Water quality in the Apac, Mbale & Lira districts, Uganda : a field study evaluating problems and suitable solutions

Safe water is a widespread problem in developing countries. In 2004 The United Nations formed the Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanitation Initiative, which focuses on increasing the water quality and basic sanitation in both rural- and urban areas. The government of Uganda is a part of the initiative, since the quality of the drinking water in the country persists to be a widespread problem. In Uganda the socio-economic situation in the rural areas are contributing to the problems regarding development, safe water and sanitation. This small study contributes to filling the gap regarding the peoples own experiences and ideas about their water and sanitation situation in rural Uganda, as there is a lack of studies bringing up this aspect and its importance for a successful implementation of household water treatment methods. To investigate the water situation in rural areas in Uganda, a field study was preformed and households in seven villages were interviewed about how they experience their water quality. The aim of this study was to investigate how residents in the villages experienced the water situation in relation to experienced health effects. Potential solutions in form of six general household water treatment methods and their suitability to solve the problems found at site were also a part of the aim. The methods weighted and discussed were boiling, Solar disinfection, ceramic filtration, Biosand filtration, chemical disinfection and coagulation systems. Common problems found in the villages were diarrhoeal diseases and undefined stomach complications. Many households brought up human pollution and cattle drinking in the water stations as examples of polluting sources that were contributing to contamination of the water. The study sites were chosen by the help of local guides and limited by time and the resources for this study. To analyse if there is a significant differences between the villages’ answers regarding health and water quality, a chi-square test was preformed. The tests showed a difference between the villages in how unhappy they were with the water quality. The problems that have been pointed out by The United Nation were confirmed during the field study. Many of the visited water sources were in need of restoration and water related health problems were pronounced by households in all the villages. Water purification methods are uncommon in all the villages except for one, where a well working system is already in order. By some of the most commonly used point-of-use methods, the biosand filter and solar disinfection (SODIS) was found to be most suitable for several of the studied villages along with restoration of the water sources