Almost all of the world's major cities will enter the 21st century facing a water crisis. The explosive growth of urban centres over the past 25 years or so, which continues unabated, is rapidly depleting previously bountiful fresh water resources. The urban water challenge is taking an ominous dimension in vast tracts of Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, where the situation is most precarious. Rapid urbanisation, growing populations and development are overwhelming traditional water management practices. Keywords: Water demand management, Africa, maintenance, water supply system, potable water, manual, conservation, technical aspects, component based leakage management, water suppliers, non revenue water, water losses, standard annual water balance, financial resources, best practices, International Water Association, South African Water Research Commission.