SOMAP is the acronym for Sustainable Operation and Maintenance Project for rural water supply in Zambia and it is the strategy that the Government of the Republic of Zambia has adopted to sustain rural water supply. The SOMAP model was first successfully piloted in six rural towns for five years before rolling out nationwide in 2012.

This brief study report is adopted from the dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Project Management from the University of Lusaka. The research was a self-financed academic project to explore the effectiveness of the strategy adopted by the Government of the Republic of Zambia to sustain rural water sources of boreholes fitted with hand-pumps, using a case of Chongwe District. Convenient sampling technique was used to sample 47 water points at villages, schools and rural health centres for the study in the rural part of Chongwe district.