More than half of Kenyans have trouble accessing safe water

Access to clean and safe water is increasing significantly in rural areas as it declines in urban areas across the country.

This is according to a survey by Twaweza East Africa, which also shows 68 per cent of Kenyan households have been forced to use improved water sources to be able to access safe drinking water.

The Sauti za Wananchi poll also shows six in every ten Kenyans are unhappy with their county government delivery of water services to residents, with two in every three households treating water before drinking.

According to the poll, three in four households harvest rainwater to supplement other sources, even as a majority of users of rainwater as a main or supplementary source say it only last them a week.

In rural areas, distance to water points is the biggest hurdle to accessing quality drinking water, in the survey done between 5th and 28th of November last year, and 1,741 respondents interviewed.

The poll comes a day ahead of the World Water Day.