A sustainability assessment of decentralized water supply systems in Bandung City, Indonesia

Decentralized water supply systems (DWSS) are a form of community-based water supply infrastructure common in developing countries. These systems address the limitations of centralized water supply systems (CWSS), but one issue of DWSSs is their sustainability. Therefore, it is urgent to identify the inhibiting factors for their sustainability. This study assesses the level of sustainability of two prevalent types of DWSS in Bandung City: public wells and communal networks. The article shows that three critical factors must be considered to ensure the sustainability of DWSSs, namely structured organizations, community participation, and financial resources. This study also finds informal practices in the management of DWSSs that contribute to the system's sustainability. The study offers policy recommendations to improve the sustainability of existing and future DWSSs. Specifically, the study recommends forming DWSS institutions, improving community participation, implementing a tariff system as a source of funding and a way to conserve water, and lastly, integrating DWSSs and CWSSs.