Between 2007 and 2012 the Global Water Initiative (GWI) financed rural water supply programmes across eight countries in the East and West Africa regions, including construction of new and/or rehabilitated rural water schemes and establishment of water committees. Approximately three years on and driven by an interest in tracking the long-term viability of schemes delivered under these programmes, GWI commissioned two separate reviews to investigate the current status of interventions, as well as the potential for future sustainability. Although the two studies used quite different methodologies, both looked at common areas including technical performance, governance and management systems. This policy brief draws out the key lessons from both the reviews and concludes that the analysis shows that under certain circumstances community management of point sources can function, albeit with many challenges.