Less than 1pc use bottled water in rural Kenya regions
Nearly 16 percent of the urban population rely on bottled water compared to less than one percent of the people living in rural areas. FILE PHOTO | SHUTTERSTOCK
Nearly 16 percent of the urban population rely on bottled water compared to less than one percent of the people living in rural areas, a new survey shows.
The latest Kenya Demographic Health Survey released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that 15.7 percent of the people living in towns rely on bottled water, while just 0.5 percent of the rural population is drinking bottled water.
The high consumption of bottled water in urban areas is attributed to quality and convenience as well as the taste of bottled water, even as more people become more aware of their health at a time emergence of waterborne diseases such as cholera are on the rise in the various regions.
Bottled water is retailing at between Sh495 to Sh297 for 20 litres and 10 litres bottles respectively. A litre is retailing for Sh57.
The survey indicates that 38.56 per cent of those living in urban areas are using piped water from their dwelling, yard, or plot as their main improved source of drinking water after applying some forms of water treatment such as chlorine or directly boiling.
The percentage of households with access to an improved source of drinking water is higher in urban areas with 94 percent while the rural areas account for 71 percent translating to a national 80 percent of households having an improved source of drinking water.
Nationally, 68 percent of the household population has access to at least basic drinking water services, while 9 percent have limited service and 8 percent use unimproved sources. The remaining 16 percent use surface water for drinking.
Nairobi City County has the highest percentage of the population with at least basic service at 99 percent, followed by Kiambu at 94 percent.
The Counties with the lowest percentage of the population with at least basic service are Kitui and Kiambu with 21 and 29 percent respectively.
This comes at a time water loss continues to be the biggest challenge across many counties costing the country over Sh11 billion annually in the form of Non-Revenue Water.
Kisii and Nyamira Counties recorded the highest water loss at 77 percent each, according to the Performance Report of Kenya’s Water Services Sector 2021/22.
