Sources of Water in Maputo, Mozambique, 1996

Explore the Chart 3 Exercises with Answers

1. Which of the sources of water shown in Chart 3 bring water directly to a person’s home or yard? [house connection, yard tap, yard well] What percentage of the people get their water from these sources? [about 41%] Which sources of water require people to leave their homes or yards to get water? [standpost, shallow well, private borehole with electric pump, other yard tap or neighbor’s house] What total percentage of the people get their water from these sources? [59%]

2. Think about the sources of water listed above.

1. What might be some drawbacks to having to leave your home or yard to get water for your everyday needs? [Possible answers: Water is heavy and you will probably have to make several trips to get all the water you need. You may have to walk long distances and stand in line. There may not be enough water for everyone. The mechanism for getting the water may be broken.]
2. Bearing these difficulties in mind, who would you expect to use more water, people with sources of water in their home or yard, or people who have to fetch it from some place else? Explain. [People with house connections would probably use more water because their water use is not limited by the amount they can carry or the time it takes to fetch it.]

3. The table below shows the average consumption and cost of safe water for the people of Maputo. Use the information from the table to answer the questions below.

*Mts. is the abbreviation for Mozambique’s currency, the metical.

1. Who uses more drinking water, people with house connections or others? [people with house connections] How many times more water do they use than others? [more than four times.]
2. Who pays less per unit for their water, people with house connections or others? [people with house connections]
3. Based on your answers to questions 3a and 3b, make a general statement describing the relationships among water cost, convenience, and consumption. [Possible answer: For people with house connections, safe water is both convenient and inexpensive. When water is cheaper and easier to obtain, households tend to consume more.]
4. If people without house connections are consuming water at a rate below the World Health Organization's recommended daily minimum of 20 liters per person, what changes might you expect to see if they were connected to the piped water system? [Their safe water consumption would probably increase. People would probably become healthier and have higher life expectancy because they would be able to drink more safe water, practice better hygiene, and wash their fruits and vegetables and cook with safe water.]
5. How do people in your community get their water? [Answers will vary.]

Explore the Chart 3 Exercise: Print version without answers | Work on line