Households’ motivations for investing in multiple-use water services in rural Burkina Faso

Not long ago, Madame Celine* had to meet all of her family’s needs bucket-by-bucket, drawing water from a shallow unprotected well. The water’s quality was poor, and in the dry season the well would often go dry. At these times she would be forced to go to the public handpump, 1 kilometer away, to wait in long lines with dozens of other villagers whose own wells had gone dry. During these dry months, Celine would only be able to fetch enough water for the most basic of domestic needs, such as drinking and cooking.