Sustainable Delivery of Privatized Water Services by KIWASCO to the Poor in the Municipality of Kisumu- Kenya

Abstract

Access to safe water supply has been one of the top priorities in developing countries over the past three to four decades and billions of dollars have been invested in pursuit of the goal of "universal service" and yet the current reality is far from that goal. Local authorities in Kenya have adopted privatization as a strategy for efficient and effective management and delivery of water services. The poor have not come to terms with the new water policy that emphasizes cost recovery. They view water as a basic need and human right and feel that the government has the responsibility of ensuring that it is available, accessible, adequate, safe and affordable. Water is widely viewed as a social and not economic good. Water utilities often serve only a fraction of the urban population with the vast majority relying on alternative sources. The poor households rely on vending systems and often pay vendors 2-10 times unit price paid by the connected households. The specific objectives were to; assess the level of accessibility to water services by urban residents; evaluate the affordability of privatized water services by the urban poor; and analyse the quality of water consumed by urban residents. The study has used both primary and secondary sources of data. The researcher sampled 367 from 8583 households distributed in the four categories, namely; high income, middle income, low income planned and low income unplanned residential estates in Municipality of Kisumu. Interviews were also conducted with key informants inc.luding KIWASCO as well as LVSWSB officials. The data was analyzed using ANOVA to assess the difference in the expenditure on and demand for water within and between the estates. Correlation Analysis has also been used to assess the degree of association between household income and water use amongst the residents, while ttest was used to determine the level of water affordability. The study found out that the proportion of households with access to safe water supply within a distance of 200m is 77.1 per cent and only 65.6 per cent of the basic water requirements of the households are met. The mean daily per capita water use is 32.92 litres compared with the WHO recommended 50l1e/d, with the high income households using about 2.5 times more than the unplanned settlement: households. Private in-house piped connection is the most important, yet only 19.8 per cent of the sampled households use them as their primary source. Vast majority of the households depend on either vendors or kiosks as their primary source· of water. Based on 5 per cent benchmark ratio, the study revealed that 75.7 per cent of the households find the cost of water unaffordable. The study further found out that the proportion of a household's income or iv budget spent on water service and affordability are negatively correlated and that expenditure on water constitutes a significant household budget, just like rent, fees and food. The majority of the households felt that, despite the good impressions of taste, smell and colour of water, they still found it necessary to treat their water either by boiling or use of chemicals. The study concludes that the proportion of households with access to safe water in the study area is quite low, below even the national average and the residents have to contend with multiple sources meet the daily water demand. The total water requirement of the households can be determined from the data collected and KIW ASCO would have a better sense of how much water to produce. The expenditure on water constitutes a significant household budget and based on of 5 per cent benchmark ratio, % of the residents find the cost of water unaffordable. The study recommends that to expand access to safe water services there is need for upfront investment on rehabilitation and extension of existing water network in addition to upgrading of treatment plant, thus reducing the cost of maintenance and unaccounted for water and making better use of economies of scale. New water ethics and demand-based service delivery should also be adopted for better management and services. Surveillance tests by other bodies like NEMA, WSB and KEBS should also be intensified through establishment of more test points and frequent regular tests both at the end points as well as treatment plant.