A/HRC/42/47/Add.3 who fall outside of the public water and sanitation system and who must, therefore, have their rights fulfilled via individual solutions such as septic tanks and latrines. Whilst individual solutions are a potentially acceptable means by which the human rights to water and sanitation can be ensured, this is only so where these solutions are properly constructed and maintained (A/HRC/36/45/Add.1, paras. 44-45). For instance, in Porto he learned that people living in ilhas, these being very small homes, unique to Porto, which house some of the poorest families, often only had access to “ad hoc sanitation facilities that are sometimes outside their homes or without doors for privacy or a place to wash.” (A/HRC/36/42/Add.1, para. 46) 37. Some positive steps have, since the Special Rapporteur’s visit, been taken in order to improve the living conditions of people living in ilhas in Porto. On 12 July 2017, a Draft Resolution (No. 982/XIII/2) on the “Rehabilitation of Ilhas in Porto” was put forward. The Draft Resolution proposed to urgently survey and requalify (sic) ilhas in order to guarantee the right to adequate housing, making reference to the common lack of running water and the prevalence of common sanitation facilities in this housing. On 26 January 2018, Resolution 116/XIII/2 was adopted, recommending that the Government rehabilitate the ilhas in Porto. Reference is made in the Resolution to the urgent need to ensure necessary conditions of habitability and cleanliness, to guarantee the right to adequate housing of the families living therein, and to promote the consultation and participation of the inhabitants throughout the process 38. The Government noted that it has in place mechanisms to better guarantee that water rights are ensured to all, including those utilising individual solutions. To this end, it noted that the Ministry of Environment seeks to combine “small and medium-sized municipal systems” in order to increase “economic efficiency as well as [improve] service quality and technical capacity for service provision.” According to the Government, “the rationale behind this strategy is to have more robust utilities and increase the overall quality of water service, including the implementation of tailor-made solutions to address the situations where full compliance with [the human rights to water and sanitation] is not met.” The response further notes that additional funding has been provided to facilitate the aggregation of small water facilities. 39. The Special Rapporteur congratulates Portugal for passing a Resolution that will assist in improving the living conditions of those in ilhas and ensuring for them a greater enjoyment of their human rights. He reminds the Government that despite the removal of specific references to the rights to water and sanitation in the final Resolution, ensuring these rights must remain central to the project of upgrading the housing of inhabitants if Portugal is to comply with its human rights obligations. Additionally, he is pleased that the Government has taken steps to ensure that municipalities are assisted to provide better quality water services to their populations through initiatives to pool their utility resources. However, for the Government to fully implement this, it must ascertain how the initiatives assist municipalities in supporting individual sanitation solutions and how those solutions reach people in vulnerable situations, such as those living in informal settlements. LIMITED PROGRESS: The Special Rapporteur notes that progress has been made, particularly on improving the living conditions of those in ilhas and on providing better quality water services. However, the Special Rapporteur reaffirms his recommendation that the Government should equally assist municipalities to ensure the right to sanitation is enjoyed by all inhabitants by providing support and assistance to these municipalities for the construction and maintenance of individual sanitation solutions, as specified in the recommendation. B. Recommendation on individual solutions for water RECOMMENDATION 11: “Ensure that individual solutions meet all the normative content of the human rights to water and sanitation, ensuring that individual water solutions are provided continuously and that the quality of water from wells or boreholes meets the official standards and that water from those sources is protected from different sources of contamination.” (A/HRC/36/45/Add.1, para. 82(l)) 10