Improving access to urban piped drinking water services in Africa: a scoping review

Abstract

Access to reliable and safe piped drinking water protects public health and provides a range of social and other benefits. There has been substantial investment across Africa to improve access to piped water supply in urban areas of Africa, but the evidence on which approaches are most effective is sparse. We undertook a scoping review to identify studies in the published and grey literature that provide evidence on projects to improve access to piped water supply in urban areas of Africa. Available evidence is sparse and concentrated in a small number of countries. While progress has been made to increase access to piped water supply, benefits to low-income populations have been lower than for high-income groups. More projects focused on physical expansion of infrastructure rather than use of financial and economic measures, despite evidence of financial barriers being important in restricting access. There was mixed evidence that expansion of services improved service quality with several instances of deteriorating services found. The narrow literature base identified in this review highlights the urgent need for rigorous studies of effective approaches, which is essential to build upon successful interventions that hold the most promise for the future.