The main objective of this study is to assess the existing urban water supply services ofrnAxum town. Relevant data were gathered from both primary and secondary sources.rnMajor primary data consisted of a questionnaire survey and interviews with the supplyrnservice office, prominent citizens and professionals. A sample of 300 households wasrndrawn from all tabias using proportional to size method and respondent HHs werernselected using systematic random sampling. Responses of the questionnaires werernentered in to SPSS software for analysis. The survey result shows that the waterrnproduced only covers 45-59.4 percent of the demand. The distribution of water covers 70rnpercent of the population and includes private taps, yard taps, public standpipes andrnwater vendors. But the poor quality of water coupled with its inadequacy had encouragedrnpeople to use unprotected sources. Hence, piped water only serves 54.9 percent ofrnhousehold consumption purposes. Those who depend on public standpipes need 19rnfountains while only few are functional. They consume on average 15 II c/ d whenrncompared to 19.99 II c/ d and 21.66 II c/ d yard tap and private tap consumptionrnrespectively. More than half of households get water intermittently. This in tum decreasedrnthe duily average consumption to 11 II c/ d, far below the minimum requirement of 20rnII c/ d set by Mo WR. The inefficiency also became a cause of price increases to 32 centsrnper 20 liters from 6 cents and 5 cents for public standpipe and private users at nomwlrnperiods respectively.rnThe study also identified among others, inadequate water, poor water quality, inefficientrnand unfair distribution and interruption as major causes of water shortage and scarcity.rnThis was due to lack of skill, facilities, finance and coordinated efforts of all concernedrnstakeholders.rnThe paper recommends interventions to enable the Axum water service office to overcomernthe problems and contributions expected from all stakeholders, including the community.rnThe points include rehabilitation of wells, introduction of treatment plant, construction ofrndams to collect surface water, improving water shade management, and construction ofrnadditional standpipes, rainwater harvesting, strengthening the capacity of managementrnand coordinating efforts among stakeholders.