Over the last twenty years or more, Uganda has benefitted from significant strides in
water and sanitation initiated by the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. While the
rapid progress towards development has been vastly beneficial, it is also important that it does
not occur at the expense of the environment. The environmental impacts of these water
sources must be evaluated and understood. However, to develop a robust understanding of the
impact requires inclusion of the community members who use these sources and their
perceptions of them. Consequently, the goal of this research is to investigate the
interrelationships between socioeconomic factors, water source features, and household water
source and treatment choices, along with the associated environmental impacts of those
choices.
This research focuses on two villages in Wakiso District, Uganda—Nalugala and Kitala
and includes: (1) development and implementation of a country-specific survey of 200
households to gain qualitative and quantitative accounts of socioeconomic factors (e.g.,
education, gender of the head of household, number of household members), water source
features (e.g. cost, convenience, quality, quantity of water) and community members’ water
supply choices; (2) statistical analysis to investigate any correlation between socioeconomic
factors, water source features, and household source choice; and (3) a life cycle assessment of
each water source and treatment method used in the surveyed communities to highlight their
associated environmental impacts.