Determinants of Water Source Use, Quality of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Perceptions among Urban Households in North-West Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

BackgroundClean water is an essential element for human health, wellbeing, and prosperity. Every human being has the right to access safe drinking water. But, in now day, due to rapid population growth, illiteracy, lack of sustainable development, and climate change; it still faces a global challenge for about one billion people in the developing nation. The discontinuity of drinking water supply puts in force households either to use unsafe water storage materials or to use water from unimproved sources. This study aimed to identify the determinants of water source types, use, quality of water, and sanitation perception of physical parameters among urban households in North-West Ethiopia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among households from February to March 2019. An interview-based pre-tested and structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data collection samples were selected randomly and proportional to each kebeles’ households. MS Excel and R Version 3.6.2 was used to enter and analyze the data; respectively. Descriptive statistics using frequencies and percentages were used to explain the sample data concerning the predictor variable. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to assess the association between the independent and the response variables.ResultsFour hundred eighteen (418) households have participated. Based on the study undertaken, 78.95% of households used improved and 21.05% of households used unimproved drinking water sources. Households drinking water sources are significantly associated with age of participant (x2 = 20.392, df=3), educational status (x2 = 19.358, df=4), source of income (x2 = 21.777, df=3), monthly income (x2 = 13.322, df=3), availability of additional facilities (x2 = 98.144, df=7), cleanness status (x2 =42.979, df=4), scarcity of water (x2 = 5.1388, df=1) and family size (x2 = 9.934, df=2). The logistic regression analysis also indicated as those factors are significantly determined (p 0.05) the water source types used by households. Factors such as availability of toilet facility, household member type, and sex of head of the household are not significantly associated with the drinking water sources.ConclusionThe study showed that being an older age group of the head of the household, being government employer, merchant and self-employed, being a higher income group, the presence of all facilities in the area, lived in a clean surrounding and lower family size are the determinant factors of using drinking water from improved sources. Therefore; the local, regional, and national governments and other supporting organizations shall improve the accessibility and adequacy of drinking water from improved sources through short and long time plans for the well-being of the community in the area.

Household access to basic drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities: secondary analysis of data from the demographic and health survey V, 2017–2018

“…The findings of some studies in Ethiopia and Ghana are consistent with the current one [21,23,28]. They indicated that households headed by older people were more likely to have access to improved water and sanitation facilities [21,23,28]. In contrast, in Eswatini, the age of the household head was negatively associated with the use of water from an improved source [27].…”

“…Also, some authors suggest that as people age, they make choices or adopt behaviours that improve their quality of life [23]. The findings of some studies in Ethiopia and Ghana are consistent with the current one [21,23,28]. They indicated that households headed by older people were more likely to have access to improved water and sanitation facilities [21,23,28].…”

“…By comparison, the proportion of households with access to improved drinking water sources found in other African countries and Asia was higher than that noted here. Indeed, a percentage ranging from 68.5% to 97.6% of households using water from an improved source was recorded in Ethiopia [21,22], Ghana [23], Malaysia [24], Eswatini [27] and Vietnam [30]. Regarding household access to basic drinking water services, a study in Bangladesh in 2021 reported a proportion of 99.5% compared to 63.98% in this study [25].…”

“…For these interventions to be successful, the surveillance of progress in coverage of WASH services needs to be enhanced, and the inequalities that determine household access to these facilities need to be better understood. According to studies in Africa and Asia, the factors associated with household access to improved or basic WASH services were the characteristics of the household head and the composition, wealth and environment of the household [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. So far, in Benin, there is scarce information on disparities in people's access to WASH facilities.…”

Water and Latrine Services and Associated Factors among Residents of Negele Town, Southeast Ethiopia: A Cross‐Sectional Study

“…Marriage increases the family size and larger families require more water and could have made a better effort to own tap water. Similarly, Gebremichael et al [30] reported a significant association of households' drinking water sources with age, educational status, and family size in northwest Ethiopia. Earlier, Fortune and Sikod [31] indicated a significant association of distance of water sources and household size with the choice of drinking water source in Cameroon.…”