Assessment of household water services accessibility in Karatu district Tanzania a case of world vision dream village wash project

Abstract

The study aimed at assessing household water service accessibility in Karatu District Tanzania, a case of world vision dream village WASH project. Specifically, the study wanted to establish the level of access to water services before and after the dream village WASH project, to assess community involvement in dream village WASH project, and to determine household water users’ opinions on dream village WASH project. The study adopted both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, whereby a descriptive social survey research design was involved. Data were collected from 120 household water users from three villages (Mbuganyekundu, Jobaj, and Dumbechand) and 10 key informants. Questionnaire, interview, and FGDs were used in data collection. Inferential analysis was involved in establishing the relationship between independent (intervention, community involvement and water users’ opinions) and dependent variables (access to water services). Qualitative analysis involved content analysis. The findings show that before the project, people used to walk for more than 4 kilometres to find water and they used unprotected water sources, but after the project the level of access to water improved and the distance from households to the water points was reduced. The findings also indicate that the community was involved in stages of implementing the project and community had positive opinion on the project. The study also found the statistical significant level ((p≤0.05) between independent (intervention, community involvement and water users’ opinions) and dependent variable (access to water services).The study conclude that, there is improved level of access to water services, community involvement in water service project and household water users’ opinion in water services may influence accessibility of water services among the households.