About 63% of the Turkmen population is supplied w'ith w'ater through centralised water supply systems (84.5% of the urban population and 42.1% of the rural population). Therefore, increasing access to safe potable water has been officially recognised as a national priority. Water supply coverage in rural areas is estimated to be as low as 15%, and these are usually settlements benefiting from neighbouring urban WSS infrastructure. The rest of the population draws water from individual wells or irrigation canals, in some rural settlements, community-based organisations play a role in managing the provision of WSS services.