Domestic Water in Rural Area

Rural water supplies have traditionally been overshadowed by urban ones. That must now change, as the Sustainable Development Goals calls for water for all. The objective of the paper is to assess the current access to and the perceived water quality in villages with various types of water supply. The survey was carried out during July–December 2017 in four villages in central Kazakhstan. Overall, 1369 randomly selected households were interviewed.

According to the United Nations Resolution. “The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses” . Therefore, call for full coverage of safely managed drinking water by 2030. The “Safely managed drinking water” indicator includes the three following conditions: accessible on premises, available when needed and free from contamination.

Calculation of Sample Size

he survey was carried out during July-December 2017. First, the official data provided by the local administrative authority for information about water supply systems available in the given region was studied. Then 1369 randomly selected households in four villages were interviewed. Finally, the obtained data was analyses aided with software.

A similar situation was observed in Karahan village. According to the data in  100% of the population was provided with centralized water supply. Nevertheless, as many as about 78% of the respondents indicated other water sources: 28.57% had unregistered boreholes, 31.31% unregistered wells and 18.24% independently brought water from natural open sources . The central water supply in the village was served all year round on a scheduled basis, four hours in the morning and three in evening. According to the respondents’ description, tap water was muddy. Therefore, people had to let water run for a long time, as well as to settle and boil it before each use.

Villages with Tinkered Water

In Kazakhstan, a number of villages have an acute water shortage due to the lack of sources in their territory. It is estimated that the economic condition of the villages is poor. The population is provided with limited volumes of tinkered water, the quality of which is doubtful. At the time of the study, in the Bukhar-Zhyrau district, there were four similar villages. One of them was Asil, where 294 people lived. All people there used tinkered water. The distance of water delivery was 17 km from a water source.

In Asil village, the collected data coincided with the official ones, but the reason was the absence of alternative source of drinking water supply in the territory. There was only one tanker for the whole settlement, which brought water once a week according to the schedule (every Friday at midday local time). Therefore, when the transport broke down, the population had no drinking water for two–four weeks. Water tankers must be cleaned and disinfected before use at least once every three months . According to the interview with the driver, this requirement was not always met.

                                                   

The average water consumption in the village was 41.67 liters per person per day. Some residents stated that they spent an average of 103 minutes (for round trip) for self-delivery of water from alternative sources to a house. The data showed that 68.78% of the respondents bought bottled water as needed for drinking and cooking only. In case of water shortage or lack of delivery, most villagers used rainwater and thawed water for hygiene purposes.

The aim of the questionnaire was to assess what sources were used by the rural population and their satisfaction with the quality and quantity of the drinking water supply. The questionnaire covered the following topics: type of source mostly used for drinking purposes, reasons for searching for other water sources despite having a tap at home, volume of water consumption, time spent on water collection, additional purchase of bottled water, household water treatment methods, perceived quality and reliability of water supply systems.

Rural water supplies have traditionally been overshadowed by urban ones. That must now change, as the Sustainable Development Goals calls for water for all. The objective of the paper is to assess the current access to and the perceived water quality in villages with various types of water supply. The survey was carried out during July–December 2017 in four villages in central Kazakhstan. Overall, 1369 randomly selected households were interviewed.

According to the United Nations Resolution. “The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses” . Therefore, call for full coverage of safely managed drinking water by 2030. The “Safely managed drinking water” indicator includes the three following conditions: accessible on premises, available when needed and free from contamination.

Calculation of Sample Size

he survey was carried out during July-December 2017. First, the official data provided by the local administrative authority for information about water supply systems available in the given region was studied. Then 1369 randomly selected households in four villages were interviewed. Finally, the obtained data was analyses aided with software.

A similar situation was observed in Karahan village. According to the data in  100% of the population was provided with centralized water supply. Nevertheless, as many as about 78% of the respondents indicated other water sources: 28.57% had unregistered boreholes, 31.31% unregistered wells and 18.24% independently brought water from natural open sources . The central water supply in the village was served all year round on a scheduled basis, four hours in the morning and three in evening. According to the respondents’ description, tap water was muddy. Therefore, people had to let water run for a long time, as well as to settle and boil it before each use.

Villages with Tinkered Water

In Kazakhstan, a number of villages have an acute water shortage due to the lack of sources in their territory. It is estimated that the economic condition of the villages is poor. The population is provided with limited volumes of tinkered water, the quality of which is doubtful. At the time of the study, in the Bukhar-Zhyrau district, there were four similar villages. One of them was Asil, where 294 people lived. All people there used tinkered water. The distance of water delivery was 17 km from a water source.

In Asil village, the collected data coincided with the official ones, but the reason was the absence of alternative source of drinking water supply in the territory. There was only one tanker for the whole settlement, which brought water once a week according to the schedule (every Friday at midday local time). Therefore, when the transport broke down, the population had no drinking water for two–four weeks. Water tankers must be cleaned and disinfected before use at least once every three months . According to the interview with the driver, this requirement was not always met.

                                                   

The average water consumption in the village was 41.67 liters per person per day. Some residents stated that they spent an average of 103 minutes (for round trip) for self-delivery of water from alternative sources to a house. The data showed that 68.78% of the respondents bought bottled water as needed for drinking and cooking only. In case of water shortage or lack of delivery, most villagers used rainwater and thawed water for hygiene purposes.

The aim of the questionnaire was to assess what sources were used by the rural population and their satisfaction with the quality and quantity of the drinking water supply. The questionnaire covered the following topics: type of source mostly used for drinking purposes, reasons for searching for other water sources despite having a tap at home, volume of water consumption, time spent on water collection, additional purchase of bottled water, household water treatment methods, perceived quality and reliability of water supply systems.