Rural Domestic Water Sources, Management Practices And Determinant Factors In Dire Enichini District, Oromia Regional State West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

Providing safe and clear water for the rural community is a major challenge in Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to assess the rural domestic water sources, management practices, and determinant factors in Dire Enchin District, Oromia National Regional State, West Shoa Zone, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional descriptive research design, which engages a mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, was used throughout the study. Household respondents were taken from four of the kebeles of the district using the multistage sampling method. Questionnaire surveys, FGD, KIIs, and observation were used to collect primary data. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 24.0. A total of 198 (66.9% females and 33.1 males) households were involved in this study. Agriculture accounted for 82% of all respondents‟ livelihood activities, and all had no private water drinking sources. Tap/ piped water is their domestic water source, followed by unprotected dug wells and surface water, accounting for 28%, 20 %, and 11%, respectively. They walk about 2.48±0.94 km to collect water, which takes 25.53±15.41min. Approximately 65% of them use unimproved water sources, while the remaining 45% use water for home-based productive activities. They went to get water 2.12±2.12 times a day. Adult women are responsible for fetching water, according to 33.1% of respondents. Approximately 48.9% of respondents also stated that the location of domestic water sources is convenient for water collection. About 43.3% of them also fetch water in the morning, while 33.7% do so in the afternoon. Human labor (67%) and carts (64.6%) are the main modes of water transportation. Similarly, 60% use jerry can for water fetching and storage, whereas 24% use clay pot. Only 11.0 % are satisfied with the water sources functioning, accessibility, and quality. The knowledge of the community about the quality of water and factors that can deteriorate the quality looks good. About 41% of respondents perceive that the community takes a high responsibility (41.0%) in source management. The majority of the household respondents are engaging in water source management through fencing or faulting the sources (60%), avoiding human-related pollution (55.1%), avoiding animal-related pollution (51.70%), and using diversion upstream (66.9%). About 68% of the respondents are also satisfied with current water source management, and 79% believe that there is no effective institutional structure for water supply services and management. About 77 % of the respondents are not involved in institutional-based water management. The major institutional constraints in water management in the current study area were a lack of staff and managerial capacities (62%), a lack of knowledge, poor planning (75%), difficulties in conducting ex-ante evaluation (66.3%), and difficulties in conducting ex-post monitoring and evaluation (56%). Livestock pollution is the leading cause of poor water quality (48.3%). In general, the factors influencing water source utilisation and conservation in the study area are gender, age, education, family size, waiting time, monthly income, ownership, satisfaction, and distance. Therefore, effective source management, improved institutional setup, and increased community knowledge on source management are critical.