Including water quality monitoring in rural water services: why safe water requires challenging the quantity versus quality dichotomy

The need to increase drinking water quality monitoring in rural sub-Saharan Africa is widely recognised. Rural water service providers (RWSPs) may be positioned to include water quality monitoring in their activities; however, it is important that water safety activities do not compromise cooperation between the RWSP, bureaucracy, and communities. This study uses dilemma analysis, drawing on an institutional experiment engaging 76 stakeholders to identify and characterise the multiple dilemmas faced in including water quality monitoring in rural water services.