¶ The first phase of the Sustainable Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program ran from 2019 to 2025, according to the World Bank, and was part of Tanzania's third Water Sector Development Program, or WSDP-3, which combined infrastructure expansion with institutional reforms. For the World Bank's financing of the programme, the World Bank lists an original financing envelope of US$650,000,000.00, a revised amount of US$652,116,988.00 and actual disbursements of US$638,616,950.16 in its Implementation Completion and Results Report. At its launch, the programme covered 17 of Tanzania's 25 rural regions, with a total of 86 districts; by the time of a World Bank interim report, all 25 mainland regions were participating.
A five-hour walk for water
Kiperesa is among the villages that received access to clean water, according to the World Bank; the World Bank counts 11,628 such villages in Tanzania in total. Resident Hawa Selemani says she used to walk for five hours to fetch water for her household. On some days, she returned with just one 20-litre bucket, which did not meet her needs. The long journeys left many women with little time for other economic activities, Sauda Nkusa explains; since water became available closer by, she has been able to devote more time to farming to earn some additional income. In the villages of Kiperesa, Mwitikira and Chekanao, the Kimwiche water organisation managed five water points when it took over the facility in 2021; since then, it has used revenue from user fees to finance 75 new water points and achieved a household connection rate of 70 percent in Chekanao alone. Eight kilometres from Kiteto District Council, a facility in Matui operated by the Bwamacha organisation supplies more than 30,000 residents in the villages of Bwawani, Matui and Chapakazi; the number of household and institutional connections there grew from 50 in 2021 to more than 350. Matui suffered a cholera outbreak in 2019, which the World Bank attributes to the use of unsafe pond water sources at the time; no further outbreaks have reportedly occurred since the facility was built. Before 2021, the local health centre had to buy 200 litres of water daily for Sh10,000, according to senior clinical staff member Agnes George. Pregnant women had to bring their own 10-litre buckets for childbirth, which was sometimes not enough.
Communities manage the facilities themselves
The rural facilities are operated by community-based water supply organisations that are legally registered through the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency and are tasked with maintaining the infrastructure and ensuring water supplies to households. Under the SRWSSP, these organisations receive training in financial, technical and organisational skills to manage the facilities and connect additional households. RUWASA Director General Wolta Kirita said, according to Daily News, that alongside expanding infrastructure, the programme had also strengthened institutional capacity, service sustainability and management of the rural water sector. According to Kirita, the second phase of the programme is intended to safeguard the progress achieved; according to Mashaka Sitta, programme coordinator at the Ministry of Water, it is to be financed with US$200 million from the World Bank.
In comparison
The World Bank provides its own figures for progress after four years of implementation: more than 7.921 million people had gained access to improved water supplies and over 9.04 million people had gained access to improved sanitation facilities. By comparison, the aid organisation World Vision and its partners provided basic drinking water services to nearly 500,000 people between 2021 and 2024, according to World Vision International, significantly fewer than the millions cited by the World Bank and the government for the SRWSSP.
The example of Longido: Why infrastructure was not enough
In Longido District, there had been substantial infrastructure expansion supported by RUWASA since 2019, according to the organisation SNV, but women still had to travel long distances to fetch water. SNV supported an assessment of water supply organisations and supply systems in Longido as part of its own WASH Systems for Health programme. The water supply organisations responsible for daily operations reportedly faced severe financial difficulties; existing connections remained unmetered, and paying users were charged a flat rate regardless of actual consumption. Unpaid bills were reportedly widespread, compounded by the belief that water, as a divine gift, should be free, while documented complaints were rarely addressed because suitable reporting systems were lacking. RUWASA's Maasai community development officer, Betty Majele, concluded that staff at the water organisations lacked skills in financial management, fee collection and bookkeeping. An assessment of all nine organisations and 50 supply systems in the region uncovered significant water and revenue losses; SNV identified meter installation, site plans for operation, maintenance and repairs, and a community-based complaints system as the next steps. According to SNV, RUWASA had already installed meters at seven key connections serving schools, a health centre and public water points between December 2025 and February 2026. Nationwide, water supplies remained incomplete despite rising production capacity: according to a UNICEF budget analysis, actual water production doubled between 2015 and 2023, but only 48.8 percent of demand was met. UNICEF therefore recommends higher budget allocations for the sector, because foreign financing remains unreliable due to global factors beyond the government's control, as well as targeted skills development for water suppliers' operating staff.
Next target: 90 percent by 2030/31
The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency has set a target for the coming years of increasing rural supply coverage from 85.2 percent to at least 90 percent by 2030/31, according to The Citizen.