Assessment of Urban Water Supply and Sanitation: The Case of Bedesa Town, Damot Woyde Woreda of Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted in Bedesa town, Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia to assess the water supply and sanitation situation of the town. For this study, 195 households were selected by using systematic random sampling technique. Both primary and secondary data sources were used in this study. For primary data collection, household surveys, key informant interview, focus group discussion and personal observation were used as tools to collect the necessary information.  For secondary data collection, document review was used to collect valuable information. The data from the respondents were analyzed using SPSS software. The findings revealed that the average per capita domestic water consumption of the town was found to be 9.6 l/c/d for the base year (2014) which only satisfies 48% of the minimum urban water consumption value set by WHO as a basic need (20 l/c/d) without considering the distance travelled to fetch water. Similarly, sanitation situation in the town was not good and encouraging. Lack of private sanitary pit, poor hand washing practice, lack of communal land fill, improper handling and disposal of wastes and lack of drainage ditch were identified as the major factors responsible for poor sanitation situation of the town. The major coping strategies for the challenges of Bedesa town water supply are synchronizing different water sources, conserving water sources, demand management, demand oriented supply, participating different actors, mobilizing financial resources, and establishing organizational structure with skilled staff and equipping it with material facilities. Likewise, the strategies for managing sanitation challenges include constructing communal land fill, constructing drainage ditch, awareness creation on hand washing after defecation and waste handling and disposal method, and integrating water supply and sanitation sectors.

Keywords: Water supply, sanitation, hygiene, water demand, Bedesa.