting the need is exacerbated by the rapidly growing rural population. In this article, the author outlines what has been done in developing Latin America Countries and the scope of the unfilled needs. The following have been identified as key elements for implementing successful water and sanitation programs: training of paraprofessional rural water technicians; use of the most appropriate technology; promotion of complementary activities essential to deriving the most benefit from the project; use of village self-financing techniques that stretch limited budgets with local capital; training of villagers to operate and maintain the system; development of mechanisms to enable communities to finance the costs of expansion, repairs, or conversions; and the organization of a national effort to construct piped water systems based on small-scale programs and the use of appropriate technology. Includes 8 references, tables, figures.