River catchment dynamics and access to clean water in rural South Africa

Context: This paper explores evidence-based indicators of the National Water Policy Review (NWPR, 2013) among households in the Mthatha River catchment of the Oliver Regina (OR) Tambo District Municipality, one of the rural areas of South Africa. Data source & Method : A total number of 420 households were surveyed in the upper, township/peri-township, lower and coastal regions of the Mthatha River catchment. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted on the data collected from households. Findings : Approximately 68% of the total households surveyed reported that they have access to the required minimum of 25 litres/person/day, but only 30% had access to piped water either in the house or from public taps. Logistic regression showed that access to clean piped water was influenced by lack of water infrastructure, proximity to urban regions, daily flow of pipe-borne water, household size and distance to public taps. Conclusion : The promotion of point-of-use technologies are recommended to ensure equitable clean water access