Seasonality and community's satisfaction with sources of domestic water in the Lake Victoria basin.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to describe the changes in, and the satisfaction with, sources of domestic water made by the community in response to seasons in Kisumu district in July 1990. Out of 15,324 household heads interviewed, 42.8% got their water from taps throughout the year and during the dry season the remaining 58.2% got their water from rivers, streams, boreholes, ponds, roof catchments and one or two other sources. In the wet season three times as many households use roof catchment and fewer households use rivers and streams and boreholes. Only 21.9% were dissatisfied with their supply in the dry season the main reason being dirty water and insufficient quantity. These findings indicate a need to expand the provision of piped water into the rural communities and promote roof water harvesting in the lake basin. Roof catchment would provide safe water in areas without piped water, and as reserve water in those with piped. The safety of water from roofs made of natural and traditional materials, such as grass and palm leaves (makuti) need to be assessed.