Sources of Water in Maputo, Mozambique, 1996

1. Which of the sources of water shown in Chart 3 bring water directly to a person’s home or yard? What percentage of the people get their water from these sources? Which sources of water require people to leave their homes or yards to get water? What total percentage of the people get their water from these sources?

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?
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.

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? How many times more water do they use than others?
2. Who pays less per unit for their water, people with house connections or others?
3. Based on your answers to questions 3a and 3b, make a general statement describing the relationships among water cost, convenience, and consumption.
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?
5. How do people in your community get their water?