Household challenges in accessing clean water in peri urban areas

Abstract

This study sought to assess the household challenges faced in accessing clean water in peri urban areas focusing on Bwaise Parish in Kawempe Division. The specific objectives entailed; finding out the level of household accessibility to clean water, finding out the challenges faced by peri-urban households in accessing clean water and identifying possible mechanisms for improving household’s accessibility to clean water in Bwaise parish III A qualitative research approach was used to carry out this study. Data was collected from household heads and Local council leaders (Key informants). Simple random sampling method was used to select 97 respondents who participated in this study. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview guides. Data was then captured and analyzed using SPSS 20. Package. Household access to clean water in Bwaise Parish was low, 80.41% of the households accessed water from unprotected spring wells, and 61.86% accessed piped water for drinking. 72.2% of the household members walked more than 500m to access water from the spring wells while 84.5% spent more than 1 hour waiting to get water during dry seasons. 66% of the households paid for water with majority paying 200 shillings during wet season and a 20 litre jerrycan fetching up to 500 shillings during dry season or break down of the limited water sources. By challenges faced in accessing clean water, 95.88% of the participants reported poorly planned settlement limiting establishment of water systems by NWSC, 92.78% were affected by inflated water bills especially at piped water, 77.32% cited poor management of the water sources, 69.07% reported a lot of time was spent on water access, 58.76% reported contamination of water with faecal matter during rainy season and spillage of sewage systems, causing several water borne diseases such as; Typhoid, diarrhea, dysentery. The possible mechanism for improve household access to clean water were majorly lobbying of government to provide water facilities and extend affordable water services (89.69%), community mobilization of finances for maintenance and establishment of clean water sources(70.10%), engaging private-public sector partnership in water provision (59.79%) and finally setting up water reservoirs in the settlement (50.52%). The study clear indicates that access to clean water among households in Bwaise was still low for majority of the households and there was limited clean water sources such as piped water. Government and its partners; Private sector and NGOs should partner to provide more access to clean water sources and equally exploit the available water sources which are within Bwaise parish III.