Why doesn’t every family practice rainwater harvesting? Factors that affect the decision to adopt rainwater harvesting as a household water security strategy in central Uganda

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the reasons householders do, and don’t, adopt domestic rainwater harvesting (DRWH). Using a mixed-methods research approach, we collected data in three districts in central Uganda. Factors that emerged as important with respect to uptake of DWRH to address water shortage, especially at the household scale, include the work of intermediary organizations, finance mechanisms, life course dynamics and land tenure.

KEYWORDS:

• Rainwater harvesting
• adoption
• policy
• Uganda

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The World Health Organization defines an ‘improved water source’ as a type of water source that, by nature of its construction or through active intervention, is likely to be protected from outside contamination, in particular from contamination with faecal matter (WHO/UNICEF, 2015). In the image at right in Figure 2, the ‘improved’ designation applies because not only is collection structured and made more secure via the retaining wall and tap, but also the uphill area is fenced off to try to prevent contamination.

2. Which is, after all, probably what a ‘right to water’ ultimately means – see Staddon, Appleby, and Grant (2011).

3. We recognize that there will therefore be a bias in the sample against those households less networked within the community, which would make them less likely to be reached through encountering them when visiting other households.

4. Somewhat akin to the ‘community-led total sanitation’ approach, it may be useful to think in terms of a ‘community-led total water services’ approach that tackles water supply and sanitation simultaneously.

5. Lack of an insurance services market (which might, for example, cover DRWH installations) is also a constraint on uptake.

6. Research conducted during the 2018 field season found that tank owners often combined tank water with other sources and even, in some cases, sold tank water for cash income (to pay school fees, for example).

7. Separate research currently underway is examining the root cause pathways to failure in ferrocement rainwater tanks.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a charitable foundation helping to protect life and property by supporting engineering-related education, public engagement and the application of research.