Acknowledgements

This training package was first designed in 1991 by Teun Bastemeyer from the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, under the guidance and advice of the Operation and Maintenance Working Group of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. Subsequently, François Brikké - with the help of the following staff of IRC: Peter Bury, Christine van Wijk, David Saunders, Jennifer Francis, Jo Smet, Michael Seager, Kathleen Shordt and Ineke van Hooff, and Johnny Rojas of CINARA (Centro Inter-regional de Abastecimiento y Remoción de Agua) in Colombia - developed it through various stages into the present version.

Professor Harry MacPherson and the staff of the National Directorate of Water of Namibia carried out the first testing of this package in 1993. The staff of ETSHER (Ecole Inter Etats des Techniciens Supérieurs de l’Hydraulique et de l’Equipement Rural) subsequently developed the French version of this course in Burkina Faso, while staff from the Direcção Nacional de Águas of Mozambique, together with the Centro de Formação Profisional de Águas y Saneamiento in Maputo, the Swiss Development Cooperation agency, UNICEF, and the Netherlands Embassy in Maputo, helped to develop the Portuguese version. Some elements of the latest version of this package have been tested in Vietnam by the staff of the Centre for Rural Water and Environmental Sanitation in Hanoi and UNICEF.

Members of the Operation and Maintenance Network are thanked for their commitment and contribution to the development of this package, particularly Mr José Hueb, Coordinator of this Network, for his constant support and encouragement. Special thanks are due to Mr Franz Gahwiler from SKAT (Swiss Centre for Development Cooperation in Technology and Management, St Gallen, Switzerland), for his excellent review of this material, which now incorporates most of his comments.

Finally, the World Health Organization supported and promoted the development and use of this training package through the WHO Regional and Country Offices in the world. This has helped to make earlier versions of this document known to the potential beneficiaries through national workshops and training courses.