Research Project On Impacts Of Water Scarcity In Urban Areas

i IMPACTS OF WATER SCARCITY AND LEVEL OF SANITATION IN DAGORETTI SOUTH, RIRUTA SATELLITE, NAIROBI1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study Water is an essential resource and it is indispensable for life and also for domestic and economic activities. All plants and animals must have water for survival. Water is very important for various reasons which include; for domestic purposes (drinking and washing), used in manufacturing industries (solvent, coolant or lubricant), used as a medium of growth in plants among others. Water which is in abundant supply helps to maintain higher levels of sanitation in terms of peoples livelihood as they will be living healthy but when water is short in supply, people tend to consume contaminated water which causes water-borne infection like diarrhea and also serves as a carrier for vectors such as mosquitos spreading epidemics. Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient water resources to meet the demands of water usage within a region. Water scarcity has become a major constraint to socio-economic development and a threat to livelihood in increasing parts of the world. Population, water availability and water use are the key indicators to assess water scarcity. (Junguo Liu et al, 2017). Freshwater sources