Urban Water supply utilization: A case study of wusakile township, kitwe

Abstract

Studies of urban water supply are essential. A modern city can barely survive without adequate piped water because alternative sources are unreliable. The research assessed water supply and utilization in Wusakile. The emphasis^ was placed on adequacy, availability of water to users and problems faced in supplying water. Water to Wusakile is supplied by ZCCM, Nkana Division. The source of this water is the Kafue river. The findings showed that water supplied was for domestic and non-domestic purposes. About 90 percent of the supply was for domestic and the 10 percent for non-domestic. Water for domestic purposes was adequate while that for non-domestic was inadequate. Water was not readily available because of intermittent supply and low pressure. To cope with the problems domestic users store water, draw water and limit activities. These measures have proved successful but are quite inconveniencing. The problem of water supply is not yet critical since water can be supplied quite adequately. The main problems are low pressure and intermittent supply. Others are burst pipes and few communal taps. Causes of these problems include aging water infrastructure, communal taps and toilets, seasons, location and financial difficulties. ZCCM is aware of these problems and projects to tackle them are under way to be implemented when funds are availlab1e .