This paper reports on a series of household water-use case studies around the city of Cochabamba in Bolivia. In particular it examines the multiple use of domestic water supplies, and the use by families of multiple sources to meet their water needs for both domestic and productive activities. As the city expands, it is argued that productive water uses such as irrigation of gardens or huertas are likely to make significant demands upon new domestic water supply systems. These uses are equally likely to have an important impact, whether positive or negative depending on your viewpoint, on the overall availability of water resources as well as on the livelihoods of urban and peri-urban water users.