Zambia Demographic and Health Survey 2001-2002 - Measure DHS

2.5 HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS ANDHOUSEHOLD POSSESSIONSThe physical characteristics of households areimportant in assessing the general socioeconomic statusof the population. ZDHS respondents were asked abouttheir household environment, including access toelectricity, sources of drinking water, time to watersources, type of toilet facilities and floor materials, andpossession of various durable goods. This information issummarised in Tables 2.7 and 2.8.The proportion of households with electricity is45 percent in urban areas and 3 percent in rural areaswith a combined proportion of 17 percent nationwide(Figure 2.5). The data show that there has been noimprovement in electrification during the 1990s, withless than one in five households having electricity.There has been some increase in urban areas, from 39 to45 percent of households between 1992 and 2001-2002.Source of Drinking WaterWater quality has a strong impact on the healthof household members, especially young children. Ahousehold’s source of drinking water is importantbecause potentially fatal diseases, including typhoid,cholera, and dysentery, are prevalent in unprotectedsources. Sources of water expected to be relatively freeof these diseases are piped water and water drawn fromprotected wells and deep boreholes. Other sources, likeunprotected wells and surface water (rivers, streams,ponds, and lakes), are more likely to carry diseasecausingagents.The most common sources of drinking water forZambian households are open wells, protected wells,public taps, rivers and streams. In urban areas mostdrinking water comes from piped sources. In rural areasmost of the water comes from public wells, rivers, andstreams. This pattern is similar to findings from the1992 and 1996 ZDHS surveys.On average, households in urban areas take lessthan 2 minutes to reach their source of water, comparedwith 10 minutes for rural households. Seventy-eightpercent of households in urban areas take less than 15minutes to reach their source of drinking watercompared with 50 percent of households in rural areas.Table 2.7 Household characteristicsPercent distribution of households by household characteristics,according to residence, Zambia 2001–2002ResidenceHousehold characteristic Urban Rural TotalElectricityYes 45.1 2.9 17.4No 54.9 97.0 82.6Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Source of drinking waterPiped into dwelling 19.3 1.0 7.3Piped into yard/plot 22.8 1.3 8.6Communal tap 38.2 4.2 15.8Piped to neighbour 1.3 0.0 0.5Open well in yard/plot 2.9 3.3 3.1Open public well 4.8 36.2 25.5Open well at neighbour 0.5 0.2 0.3Protected well in yard/plot 2.9 2.2 2.5Protected public well 5.2 22.5 16.6Spring 0.0 2.1 1.4River/Stream 0.9 23.2 15.6Pond/Lake/Dam 0.7 3.5 2.6Rainwater 0.0 0.1 0.1Tanker truck 0.1 0.0 0.0Bottled water 0.1 0.0 0.0Other 0.3 0.1 0.1Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Time to water sourcePercentage