Assessing the relationship between power generation and household sanitation in Uganda

Abstract

Uganda currently has 850 Megawatts (MW) of installed capacity (with effective generation of approximately 710 MW), of which approximately 645 MW is hydro and 101.5 MW is thermal generating capacity. The Government of Ugandan is building additional large hydropower facilities, such as the 600 MW Karuma hydro and the 183 MW Isimba Falls hydro project. Uganda has approximately 1500 kilometers of transmission lines (over 33 kV), which the government aims to double; there are plans to upgrade existing transmission lines and develop a 220kV “ring” around Lake Victoria in conjunction with Kenya and Tanzania. The study was carried within the framework of finding the impact of power generation to the household sanitation in Uganda. The study mainly focuses on Uganda. In reference to the findings of the study, the majority (82.17%) of the households does not have a hand washing facility while the least (17.83%) of the households’ have hand washing facility. The highest percentage (33.63) of the households use solar lighting system followed by (23.65%) who use dry cells for lighting, 15.25% who use paraffin for lighting, 12.78% use other sources, 7.29% use solar home system, 2.58% use electricity-national grid, 1.91% use firewood, 1.79% use paraffin lantern, 0.45% use candles and finally, 0.34% of the households use grass and electricity-mini grid for lighting. The highest percentage (53.14) of the households dispose their solid waste in garden, followed by 32.06% of the households who put in pit and 5.94% of the households burn off their solid waste materials, 8.18% keep heap, 0.45% of the households use skip bin for keeping solid waste and finally 0.11% of the households keep their solid waste in a waste vendor and others. In reference to the above findings, the study therefore recommends the government to impose policies on solid waste disposal so as to regulate their disposal since the highest percentage (53.14%) dispose solid waste in garden. This therefore reduces on the high level of pollution of the land hence improving the sanitation of the households in Uganda