Aligning stakeholder interests: How ‘appropriate’ technologies have become the accepted water infrastructure solutions for low-income areas

Service differentiation and the use of "appropriate technologies" are often presented as alternative approaches to providing water service to low-income areas. Service differentiation allows water service providers to manage the risks associated with service expansion to these areas. We argue that rather than a choice of the service provider alone, the decision for service differentiation should be seen as a consensus between different actors in the water services sector. A review of secondary data, and semi-structured interviews with diverse stakeholders in three Kenyan cities, show that managers of water utilities also choose these strategies because they appeal to and align with the interest of donors, governments, sector organisations, and alternative providers. •Service differentiation is not a decision of the water utility alone.•Service differentiation caters to interests of different actors in the water sector.•Understanding water provision requires looking at the larger institutional environment.•How consumers are involved in decision-making on service technologies is unclear.