Drawers of Water: 30 Years of Change in Domestic Water Use and Environmental Health - Tanzania country case study

This study presents a cross-sectional historical analysis of changes in water use in Tanzania, replicating and revisiting the pioneering study Drawers of Water (DOW I) that was undertaken three decades ago1. This new study, referred to here as Drawers of Water II or ‘DOW II’ assessed three decades of change in household water use across a range of urban and rural settlements, taking into account the numerous shifts in national policies, strategies and guidelines related to water resources development and management since the first study was made in the late 1960s.
An important issue to have emerged over the last 30 years is community management of water supply and sanitation systems andservices. This includes operation and maintenance, which is now recognised as a critical but frequently neglected aspect of water development and environmental health4. The DOW II research agenda included an assessment of the collective action of local groups in several sample sites and their effectiveness in developing, operating and maintaining domestic water and sanitation systems. This analysis involved intra- as well as inter-community comparisons, since the range and diversity of service levels and systems, and thus the ability for local groups to operate and maintain them, varies considerably within, as well as between rural and urban communities.