Hi Robert. I feel like we're ...

Hi Robert. I feel like we're missing some information to be able to give you proper advice, but I assume from the remote setting this is a relatively poor area, with little access to equipment, fuel and water treatment chemicals, so you're looking at the cheapest method possible with as little operational input as possible to make it sustainable?

In that situation I'd use the old adage of 'beggars can't be choosers'. If you don't have a means to go through the regular process as mentioned by Daniel above then you have to be creative and use a combination of options if necessary. Rainwater harvesting is already a good start even if it doesn't provide enough, and it's a relatively simple technology that can be easily learned and maintained by the local community. Afterwards if you're looking to supplement the supply and your surface water is not too turbid (> 30 NTU) you could always consider SODIS technology, which basically means leaving water in transparent bottles in the UV rays of the sunlight for 6 hours until all parasites have been killed.

Check out this website for details: http://www.sodis.ch/index

Hope that helps!