A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2005

Since adoption of "Doi moi" strategy, Vietnam has achieved significant development in social and economic aspect. People's health has now become a priority for the government. Therefore, it is vital to pay attention on water supply and sanitation, especially in the rural area, where the people are poor and uneducated. It is also supposed to reduce the gap between urban and rural living standard. Water supply in Tiengiang, one of the provinces of Cuu Long River of Vietnam, has been rapidly developed in the last ten years. The coverage of piped water supply is increasing day by day. "Water supply socialization" strategy has been applied in the Tiengiang province with the significant rise in coverage for rural area. In this study, different kinds of management models applied in the Tiengiang province have been studied, with focus on two, which emphasize on community participation more than the others do. These are cooperative and user groups. The evaluation has been based on two sets of indicators, the standard set of indicators and those developed by the author and the management model with best performance has been selected. Based on author's analysis, each management model has its own advantages and disadvantages, therefore, the provincial government and water supply and sanitation center should give suggestion to enhance their performance in the future.