PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES OF WATER SERVICE DELIVERY IN WOLAITA SODO TOWN, ETHIOPIA

Access to water supply in Ethiopia is amongst the lowest in Sub-Saharan African countries. For instance in both urban and rural parts of the country, the existing service level is lesser than the required levels. Therefore, the study was intended to assess the practices and challenges of water service delivery in Wolaita Sodo town. To attain the objectives of the study descriptive research design was implemented. Both primary and secondary sources were used to obtain all necessary data for the study. Specifically the study conducted on 199 households that selected from Wolaita Sodo town residents using stratified sampling technique. Questionnaires, interview and document analysis were used to collect data concerning the practices, accessibility and challenges of water supply in the town. The result of the study illustrates that water supply is very poor and below the standard that set by World Health Organization in Wolaita Sodo town. It is quite evident that rapid population growth, frequent interruption of water supply, poor management, lack of budget, and low participation of community and other stakeholders were mainly restrains water services delivery in the town. Because of this the gap between demand for water service and its supply is increasing. Therefore, Water supply and sanitation department, NGOs, communities, and private sectors should be actively engaged in crafting and applying various projects to provide safe water service delivery in the town.Keywords: Challenges, practices, Wolaita Sodo town, water demand and supply