This new research report (IWMI Research Report No 98) by Barbara van Koppen, Patrick Moriarty and Eline Boelee presents results from the project “Multiple-use water services” (MUS). Taking people’s multiple water needs as a starting point for providing integrated services, the project moves beyond the conventional divides of the domestic and productive sectors. Three aspects are discussed. First, a typology is developed for the various efforts since the 1980s to overcome the shortcomings of conventional single-use planning and design. Second, empirical evidence is analysed to identify merits and drawbacks of needs-based and participatory water-services provision, compared to conventional approaches. Third, a framework is provided, based on principles at community, intermediate and national levels, that represents the conditions that the project team have identified as being pivotal for implementing and upscaling MUS approaches at large scale.