Exploring Community Perceptions Towards Innovative Water Technologies in Low Income Areas in Nairobi

Abstract

Innovative innovation has a solid part to play in the water industry going forward. To better comprehend the execution of their advantages, water utilities/associations are increasingly implementing technologies all through their operations especially when it comes to supply. Water provision in the informal settlements has been a huge task for most utilities in Africa, like in numerous different ghettos and shanty towns around the globe, water in this settlements is rare, expensive, uncertain, and contaminated and occupants pay more for water than wealthier Kenyans in tapped neighborhoods of Nairobi. Quantitative data were obtained from a randomly selected sample of 230 residents who used the prepaid water solutions prior to this study. The areas of focus were on their sources of information, attitudes towards family planning, participation in decision making and socio-cultural factors that influenced their decisions to use specific male methods as their preferred choice. Additional qualitative data was further obtained through focus group discussions and key informant interviews with the residents, local administrators and key project staff. The study found that generally 98% of the residents believed that the prepaid solutions were affordable and had slowly adopted and embraced the new technologies and were happy now that they were assured of water that was easily accessible, regular and affordable. From the findings 92% of the residents interviewed and were unemployed agreed that prepaid water solution were a cheaper solution as compared to getting water from other vendors. The study concluded that there is still a huge gap in service provision within the low income areas in Nairobi. NCWSC, County Government and NGO involved in WASH projects should come together and address the main issues that are faced by the residents in regards to water provision such as water cartels,(determine pricing)water quality and irregular supply. To enhance this there is need to (i) develop policies management of water supply and implementation of water technologies (ii) involve communities in decision making on matters that affect them directly (iii) improve on water supply and quality of water in the informal settlements (iv) community engagement and outreach programs should be at the core of any project to ensure sustainability and continuity.