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Chart 3 Exercises with Answers

Chart 3.
Sources of Water in Maputo, Mozambique, 1996
1. Which of the
sources of water shown
in Chart 3 bring water directly to a persons
home or yard? [house connection, yard tap, yard well] What percentage
of the people get their water from these sources? [about 41%]
Which sources of water require people to leave their homes or yards
to get water? [standpost, shallow well, private borehole with electric
pump, other yard tap or neighbors house] What total percentage
of the people get their water from these sources? [59%]
2. Think about the
sources of water listed above.
- What might be
some drawbacks to having to leave your home or yard to get water for
your everyday needs? [Possible answers: Water is heavy and you
will probably have to make several trips to get all the water you
need. You may have to walk long distances and stand in line. There
may not be enough water for everyone. The mechanism for getting the
water may be broken.]
- 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. [People with house connections
would probably use more water because their water use is not limited
by the amount they can carry or the time it takes to fetch it.]
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.
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Drinking
water
Source
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Average
consumption
of drinking water
(cubic meters per month)
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Average
cost
of drinking water
(Mts.* per cubic meter)
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House connection
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17.6
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1,341
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Other sources
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4
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3,751
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*Mts. is the abbreviation
for Mozambiques currency, the metical.
- Who uses more
drinking water, people with house connections or others? [people
with house connections] How many times more water do they use
than others? [more than four times.]
- Who pays less
per unit for their water, people with house connections or others?
[people with house connections]
- Based on your
answers to questions 3a and 3b, make a general statement describing
the relationships among water cost, convenience, and consumption.
[Possible answer: For people with house connections, safe water
is both convenient and inexpensive. When water is cheaper and easier
to obtain, households tend to consume more.]
- 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? [Their safe water consumption would probably
increase. People would probably become healthier and have higher life
expectancy because they would be able to drink more safe water, practice
better hygiene, and wash their fruits and vegetables and cook with
safe water.]
- How do people
in your community get their water? [Answers will vary.]
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