In 2000, various UN organizations launched a collaborative effort to assess the vulnerability of groundwater in several African cities. The project addressed the issue of aquifer vulnerability and the protection of groundwater quality. This book is a collection of thirty peer-reviewed papers on the topic, and provides a glimpse of the situation across the continent. The book begins with a broad overview of the situation in Africa, highlighting topics of special significance to the continent and presenting a variety of country perspectives. The subsequent papers provide specific case studies, introducing a range of diverse hydrogeological settings, with associated pollution sources, their causes and consequences. Methodologies for understanding impacts and for improving the situation are considered, with a view to the challenges ahead. The book will provide valuable reference and insight to professionals and decision-makers confronted with a wide diversity of challenges, including groundwater quality management in areas of rapid urbanisation in Africa and other developing areas.