Water Security Characteristics of Existing Water Service Provision Systems in Informal Settlements within Nairobi County, Kenya

Attainment of water security in urban informal settlements in developing countries can be a complex undertaking due to various factors that affect water service provision, such as insufficient water quantities, unreliable water supply, aging pipes, and infrastructure coverage, among others. In addition to this, the territorial behaviour and therefore a siloed approach of service providers propagate water insecurity. This situation has an impact on the socio-economic development, peace and political stability, water-related disasters, and waterborne diseases in many urban informal settlements in developing countries. The study sought to assess water security characteristics in informal settlements in Nairobi County. The research was informed by the systems theory. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The research targeted a population of 2,511,991 people living in the informal settlements and 544 water service providers (formal utilities and small-scale vendors) operating in the informal settlements. Both probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling methods were used in this study to select the respondents. Data was collected from a sample of 388 households and 62 water vendors from nine slums in 12 sub-counties. A household questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. From the findings, only 0.4% of households met all six parameters (availability, access, quantity, quality, affordability, and reliability) of water security. Most of the households satisfied four parameters, 30% met three parameters, 20.8% met two parameters, 11.7% met five parameters, and 5.3% met one parameter. This pointed to a situation where water security is a major concern in Nairobi’s Informal Settlements (INSEs). The existing water structures of service provision influenced only three of the six water security factors, and that is, availability, access, and quality. The level of structure did not have any impact on quantity, affordability, or reliability of water services. The study therefore concludes that the provision of infrastructure alone may not necessarily lead to overall household water security. The research findings show that integration is possible along the three levels—water production, water delivery infrastructure, and service levels experienced by the households. It was however noticed that a household could depend on multiple sources and therefore experience various levels of services. The study recommends that the national and county governments and stakeholders in the water sector, while planning water service provision and infrastructure development, should ensure that efforts towards attaining universal access to water through availability, access, quantity, quality, affordability, and reliability should have a targeted approach to reach those who are most water insecure.