The term "Operation and Maintenance" has been used as a general concept covering a wide range of activities carried out by utilities, government and communities in order to sustain their services and to maintain existing capital assets.

Specifically, in the present context operation refers to the procedures and activities involved in the actual delivery of services, e.g. abstraction, treatment, pumping, transmission and distribution of drinking-water. Maintenance refers to activities aimed at keeping existing capital assets in serviceable condition, e.g. by repairing water distribution pipes, pumps and public taps.

Nine tools are described in this document. They are targeted at:

• policy-makers (including staff of international development agencies) who need to optimize the investments in water and sanitation by developing improved management strategies which give a higher profile to operation and maintenance;
• professional staff employed in utilities, local government (both urban and rural), and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) who are involved in the development of programmes to improve the actual operation and maintenance of water supply and sanitation facilities

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World Health Organisation