The paper analyzes the provision of water services through communal organizations in the rural areas of Peru. First, we explain that communal organizations are a frequent provision system in Latin America. Then, we analyze the recent regulation of the water sector in Peru and we describe the structure of the market. We continue by explaining the main characteristics of the JASS, their performance, success and limitations. The paper also presents an empirical model that examines the characteristics that determine the existence of communal organizations in Peru. We show that households living in rural areas are more prone to be served by a communal organization, rural areas where there is no professional personnel are also more prone to be served by communal organizations and that the cultural roots of the community and its linguistic homogeneity also ináuences the presence of the communal organizations. Our paper discusses the convenience and viability of using country managed water system in the rural areas of developing countries. We explain that this provision system can be an e§ective alternative to provide the service in the regions not attended by public or private systems. Finally we analyse how e¢ cient could be the presence of private specialized operators providing water in rural towns.