Water availability and household sanitation and hygiene: case study of Koboko Town Council, Koboko District Nothern Uganda
Loading...
Date
2013-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kampala International University, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Abstract
The research on “Water Availability and Household Sanitation and Hygiene” was carried out in Koboko Town Council, Koboko District with specifically on finding out the available water sources; examine the level of accessibility of the available water sources; examine the extent to which accessibility of the water sources influences household sanitation and hygiene; and assess the level of success of town council authorities in improving household sanitation and hygiene by improving access to safe water The sample was selected purposively where the people most affected by water shortages in households, particularly the women were of significant importance. Purposive sampling was administered on the community members and leaders because they experience the sanitation and hygiene problems in case of water shortages. Stratified sampling was applied on the district water board employees and health personnel who were purposely selected because they work in the study area and thus had vital knowledge about the subject under study and thus satisfied the strata. During the study, the researcher took into consideration the different attributes of respondents such as age and sex and procedure therefore was based on demographic characteristics of the study respondents. A sample of 60 respondents was used in the study. It cut across the different ages and sex groups of the population, and it involved 20 men, 30 women, 4 Health personnel, and 6 members from Town Council water board and Water Aid Project. The data collected during the study was obtained through use of self-administered, interviews and observations. Both close and open-ended questionnaires were given to a cross section of respondents to aid and facilitate comprehensive data collection. This instrument helped in generating quantitative data. It was also selected because of its ability to minimize biased and unwarranted responses yet provided a lot of information and freedom to the respondents to exercise their independence in providing data. The study was both quantitatively and qualitatively designed through use of questionnaire and interview guide as study instrument administered on 60 respondents from camps It was established that the water sources available in Koboko town council included; boreholes,
spring wells, gravity fed supply water, swamp water and piped water. The level of accessibility was found to be restricted by distance and cost of collection, poor storage facilities, poor planning, low measures taken in promoting water access and biased considerations. The study revel that household hygiene and sanitation was affected due to poor access of the available water sources in the following ways; it leads to spread of communicable disease, poor access to other services, economic stagnation and loss of lives. The access and distance of collecting water or water points is an important concern, as this reduces the number of times for recollection. Reflecting on these assertions, it can therefore be submitted that distance and cost of collection minimize the ability of households to access water, and by using water sparingly household sanitation and hygiene is affected. I could recommend that the town authorities need to put more efforts to promote a better ways of constructing proper layout water points, synthesizing existing knowledge and drawing inclusive programs in improving access to the available water sources (piped water supply, borehole, lakes and rivers, gravity flow schemes, dams and intakes) it can be easy for the households to improve their sanitation and hygiene to lead healthy livelihood The town council authorities have also play an important role in improving safe water access to promote household hygiene through soliciting for donor support, focusing on meeting priority water needs, decentralizing water management issues and improved planning for water source maintenance as well attempting to evenly distribute the water sources for household consumption
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Award of the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management of Kampala International University
Keywords
Water availability, Household sanitation and hygiene, Koboko Town Council, Koboko District, Nothern Uganda