An Empirical Analysis of Domestic Water Sources, Consumption and Associated Factors in Kandahar City, Afghanistan

摘要

This paper presents an empirical analysis of domestic water sources, consumption and factors influencing water consumption in Kandahar city, Afghanistan. From December 2011 to January 2012, through a field survey, the data were collected from 400 households in 10 districts of Kandahar city. The average domestic water consumption at household level is found to be 59 liters per capita per day (lpcd). The analysis of findings showed that 7.8% of the households received their water from tap water solely, 6.8% from tap water and private tube wells, 48.5% from private tube wells solely, 19.2% from public hand pumps and neighbors, 12.5% bought water from street vendors solely and 5.2% got water from tap water, public hand pumps and neighbors. Moreover, the findings illustrate that buying water from vendors exhibits highest initial cost (464 ± 110.5 US$) and a monthly tariff (32.9 US$) whereas, a minimum monthly tariff (1.70 US$) is charged to tap water users. Moreover, the micro-component analysis of water use indicates that attitude of water use varies significantly with water source. Households' domestic water consumption in Kandahar city varies from 15 to 180 liters per capita per day with an average consumption of 59 liters per capita per day. The major components of water consumption included washing clothes, taking bath, sanitation and kitchen. The results of the Pearson correlation analysis indicated that water consumption was significantly correlated with household size (r = -0.13, P < 0.05), age of household's head (r = 0.26, P < 0.01), household income (r = 0.45, P < 0.01), time to collect water (r = -0.21, P<0.01), availability of tap water (r = 0.17, P < 0.05), bathing times per month (r = 0.16, P < 0.05) and ground water table (r = -0.43, P < 0.01). The present study has concluded that fewer households had access to water supply by CAWSS Kandahar which showed government's inability to meet households' water demand. Therefore, majority of the households had to rely on other sources of water to meet their households water demand. The findings of the present study suggest that CAWSS Kandahar city must take measures for expanding the network of government administered water supply to the fulfill the households water demand in the light of water consumption as highlighted by the findings of this study.