Assessment Of Community Based Water Supply, Consumption, Utilization And Perceived Sustainability: A Case Of Rironi Self-Help Water Project, Kiambu County Kenya

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to assess the influence of demography, water consumption level, water supply and water utilization on perception of CBWR sustainability at Rironi Self Help Water Project (SHWP) in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study objectives were: to determine the influence of demographic characteristics of project members on perception of CBWR sustainability, to establish the influence of water supply on perception of CBWR sustainability, to establish the influence of water consumption level on perception of CBWR sustainability and to assess the influence of water utilization on perception of CBWR sustainability. The study was guided by the general systems theory by Bertalanffy (1968). The study adopted a cross sectional survey research design. The research was carried out at Rironi, Limuru Central Ward in Kiambu County. Stratified random sampling was used to select nine geographical zones covered by the community based water project. From each zone, random sampling was used to select 297 respondents who participated in the study. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 24. Inferential statistics including Chi-Squares and Spearman Correlations were used to test relationships between variables. The findings revealed that the overall perception of CBWR sustainability was rated as moderate by 11%, high by 54%, and very high by 35% of the respondents. The results of the hypotheses tests showed that demographic characteristics had significant influence on the perception of CBWR sustainability as follows: gender (χ2= =27.117, d.f= 2; p = 0.001), age, (χ2 =31.532, d.f=8; p = 0.001), education, (χ2 =12.135, d.f=4; p = 0.016), occupation (χ2 =23.010, d.f=8; p = 0.003), household size (P=0.001, rs =0.240), duration of residence (χ2 =22.256, d.f=6; p=0.001) and geographical zone (χ2 =113.862, d.f=16; p = 0.001). The water supply and consumption variables that had a statistically significant influence on CBWR sustainability were: availability of secondary sources of water (χ2 =27.428, d.f=4; p=0.001), water disruption in the dry months (χ2 =30.705, d.f=8; p = 0.001), number days water was supplied (P=0.001, rs =0.250) and the volume of water consumed (χ2 =10.919, d.f=4 p = 0.027). However, the mode of water utilization had no significant influence on perception of CBWR sustainability. It was concluded that respondents’ demographic characteristics, amount of water supplied and amount of water consumed had statistically significant influence of the perception of CBWR sustainability. The study recommends the need to consider investment of water infrastructure in the SHWP, implement control measures to ensure that water supply is done equitably in the different geographical zones and reduce the variations in the number of days that water is supplied to members during the dry months. The SHWP should limit the expansion of the water supply coverage to a smaller geographical area. The SHWP members should adopt water conservation measures in order to ensure long term sustainability of community based water resources in the densely populated study region.