Until the early 1990s, the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) had been responsible for urban and rural water supply since 1965. During this period, there was low coverage of Rural Water Supply for rural people. This led to the creation of Rural Water Department within the GWSC in 1986 to give more attention to the provision of water and sanitation services for rural people.

Some facilities were provided but these could not be sustained due to non-payment of tariffs by beneficiary communities and little or no maintenance by the centralised maintenance units of the GWSC.