Access to Safe & Affordable Water in Moyo, Uganda through Rainwater Harvesting

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone ProjectA great portion of Moyo, Uganda’s population lacks access to safe and reliable water, causing health issues, and even death. Efforts to improve Moyo’s access to safe water have been implemented; however, achieving this goal in the last few years has slowed due to a lack of funding and proper maintenance. Research shows a need to decrease the distance between homes and their water sources. Rainwater harvesting could be a solution to this problem. However, Moyo lacks the spatial data required to calculate the rainwater harvesting potential. In this research, Moyo buildings were traced using satellite imagery, and the roof area was found for 1,590 buildings. Using the roof data combined with climate and demographic data, the minimum roof area needed to supply enough rainwater to meet a household’s monthly demands were found. If Moyo receives an average amount of rainfall throughout the year, 86% of recorded buildings could meet the monthly demands after the first year of harvesting. There is potential for 1,407 buildings to have free, accessible water. Sanitation, hygiene, and the health of families could be improved if rainwater harvesting was practiced in Moyo.This item is part of the Sustainable Built Environments collection. For more information, contact http://sbe.arizona.edu