Ethiopia is known for being a water tower in the continenr. It has a considerable potential ofrnllO-J20 billion cubic meters of surface water and 2.6 billion cubic meters of ground water.rnInspite of such potentials, it is one of the countries with small proportion of water tapped forrndomestic as well as productive activities. Recently different interventions against this challengernin the water sector started to emerge. MUS approach is one of them. It is a new conceptrnintroduced in the water sector. MUS is understood as "a participatory, integrated and povertyreductionrnfocused approach in poor rural and peri-urban areas, which takes people's multiplernwater needs as a starting point for providing inregrated services, moving beyond thernconventional sectoral barriers of the domestic and productive sectors" (Moriarty et ai, 2004).rnVarious interventions were there by societies and other organizations to actualize the MUSrnconcept on the ground. Application of de facto MUS and upgraded and planned MUS are somernof the interventions. The study focuses on upgraded and planned MUS. The main objective of thernstudy is to assess the challenges and opportunities of multiple use water systems (MUS) in GorornGutu and Meta woredas of East Hararghe zone. Samples were selected from two kebeles Fomrnthe two woredas.rnBoth primary and secondary data were collected using various techniques like surveyrnquestionnaire, key informants interview, focus group discu;Â·sion and other instruments like visitsrnof sites and informal interviews. Secondary data were collected from review of published andrnunpublished materials from concerned organizations. The collected data were coded in SPSs.rnDescriptive statistics, including tables of percentage distribution, Fequency distribution andrnothers were used for the analysis of the coded data. Figures (charts) were also used for morernillush"ations.rnThe findings of the analysis showed that the MUS facilities existing in the selected kebelesrnprovide services for households who are accessing water for both domestic and productivernactivities. The result of the data analysis also showed that attitude of households to MUS isrnpositive as majority of them are appreciative of the benefits others and themselves captured inrntheir lives as a result of the establishmenl of the MUS facilities. More over, there is greatrnaspiration of non user households to get chance to use the MUS facilities as benefiCiaries inrnorder to bring about monumental changes. However, there are some challenging situations tornthese MUS ;,ystems in the target woredas. These include reduction in the amount of water of therndeveloped springs, unsafe water Fom the springs, simple damage of some parts and others.rnSolutions were suggested Fom the poinl of view of respondents, different stakeholders andrnresearcher. These and other information were used to make concluding remarks. Basing thernfacts obtainedFom the data analysis, some recommendations were made.