Main source of water for drinking and for other domestic use

The availability and accessibility improved drinking water is an important aspect of the health of household members. The source of water supply particularly for drinking has tremendous effect on the burden of diseases. Water source are often classified as improved and unimproved. Sources considered as improved are piped public water into homes, public stand pipe, boreholes, protected dugout wells, protected springs and rain water collection; unimproved source are unprotected wells and springs, vendors and tanker trucks (WHO and UNIEF, 2000).

Household drinking water is obtained from five main sources; river or stream (33.1%), protected well (20.5%), bore-hole/pump or tube well (20.0%), pipe-borne outside dwelling (8.6%) and unprotected well (6.2%).

With respect to type of locality, river/stream is the main source of drinking water for rural households. Approximately, 44 percent of households in rural areas and 16 percent of urban households use river/stream as their main source of drinking water. Approximately two out of ten households in urban localities use either protected well (23.9%) or borehole/pump/tube (22.6%) well. Nearly 42 percent of rural dwelling units use improved sources of water for drinking.

Information on the main source of water for other domestic use by households. The source of water for domestic use is similar to drinking water with the exception of sachet water. River/stream (35.2%) is the main source of water for other domestic use; less than one percent of households use harvested rainwater. Protected well (32%) is mostly used for domestic activities by urban households and river or stream (45.2%) is mostly used by rural households for domestic activities.

Bathing and other Toilet Facilities

An efficient and hygienic method of human waste disposal available in a dwelling unit is a critical indicator of the sanitary condition of the unit and is an indirect measure of the socio-economic status of a household. Table 8.12 shows that three main types of toilet facilities used in the district. The most common facilities are public toilet (33.5%), pit latrine (8.7%), and KVIP (4.0%). Approximately 52 percent of dwelling units do not have access to toilet facilities and as such use bushes and beaches (free range). The use of water closet (WC) is not common due to the low nature of the water table as the septic pits get filled up with underground water during the rainy season.

With respect to locality of residence, about two thirds (66.6%) of rural households have no toilet facilities, while 29.3 percent of urban households have no such facilities. However, 58.7 percent of urban households use public toilet facilities whereas 17.4 percent of rural households also use the facility. Pit latrines are used by 13.3 percent of rural and 1.5 percent of urban households. Bathing facilities available in dwelling units can be categorised primarily into four main types: Shared bathroom in the same house, bathroom for exclusive use, shared open bathing cubicle and open space around house. The percentage of households with shared bathroom in the same house is 26.1 percent, 24.2 percent of have a bathroom for exclusive use, 19.3 percent use a shared open cubicle and 17.7 percent of households use an open space around the house. By the locality of residence, 34.6 percent of households in the urban areas and 20.6 percent of households in the rural areas use a shared but separate room in the same house as bathing facility. 19.8 percent of urban households and 27 percent of rural households have their own bathroom for exclusive use.

Method of Waste Disposal

One of the most intractable challenges of both urban and rural areas in the district is adopting modern and hygienic waste disposal systems. Acceptable waste management practices help to prevent the spread of some types of infections and improves the quality of the environment. As shown in Table 8.13, the most widely used means of disposing solid waste (refuse) is either by public dump (open space) (45.2%) or dumping indiscriminately (29.2%). Only 16 percent of dwelling units use public dump (container). The most significant method of solid waste disposal in urban areas in the district is public dump (open space) (46.6%) compared with 44.3 percent in rural areas. Indiscriminate dumping of solid waste is used by 10.7 percent and 41.3 percent of households in the urban and rural areas respectively. However, whiles 35.3 percent of urban households use public dump (container) only 3.7 percent of rural households use such facilities.

Information on the method by which households in the district dispose of their liquid waste. Methods of liquid waste disposal in the district include throwing onto the street/outside (46.6%) or onto a compound in dwelling unit (36.6%). In the urban areas, 46.6 percent of households dispose of liquid waste by throwing it onto the street, while 33.6 percent of rural households do likewise. However, while 36.6 percent urban households dispose of their liquid waste by throwing it onto compound, 60.8 percent of rural households do same.