This book is one of a series of six publications that consider how water utilities working with other key stakeholders, can meet the needs and demands of urban water consumers - including the poor - through developing an understanding of the needs and demands of all consumer groups, and by the adaptation of marketing/commercial approaches.

This book (Book 3) shows how a water utility or municipality can establish a dialogue with urban poor consumers to gain quality information about the services they receive and require. This is achieved through the use of a new approach called PREPP, a consumer consultation process developed primarily for this purpose.

PREPP is the acronym for Participation Ranking Experience Perception Partnership. The PREPP approach was developed and jointly piloted by social scientists and engineers. It can provide good information about the experiences, perceptions and preferences of low-income consumers for a variety of viable service and payment options, which is useful for utility investment planning.