For example, a report by GIZ notes that "despite heavy investments brought in by the World Bank and the European Union, (the utility serving Dar es Salaam) has remained one of the worst performing water entities in Tanzania.

However, using a broader definition of access that also includes standpipes and protected springs, there has been a slight increase in the proportion of households reporting a drinking water source within one kilometre.

[20] In addition, wastewater treatment plants are reported to operate in the municipalities of Morogoro, Dodoma, Iringa, Arusha and Songea[3] and in the cities of Dar es Salaam and Mwanza.

[27] After the union of the former British colonies Tanganyika and Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964, then President Julius Nyerere implemented a policy of African socialism called Ujamaa.

[30] In other communities, mismanagement of government provided funds and a desire to implement as many water systems as possible led to the initial construction of projects that never reached completion.

[29] In response to this failure Town and Municipal Councils were re-established in 1978, but remained without any revenue of their own and depended completely on central government funding.

Among the reasons were the lack of involvement by beneficiaries, the use of inappropriate technologies, insufficient financial resources, poor operations and maintenance procedures, and an inadequate, overly centralized institutional framework.

[27][29][31] The socialist policy of Ujamaa was gradually phased out when Nyerere handed power over to Ali Hassan Mwinyi, first as president in 1985 and then as head of the ruling party in 1990.

However, "payments were made at the official rate, as any higher allowances would undermine the government’s capacity to sustain or replicate work without donor inputs.

LGAs comprise 132 municipal, district and town councils: they are responsible for the procurement, financing, management and monitoring of service providers in their administrative area.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) oversees intra-government funding and is responsible for the overall planning and budgeting, including the water and sanitation sector.

The program is run by the Ministry of Water and includes goals for institutional reorganization as well as a focus on data collection and monitoring through a Management Information System.

[3] Formally, Water User Associations require payment of membership fees, participation in meetings, development of constitutions and by-laws, and election processes for leadership positions.

In the Hai District in the Kilimanjaro Region 200,000 people in 55 villages are served by gravity systems from sources in the rainforest on the slopes of Mount Kilimandjaro.

Here, distrust between the government and indigenous groups stemming from the failed Free Water policy results in a lack of compliance with formal regulations.

[53][54] Among the NGOs active in the Tanzanian water sector (and mentioned in a report by MoWI) are: WaterAid, The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV);Concern Worldwide, Plan International, WWF, Shahidi wa Maji,[55] Daraja,[56] and MSABI.

In 2009 the NGO WaterAid studied the local government planning process for water investments in four of the country's 99 rural districts, namely in Mpwapwa, Kongwa, Iramba and Nzega.

Another de facto criterion is the previous track record in caring for infrastructure: In some areas handpumps have been stolen, making it hard to justify new investments.

Communities close to town, located on main roads or with existing social services have an advantage in the decision-making process, since officials visit them more often and the cost of providing infrastructure is lower.

The WaterAid report suggests that if there was better availability of data on rural water supply infrastructure this could help the representatives of underserved communities to lobby on behalf of their constituents.

[31] EWURA data also point out that two out of the twenty regional utilities have an operating cost coverage ratio significantly higher than one, which means that they can sustain the current service level.

In water supply schemes run by Local Government Authorities, tariff levels are determined by the respective District Council, but without specific targets of cost coverage.

[3] Concerning affordability, an analysis of the 2007 household budget survey shows that the wealthiest quintile of Tanzanians spends more than TSh 4,000/= (US$3.10) per month for water, corresponding to about 1 per cent of their income.

Conversely, an increasing part of central government budget is devoted to feasibility studies: this reflects the co-ordinating and policy setting role to which MoWI is shifting.

[4] According to data published by MoWI, of the funds budgeted for the water and sanitation sector for fiscal year 2009–2010, about 88% will be provided from foreign transfers.

Between 2003 and 2007, the EU committed round €33 million to the Water Supply Programme to Regional Centres, jointly financed by German financial cooperation.

The main objective of the programme was to improve the access to sustainable quality water supply and wastewater management services in the three regional centres of Mwanza, Iringa and Mbeya.

For example, in 2003 KfW provided 21 million euros for the project Supporting Regional Center's Water Supply and Sewerage in the rapidly growing towns of Mbeya and Mwanza.

To achieve this, water supply facilities have been extended and rehabilitated, sanitation facilitates have been upgraded and capacity building measures have been carried out, including improvement of IT systems used for billing.

[72] GIZ develops local capacities in the sector, including in the Ministry, EWURA and in commercial service providers, such as those in Tanga and in Kilimanjaro Region.