Piped water consumption in Ghana: A case study of temporal and spatial patterns of clean water demand relative to alternative water sources in rural small towns

Abstract

Continuous access to adequate quantities of safe water is essential for human health and socioeconomic development. Piped water systems (PWSs) are an increasingly common type of water supply in rural African small towns. Despite providing the highest and most flexible level of service with better microbiological water quality to their users, these systems remain vulnerable to rural water sustainability challenges. We assessed temporal and spatial patterns in water consumption from public standpipes of four PWSs in Ghana in order to assess clean water demand relative to other available water sources. Low water consumption was evident in all study towns, which manifested temporally and spatially. Temporal variability in water consumption that is negatively correlated with rainfall is an indicator of rainwater preference when it is available. Furthermore, our findings show that standpipes in close proximity to alternative water sources such as streams and hand-dug wells suffer further reductions in water consumption. Qualitative data suggest that consumer demand in the study towns appears to be driven more by water quantity, accessibility, and perceived aesthetic water quality, as compared to microbiological water quality or price. In settings with chronic under-utilization of improved water sources, increasing water demand through household connections, improving water quality with respect to taste and appropriateness for laundry, and educating residents about health benefits of using piped water should be prioritized. Continued consumer demand and sufficient revenue generation are important attributes of a water service that ensure its function over time. Our findings suggest that analyzing water consumption of existing metered PWSs in combination with qualitative approaches may enable more efficient planning of community-based water supplies and support sustainable development.

Indicators of improved water access in the context of schistosomiasis transmission in rural Eastern Region, Ghana

“…For all PWSs, a nearby resident was hired by the town to sell water from the public standpipes for several hours per day in the mornings and evenings, charging water consumers on a per–use volumetric basis. More information about PWSs in the study area is found in a prior publication (Kulinkina et al, 2016). …”

“…Despite this limitation, we believe that the most prevalent and severe WQ problems were represented by this method, and the method can be widely and inexpensively applied to areas where no water quality information is available. Furthermore, a limited analysis of reported WQ problems and measured water quality parameters for salty taste of groundwater showed that in towns where users ubiquitously noted a salty taste, total dissolved solids, chloride and sulfate concentrations were elevated in the water samples (Kulinkina et al, 2016). …”

“…Distance, water quality, and price of water are known to influence water use patterns and health benefits offered by improved water sources (Cairncross, 1987; DeGabriele, 2002; Fuest, 2005; Howard & Bartram 2003; Rogers et al, 2002; Overbo et al, 2016; Pickering & Davis, 2012). Households that self–report using an improved water source for the JMP indicator may still extensively rely on unimproved water sources, especially when the improved source is frequently in disrepair, is of poor perceived water quality for domestic purposes, or is too expensive to use exclusively (Kosinski et al, 2016; Kulinkina et al, 2016). Reliance on untreated surface water, even when temporary and sporadic, places populations at risk for waterborne and water–related diseases.…”

Linking Satellite Remote Sensing Based Environmental Predictors to Disease: An Application to the Spatiotemporal Modelling of Schistosomiasis in Ghana

“…Access to the national health data of schistosomiasis in Ghana was granted based on recent research on schistosomiasis and water in Ghana (Kosinski et al 2011;Kosinaki et al, 2012;Kulinkina et al, 2016) The last systematic collection of health survey data in Ghana at the national scale and subsequently used to direct control efforts was in 2008 (Soares-Magalhaes et al, 2011). This study used detailed health data collected in 77 schools to direct post study drug distribution by interpolating predicted risk for the rest of the country.…”

Physicochemical parameters affecting the perception of borehole water quality in Ghana

“…However, these parameters define the organoleptic and aesthetic quality of water, which affects its acceptability for drinking and domestic uses (de Franca Doria, 2010). Groundwater with unpleasant taste or excess hardness, even when readily available, can drive consumers to continue using microbiologically contaminated unimproved sources (DeGabriele, 2002; Fuest, 2005; Kulinkina et al, 2016; Nyarko et al, 2007). Neither the MDG nor the SDG definition considers the organoleptic properties of improved water sources and the potential impact they may have on the utilization of these sources.…”