India is an enormously diverse country, although the challenges of water scarcity and quality are almost
ubiquitous. This paper focuses on two villages in Karnataka state where a mixed methods qualitative
research approach was applied. This revealed that decision - making about water supplies was made in a
top-down fashion and there was little opportunity for village members to contribute. The policies and
tariff systems were extremely complex. Communities had their own social and religious beliefs about
their water supplies as well. Together these may be contributing to their rejection of the government
supplied water and their use of alternative, often unimproved sources and of water filters in their houses.
These decisions and the reasons behind them will be further explored in an additional fieldwork
campaign