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Socio-economic aspects of domestic groundwater consumption, vending and use in Kisumu, Kenya

Socio-economic aspects of domestic groundwater consumption, vending and use in Kisumu, Kenya
Socio-economic aspects of domestic groundwater consumption, vending and use in Kisumu, Kenya
Shallow hand-dug wells are commonly used to supplement partial or intermittent piped water coverage
in many urban informal settlements in sub-Saharan Africa. Such wells are often microbially contaminated.
This study aimed to quantify the amount of such groundwater consumed, identify the socioeconomic profile of well owners and consumers, and patterns of domestic water usage in informal settlements in Kisumu, Kenya. Building on a previous study, 51 well owners and 137 well customers were
interviewed about well water abstraction, water usage and handling patterns, asset ownership, and service access. An estimated 472 m3 of groundwater per day was abstracted in two informal settlements,with most groundwater consumers using this water for purposes other than drinking or cooking. According to an asset index, well owners were significantly wealthier than both the customers purchasing
their groundwater and those drinking or cooking with untreated groundwater. This suggests that shallow groundwater sources provide poorer urban households with a substantial volume of water for domestic purposes other than drinking and cooking. Ongoing challenges are thus to raise awareness of the health risks of such water among the minority of consumers who consume untreated groundwater and find means of working with well owners to manage well water quality
0143-6228
189-197
Okotto, L.
bbc26184-9c30-4e23-a3ea-5cf2ee23a01a
Okotto-Okotto, J.
31bb626b-c11e-455f-977a-8b4a5b799aa8
Price, Heather
4d3a250f-c7c6-4b2f-8136-fe4df0acd284
Pedley, S.
6c718169-d16b-43e9-88d2-a1e32d3073b9
Wright, Jim
94990ecf-f8dd-4649-84f2-b28bf272e464
Okotto, L.
bbc26184-9c30-4e23-a3ea-5cf2ee23a01a
Okotto-Okotto, J.
31bb626b-c11e-455f-977a-8b4a5b799aa8
Price, Heather
4d3a250f-c7c6-4b2f-8136-fe4df0acd284
Pedley, S.
6c718169-d16b-43e9-88d2-a1e32d3073b9
Wright, Jim
94990ecf-f8dd-4649-84f2-b28bf272e464

Okotto, L., Okotto-Okotto, J., Price, Heather, Pedley, S. and Wright, Jim (2015) Socio-economic aspects of domestic groundwater consumption, vending and use in Kisumu, Kenya. Applied Geography, 58, 189-197. (doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2015.02.009).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Shallow hand-dug wells are commonly used to supplement partial or intermittent piped water coverage
in many urban informal settlements in sub-Saharan Africa. Such wells are often microbially contaminated.
This study aimed to quantify the amount of such groundwater consumed, identify the socioeconomic profile of well owners and consumers, and patterns of domestic water usage in informal settlements in Kisumu, Kenya. Building on a previous study, 51 well owners and 137 well customers were
interviewed about well water abstraction, water usage and handling patterns, asset ownership, and service access. An estimated 472 m3 of groundwater per day was abstracted in two informal settlements,with most groundwater consumers using this water for purposes other than drinking or cooking. According to an asset index, well owners were significantly wealthier than both the customers purchasing
their groundwater and those drinking or cooking with untreated groundwater. This suggests that shallow groundwater sources provide poorer urban households with a substantial volume of water for domestic purposes other than drinking and cooking. Ongoing challenges are thus to raise awareness of the health risks of such water among the minority of consumers who consume untreated groundwater and find means of working with well owners to manage well water quality

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 12 February 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 February 2015
Published date: 1 March 2015
Organisations: Population, Health & Wellbeing (PHeW)

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 374944
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/374944
ISSN: 0143-6228
PURE UUID: 83201e64-6014-4f25-bf2f-8d305f0ceee5
ORCID for Jim Wright: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8842-2181

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Date deposited: 06 Mar 2015 12:09
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:21

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Contributors

Author: L. Okotto
Author: J. Okotto-Okotto
Author: Heather Price
Author: S. Pedley
Author: Jim Wright ORCID iD

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