The six pillars of the holistic methodology, with their sphere affiliation:

• Planning considerations (Micro, Meso & Macro):

  • Sufficient pre-project planning;

  • long term planning, for resilience, social and economic aspects and training for self-sufficiency;

  • Constant & proper integration between technology and the community;

  • Life cycle cost and considerations;

  • Dual members teams – local personal and external experts.

• Social considerations (Micro):

  • Taking into consideration cultural and historical issues;

  • Taking into consideration Human behavior issues, trust and legitimization and interest groups;

  • Involving the local community as a full partner in the project from the conception stage of the project; Community Buy-in; Empowering the community to instigate local responsiveness, participation and general buy-in;

  • Incorporating local “wisdom of the masses” tools; and creating norms;

  • Incorporating management, water committees, empowering local leaders.

• Business Considerations (Micro & Meso):

  • Appropriate business models enhancing community income;

  • General Income generation derived from agro-activities and industrial deployment;

  • Agriculture/food, water/sanitation, energy nexus

  • Appropriate tariff collection allocated to management, maintenance, training, capacity building.

• Technology considerations (Micro & Meso):

  • Use of appropriate technology; considering and understanding all possibilities and alternatives;

  • Focusing on simple, decentralized, low maintenance and low energy technologies;

  • Innovation;

  • O&M requirement, technical training and required skills.

• Stakeholders considerations (Micro, Meso & Macro):

  • Global trends and inputs;

  • Community – water committees and local leaders;

  • Government – national and local;

  • Donors, Private investors, NGOs;

  • Suppliers and contractors;

  • Corruption on all levels.

• Environmental considerations (Micro, Meso & Macro):

  • Do no Harm;

  • Take into account quantity and quality;

  • Addressing full scope of environmental issues, in a consistent format and carbon and ecological footprints;

  • Alternative energy; Energy efficiency; Soil pollution and rehabilitation; Water pollution;

  • Correct use of chemicals, fertilizer and pesticides and introduce alternatives where relevant.

At the end of the project, the gained knowledge will be written (and transferred) into a sustainability protocol. In the protocol each pillar will be presented as a model with "To-Do" steps that can be used by all stakeholders in the project, from the community level, up to the governmental level, for long term sustainability and project longevity.