The involvement of the rural privatesector in water supply in Cambodia is unique to the country.The presence of this private sector allows other entities torespond to new demands from people living in the largervillages for household water supply, which the State is notyet able to address. These entrepreneurs operate on amerchant basis, lacking an institutional structure which isstill being created. Their business is most often based onpushcart delivering water barrels at the house of villagersor more recently on small piped networks usuallydistributing raw surface water. Service is rough; the waterquality is uncertain, but the users are satisfied with thisservice, because for them, it constitutes anotheralternative to the already considerable choice of watersupplies available-ponds, wells, boreholes, and rivers.Their demands focus more on a practical objective (a supplyin the household) than on a sanitary one, even if surveysshow that villagers have a good understanding of healthrisks associated with water. Through the implementation of14 small scale water supply systems, the goal was to enhancea qualitative improvement of the water service in someCambodian small towns through the transformation of roughand informal merchant services to a basic water servicesupplying drinking water to an extended population under aformal institutional arrangement. The MIREP (Mini Reseauxd'Eau Potable - Small Scale Piped Water Supply System)program, launched in 2001 to transform these very basicinitiatives into basic services, began as a pilot projectsupporting one entrepreneur in the implementation of a smallpiped water system. In order to move forward, the MIREPprogram made a choice, in particular linked to its proximityto the Ministry of rural development, to assist the nascentinvolvement of communes in decentralization, to strengthenprovincial power through the process of decentralization,and to respect the cultural heritage of those who devisedand financed the project.
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