Water sources, hygiene and sanitation in East Africa

In this blog I want to discuss something I have mentioned only fleetingly so far, the relationship between water accessibility and the health of Africa’s urban population. Following Tumwine et al. (2002) I am going to focus on three crucial determinants of the incidence of diarrhoea in East Africa: the type of water source, the quantity of water available and the provision of sanitation facilities. 

Relationship between water source and diarrhoea prevalence. Source: Tumwine et al. (2002)

The above graph indicates the relationship between the type of water source used and the prevalence of diarrhoea — the cause of over 20% of child mortality in Kenya (see here). Surface water is the worst, and within this category static reservoirs and ponds appear to be more likely to result in sickness than springs and seeps. Vendors emerge as the safest source of water. However I think it’s important to point out, in light of Howard et al’s (2002) findings, that it is not unknown for vendors to make use of surface water supplies themselves! 

The next issue is the actual quantity of water available. As mentioned briefly in an earlier post, there is a direct relationship between the availability of water and the practices of household cleaning and personal hygiene. Tumwine et al’s analysis reveals that for each unit increase in water consumption (L/capita/day) the odds of contracting diarrhoea reduces by a factor of 0.96. This brings us back to the discussion of piped and unpiped water supplies and what they mean for domestic water availability. 

Whether household supplies are piped or unpiped also has important consequences for sanitation. The authors found that the incidence of diarrhoea was far lower in those dwellings with a latrine or other sanitation facility than in those without. This jogs my mind back to an article on flying toilets that I read last week when preparing for my blog on Kibera. If you’re interested to learn a bit more about sanitation in the continent’s largest slum then go and check it out! 

Kisumu Kenya. Source: Water Journalists Africa