Knowledge, attitude and practice towards domestic rain water harvesting and usage among households in Awach Subcounty, Gulu District

Abstract

Introduction: In low and middle-income countries, communities and households still face challenge of limited access to safe and adequate quantities of water for domestic usage. Since access to water is a universal human right and the move to achieve SDG-3, several interventions such as domestic rainwater harvesting are needed to increase water access at the household level. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study carried out among 209 households aged 18 and above using semi-structured questionnaires. The data was analyzed using the Modified poisson regression model in Stata version 13. A total of 4 questions were used to assess knowledge to DRWH where a score of an average and above were categorized as good knowledge while scores below average was categorized as low knowledge on DRWH system. A total of 7 questions were used to measure the composite variable of attitude level where a score equals to average and above and scores below average were categorized as good attitude and poor attitude respectively. In addition, a total of 5 questions were used to measure composite variable for practice level where score equal to or above average and those below average were categorized as good and poor DRWH practices respectively. Descriptive statistics were used with frequencies and percentages for categorical variables and mean and standard deviations for continuous variables. Results: Knowledge 147/209 (70.3 %) on rain water harvesting was high among households. More than half 125/209 (59.8 %) of the households had positive attitude towards domestic rain water harvesting and usage. Generally the attitude towards DRWH and usage was good .however, there was belief on rain water quality being poor11/209 (66.7) and belief that rain water collected cannot be stored for long 158/209( 75.6). The majority 182/209 (87.1 %) of the households practiced rain water harvesting but only 110/209 (52.6 %) consistently harvested rain water every time it rains. The DRWH practice had a positive correlation with larger family sizes (AOR 2.58, 95% CI: 1.04-6.42) and formal employment (AOR 10.19, 96% CI: 1.57-65.97) while male participants were less likely to practice DRWH (AOR 0.43, 95% CI: 0.22-0.84) Conclusion: Despite a high level of knowledge on domestic rainwater harvesting, households had poor rain water harvesting practice characterized by inconsistency in rain water harvesting, poor involvement, limited investment in rain water harvesting and storage receptacle of significant size such as rain water tanks among others. There is therefore need for community sensitization and involvement of local leaders and other stake holders in addressing these gaps.