A public–private partnership (PPP) has operated in Senegal since 1996, with Senegalaise des Eaux (SDE, a subsidiary of Saur International) the private partner.

Faced with increasing demand from newly-connected users and constraints on water resources, the private operator initially distributed supply interruptions equitably among Dakar's neighborhoods.

The Lac de Guiers is an important water reservoir in the upper delta of the Senegal River, with a storage volume of almost 500 million cubic meters.

Mont Rolland, 70 kilometres (43 mi) from Dakar, was known for its mineral springs; villagers currently need to drill as deep as 80 metres (260 ft) to pump water.

[9] Because of growing demand and the need to close contaminated boreholes, surface water will have to be brought from the Senegal River, about 240 kilometres (150 mi) away, requiring high investment costs to expand the existing pipeline.

However, such large quantities of water would have a significant environmental impact on the Lac de Guiers and the Senegal River delta.

Future low flow on the Senegal River is difficult to predict due to climate change and uncertainties about the Manantali Dam.

[17] By 2007, water was being reused for a golf course and was envisaged for the irrigation of trees, green space and vegetable gardens after tertiary treatment.

Its shares are held by the West African infrastructure holding company Finagestion, which is majority-owned by the US-based, Africa-focused private equity fund Emerging Capital Partners.

All four bidders were invited to submit revised technical proposals and financial bids; Lyonnaise des Eaux eliminated for non-compliance.

Another approach is the community partnership with SONES, SDE, and an international NGO with local roots (Enda Tiers-Monde) to select locations for standpipes, build and operate them.

In 2001, An estimated 200,000 people had access to potable water with the Eau Populaire project in 2001, and it has led to a significant drop in waterborne illnesses in children.

[22] In rural areas, the government began supporting the introduction of sustainable management models for piped-water systems using boreholes in 1999 with the pilot project REGEFOR in central Senegal.

[24] 1971: Under President Léopold Senghor, an advocate of African socialism, Senegal nationalizes its water company as Société Nationale d'Exploitation des Eaux du Sénégal (SONEES).

1998: A Conseil Supérieur de l'Eau, run by the Prime Minister, is created to set policies for water-resource management and water supply.

[25] 1999: The pilot project REGEFOR is initiated in central Senegal with the support of the French Development Agency (AFD) to develop new management principles based on the disengagement of the state in favor of users and the private sector: metering, volumetric pricing, trained managers and technicians and clear relationships between the actors.

2009: The government commissions a study to assess (among other issues) whether the lease should evolve into a concession agreement under which the private company finances some (or all) of the investments.

2010/11: SAUR sells its share in SDE to the West African infrastructure holding company Finagestion, which is majority-owned by the US-based, Africa-focused private equity fund Emerging Capital Partners.

September 2013: Dakar's water supply is interrupted for three weeks after a break in a key transmission pipeline in Keur Momar Sarr Arrondissement.

[29] The sector's financial policy, defined in 1994, is based on the following principles: SDE applies an increasing-block tariff, which includes three blocks: In Dakar, water is also sold in buckets at standpipes.

[31] According to a World Bank study, standpipe users pay more for water but the government sees them as a temporary solution and intends to reach all the poor with private connections.

[9] Price increases have been limited to three percent per year under the performance targets (the rate of inflation), keeping tariffs constant in real terms.

Interest-free long-term loans by international financial institutions to the Senegalese government are lent to the asset holding company and recovered from users through billing by SDE.

Achieving financial sustainability for ONAS and finding means to devote resources for on-site sanitation promotion and development remain a challenge.

In 1996, Citibank and the Compagnie Bancaire de l'Afrique Occidentale (CBAO) provided a credit line of $21.4 million (11 billion F.CFA) over six years to assist the asset-holding company SONES with its cash flow.

[8] In 2006, it approved a $7.7 million output-based aid project to support access to on-site sanitation services in Dakar which was implemented by ONAS, the public works agency AGETIP and an NGO.

In November 2007 the EIB signed two additional financing agreements with SONES in support of Senegal's National Drinking Water and Sewerage Programme for the Millennium (PEPAM).

Under the project, more than 60 urban centres (including Dakar) will benefit from schemes to rehabilitate, upgrade and extend the drinking-water supply network, reaching more than 500,000 people over four years.

The planned work includes the creation of 25 new boreholes, construction of a water-treatment plant, extension of the supply network by more than 500 kilometres (310 mi) and installation of 50,000 subsidized connections and 360 standpipes.

The funding will provide drinking water to Saint-Louis residents and two communities in central and southern Senegal: Kaolack and Kolda.