Factors influencing sustainability of water supply projects in central division, Machakos District Of Machakos County, Kenya.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the factors which influence sustainability of water supply projects in Central Division, Machakos District of Machakos County. The study was guided by the main objectives which were to establish the influence of project planning and implementation cycle on sustainability, to ascertain the influence of community management on sustainability, to examine the influence of co-operation of stakeholders on sustainability and to assess the influence of financial management on sustainability of water supply projects. Throughout projects the world water resource is a very important commodity. In ASAL the commodity has only been supplied by which are sustainable. The study investigated the factors which influence sustainability of water supply projects and found out that planning and implementation, community management, cooperation of stakeholders and financial management influence sustainability of water projects. The study also found out that the factors were prevalent in water supply projects in Machakos County. The findings indicated that there were many water supply projects which were non-functional in Machakos district. It was with this understanding that the study was undertaken to investigate the factors influencing the sustainability. The study was specifically to investigate whether the factors influence sustainability in selected projects of the district, five water projects were randomly selected 75 responded from the target population. Descriptive survey design was employed. Qualitative and quantitative methods were both used for the investigations. Questionnaire, interview schedule and documentary techniques were employed for gathering information. Validity and reliability were tested and ascertained with the alpha=0.05.Data was analyzed using SPSS. The study revealed that project planning and implementation, community management, cooperation of stakeholders and financial management influence sustainability of water supply projects in the division. These findings imply a lot on the supply of water with respect to project development in order to improve availability and supply of water. The study recommends that proper planning and implementation community management, cooperation of stakeholders and proper financial management should be considered in the events of developing water supply projects in the district. Further studies can be done to investigate effects of poor sustainability of water supply projects. A similar study should be done in other parts of the county to find out if the same result will be realized all in efforts to improve sustainability of water projects.