Socioeconomic determinants of water delivery satisfaction in a medium sub-Saharan Africa city: A case of Kisumu, Kenya Open Access

Delivery of adequate water to the inhabitants of rapidly growing cities remains a major challenge to municipalities and national governments worldwide (UN-Habitat 2016). The WHO & UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) notes that meeting the global target on water services as outlined in UN Agenda 2030 remains a mirage for most households in the global south (Dos Santos et al. 2017). In the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region only 54% of the urban population use safely managed drinking water, while those in the informal settlements are either un-serviced or under-serviced by the water utilities (Adams Sambu & Smiley 2019; WHO & UNICEF 2021). The compromised water service delivery has far-reaching implications on individual livelihood and community health at large, as it is linked to the spread of dysentery, cholera, hepatitis A, typhoid and poliomyelitis among under 5-year-olds (Bos 2016).

The JMP monitors drinking water progress using a ladder built on five rungs of water service levels. At the top of the ladder is a safely managed water source, available when needed and free from any contamination, while the lowest rung is surface water such as lakes, rivers and ponds whose design does not protect against contamination (WHO & UNICEF 2021). The use of the JMP ladder has faced criticism because the indicators do not adequately capture public health, economic and right-based aspects of service quality (Moriarty et al. 2011; Bartram et al. 2014). The global monitoring tool fails to measure how perfectly the water service delivered matches the consumers' expectations (Kayser et al. 2013). Water services provision indicators such as affordability, accessibility, reliability and quality have been suggested to overcome the shortcomings of the JMP monitoring approach (Moriarty et al. 2011; Shaw 2014).

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Resolution 300 and the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 64/292, both recognize accessibility to water services as a legal entitlement rather than commodities provided on a charitable basis (ACHPR 2019). The resolutions note that the right to safe drinking water is indivisible from other human rights such as the right to education, shelter and participation in decision-making. This is also a key pillar of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 (Article 43) and Vision 2030 that aims to increase the accessibility of potable water and sanitation in rural and urban places (Republic of Kenya 2018). However, 9.9 million citizens still consume water directly from polluted surface water sources, while the country has 60% piped water coverage in urban areas (WASREB 2022).

The duality in Kisumu city of formal and informal settlements has created a constellation of actors in water supply including the state utility agency, households, community groups and individual water vendors (Letema et al. 2014). This leads to an archipelago in water delivery, i.e. a complex overlapping service delivery strategy informed by public–private partnership, regulatory changes and access to water within the urban waterscapes (Bakker 2003). The duality, difference in actors, modes of service provision and governance in the water sector often affects the quality of service delivery to consumers (Bakker et al. 2008; Kemerink et al. 2013).

Knowledge of how household socioeconomic disparities impact urban water services is important for improvement purposes (Abubakar 2019). However, in Kisumu city there is limited contemporary empirical information on how socioeconomic factors of a household influence water delivery (KIWASCO 2020). This article examines if income, household size, gender, education and tenancy determine water delivery satisfaction in the city. Understanding consumer satisfaction can be useful in corroboration with the Water Regulatory Information System (WARIS) data to guide water service providers (WSPs) in improving their services. This information could also assist in formulating policies as well as strengthening and creating institutional frameworks that improves urban water service delivery in Kenya and other sub-Saharan African cities. The findings of the study are only valid for communities having similar characteristics as the sampled population.

Delivery of water is influenced by interactions of economic, social, institutional and political factors that affect urban water service provision in SSA (Dos Santos et al. 2017). Economically, the minimal national budgetary allocation to the ministerial dockets in charge of water services has been identified as a great challenge (Hutton & Varughese 2016). The finances are required to extend the distribution networks and rehabilitation of old, decayed and malfunctioning infrastructure (Schwartz et al. 2017). Water services provision in low-income areas (LIAs) is characterized by a high amount of non-revenue water, less consistency in bill payment, illegitimate connections, absence of trunk infrastructure and a higher rate of disconnection (Adams et al. 2019). Due to this, the utilities often do not view service expansion to the LIAs as business opportunities but as an investment burden (Boakye-Ansah et al. 2020).

Socially, rapid urban growth presents a significant challenge to water utilities in SSA to adequately service the rural–urban immigrants (Dos Santos et al. 2017). The world Cities Report indicates that over the last two decades, the region experienced rapid urbanization compared to other parts of the globe (UN-Habitat 2020b). Meeting the water service demand for this growing population is a daunting task for municipal governments since most urban dwellers have become water insecure (Eberhard 2019). The LIAs have weak advocacy and civil society groups to vouch for their rights to the accessibility of safe, sufficient, acceptable and affordable water services (Weaver et al. 2019).

Over 71% of the urban population in SSA live in informal settlements (UN-Habitat 2020a), yet institutionally, the informal settlements have historically received less water policy attention compared to the core-urban centers (Jones et al. 2014). The neoliberal market-driven water policies have failed to extend services to the informal settlements (Liddle et al. 2016). As a result, the water utility agencies are constrained financially, technically and legally to serve these settlements (Adams et al. 2019). Other institutional hurdles affecting water delivery include ineffective policy reforms and balancing service provision to the LIAs and the commercial viability of the public utility (Schwartz et al. 2017; Boakye-Ansah et al. 2020).

Water service delivery in SSA is informed by several hydro-political factors (Koehler 2018). Political patronage, political manipulation and rent-seeking behavior lead to low urban water coverage and the inability of citizens to access drinking water from the national grid (Jones et al. 2014). Rent-seeking behaviors of the water vendors create artificial shortages hence high profits through collusion with the utility officials (Ong'Or & Long-Cang 2007). There are also diversions of piped water networks from the LIA to the high-income residents where political influence and revenue collection are greater (Dos Santos et al. 2017). Most water utilities in the region belong to a low-level equilibrium whereby tariffs are kept low for political reasons while the utility remains starved of financial resources (Eberhard 2019).

The Eastern and Southern Africa Water and Sanitation Regulators Association (ESAWAS) periodically compiles reports on water utility performance in the SSA region. ESAWAS is a network of regional water and sanitation regulators formed with the objective of fostering regional collaboration and synchronization of regulatory issues to improve water delivery. The performance assessment is conducted using the International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities (IBNET) toolkit that provides technical, financial and process performance indicators in a water utility (Danilenko et al. 2014). The analyzed key performance indicators (KPIs) are water coverage, drinking water quality, hours of supply, operation and management cost coverage, revenue collection efficiency, non-revenue water, staff productivity, and metering ration. Even though the SSA utility performances have been improving periodically (ESAWAS 2018), however, economic, social, institutional and political dynamics continue to downcast urban water service provision in SSA (Schwartz et al. 2017; Eberhard 2019).

Municipalized water supply is characterized by aging infrastructure, shortage of scientific and technical staff, metering problems, improper repairs on damages on the network, poor billing system, high percentage of non-revenue water due to illegal connections and limited funds for expansion of services (Κοumpli & Kanakoudis 2022), with Kisumu being no exception. Kisumu Water and Sanitation Company (KIWASCO) faces infrastructure vandalism and theft, consumers' belief that water is a free commodity and service disconnection due to non-payment especially in the low-income informal settlements (KIWASCO 2020).

Pro-poor water supply is used in Kisumu city to balance the utility's financial mandate (profitability) and social objectives (provision of safe, affordable and reliable water services) in the LIAs (Butcher 2016). The initiative referred to delegated management model (DMM) is a contractual engagement between KIWASCO (the utility) and small-scale service providers (SSPs) from the local communities. The SSPs are either community organizations or individual entrepreneurs with economic incentives to formally engage in expanding and improving water services in the informal settlements. Master operators supply water to shared standpipes, water kiosks and private connections, and their duties involve billing, revenue collection and minor network repairs on behalf of the water utility (Nzengya 2018).

The DMM was introduced in Kisumu city in the year 2004 through financial support from the French Development Agency and technical assistance from Water Service Program. The intervention delivers services to 44% of informal settlements (Boakye-Ansah et al. 2020) and has positively impacted water service provisioning through increased water accessibility, affordability, reduced non-revenue water, and reduced water contamination (Butcher 2016; Hanjahanja et al. 2018; Nzengya 2018). The pro-poor intervention is also a major drive towards the realization of SDG 6 targeting the provision of drinking water to households at the poverty line in LIAs (Kemendi & Tutusaus 2018). Pro-poor water service delivery is a paradigm shift from direct hierarchical management with a greater reliance on hybrid, horizontal and associational forms of management (Kemerink et al. 2013). It is termed an appropriate technology for water infrastructure in the LIAs (Boakye-Ansah et al. 2020). The mode depicts the neoliberal epoch characterized by institutional (re)arrangement in urban water governance resulting in reconfiguration of the waterscape where the greater role of administration and implementation is left to private economic actors as the state partially pulls out (Kemerink et al. 2013).

The DMM is a successful case study of a pro-poor aligned public–private partnership (PPP) in water supply considering its impacts on water service delivery efficiency. However, Κοumpli & Kanakoudis (2022) highlight circumstances where governments have raised concerns with privatization in the water sector leading to the remunicipalization of water suppliers where water supply services are transitioned back to full public management, ownership and democratic control (municipal authorities). This occurs when the private actors' involvement fails to provide water services at the right prices and good quality to the citizenry, because their main agenda is the return on investments or profits. There are successful remunipalization initiatives in Buenos Aires in Argentina, Hamilton in Canada and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania (Kanakoudis & Tsitsifli 2014).

Kisumu city is located on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya and is a major commercial and administrative hub within the East African Community. The city had a population size of 567,963 as per the 2019 National Population Census (KNBS 2019). About 64% of the city population inhabit informal settlements that occupy 8% of the city land (UN-Habitat 2005). The city covers approximately 417 km², of which 120 km² is under water, while 297 km² is dry land. The area has a high poverty rate manifested by the expansion of low-income settlements due to the unaffordability of better quality housing structures (Simiyu et al. 2019). The Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) is the national utility regulator that supervises the activities of WSPs in the country. Kisumu city residents rely on both surface and groundwater where the later levels range between 2 to 5 meters from the surface soil (Ong'Or & Long-Cang 2007). Even though groundwater is available, the aquifers are susceptible to contamination due to poorly constructed and overflowing pit latrines and inefficient wastewater management. Poverty levels are 49% in the city as compared to the national average of 29% (Butcher 2016).

The research target population of 129,083 households from which a sample size of 384 was picked using the Krejcie and Morgan statistical table. Through simple random sampling, Arina and Tom Mboya estates were picked representing formal settlements, while Obunga and Nyamasaria represented informal settlements. Data were collected using closed and open-ended questionnaires administered to the head of the household in a face-to-face survey. In case of the absence of the head of the household, the researcher would book an appointment and visit the household later when the respondent was present. WARIS data published annually by the national water service regulator from 2006 to 2021 were also analyzed.

Water service delivery is analyzed in terms of affordability, accessibility, reliability and service quality using a five-point Likert scale. The scale ranges from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied). Water accessibility refers to the time spent in the collection of water from an improved source (Kayser et al. 2013). Water affordability refers to a situation where the price charged does not limit the consumers' capacity to pay for other basic goods and services. Reliable water is available to the consumers for not less than 24 hours a day or 7 days a week, while water quality is measured based on the respondent's perception of water safety as suggested by Shaw (2014). The user perception considers organoleptic features of water such as turbidity, color, odor and taste. The organoleptic characteristics often inform consumer health risk perception (Romano & Masserini 2020). The research covariates are the socioeconomic characteristics including gender, household size, education, tenancy and monthly income.

The model tests the influence of socioeconomic factors (gender, household size, education, tenancy and income) on the water service delivery measured in terms of affordability, reliability, accessibility and quality.

Kenya has 88 public and three private water utilities serving 15.68 million or 4.02 million households (WASREB 2022). The national regulator assesses on an annual basis the performance of the utilities in terms of their operational sustainability, economic efficiency and quality of service. Assessment and ranking instigate competition among the utilities and ensure improvement and efficiency in water delivery. The performance assessment of the utilities is conducted using the IBNET toolkit in which 9 KPIs are analyzed. Data from WARIS in Table 1 shows that the performance of KIWASCO has been on an upward trajectory since 2006 with water coverage improving from 27% to 87%, hours of water supply increasing from 16 to 24 hours, while non-revenue water decreasing from 69% to 32% over the period. KIWASCO is ranked position 11 nationally out of 91 water utilities with a score of 128 points out of 200. The city's water coverage is higher than the national coverage, which stands at 60% in urban areas (WASREB 2022). The pro-poor intervention applied in water service delivery is the major contributor to KIWASCO's improved performance (Kemendi & Tutusaus 2018).

The demographic statistics (Table 2) indicate that there are more women respondents compared with men with Obunga and Tom Mboya reporting 71% and 66.7% women, respectively. The research shows that Obunga and Nyamasaria have lower levels of education compared with Arina and Tom Mboya, which implies that most residents of informal settlements have lower levels of education compared with the residents in the formal settlements. Arina settlement is dominated by government-owned houses, while most of the houses in Obunga and Nyamasaria are either rented or owner occupied. The standard of houses in Arina and Tom Mboya are permanent structures with designed plans that adhere to applicable building codes in Kenya; whereas housing in the informal settlements is predominantly one-roomed and made of iron sheet roofs, cemented floors, mud or iron sheet walls. Some houses do not have electricity and the rent is cheap. Land ownership in Obunga and Nyamasaria settlements is predominantly a customary tenure system, although the Nyamasaria settlement has experienced a progressive shift from customary to individual land ownership due to land market pressure. The ambiguity of the land tenure system in the informal settlements creates legal hurdles for water coverage expansion by the utilities (Ong'Or & Long-Cang 2007). The household sizes are large in Arina compared with the rest of the settlements.

Occupants of government-owned houses have higher satisfaction (79.4%) as compared to those in rental (35%) and owner-occupier accommodation (38%) (Figure 2(a)). The residents of government-owned houses pay subsidized rent (Adianto et al. 2021), hence they can save their extra income to meet the water service bills. Those in rental houses, especially in the informal settlements, pay water bills inclusive of rent, thus they may not treat water expenses as being costly as compared to individuals staying in their own houses served by individual water meters. The findings support Abubakar (2019) that residential house ownership status is a key predictor of satisfaction with water service. However, the affordability of water also depends on the pricing mechanism or tariff structure applied by the WSPs (Mcllwaine & Ouda 2020).

The higher the income the higher the satisfaction with affordability with household heads earning less than KES15,000 expressing more dissatisfaction with water service affordability at 68.8% as compared to those earning above KES 60,000 at 3.2%. This is because households with more disposable income find it easy to pay for water service as compared to those with low incomes. Higher income leads to more ability and willingness to pay for water services (Abubakar 2019). During data collection, several residents of Tom Mboya estate experienced a high rate of water intermittency due to road construction and maintenance exercises that interfered with water pipe networks. The intermittent supply implies that the residents have to purchase water from distribution vendors which is more costly compared to the utility's monthly water bills (Adams et al. 2019). High dissatisfaction with water affordability and accessibility among residents with an income range of KES 45,000–60,000 could be linked to the intermittent water supply in Kisumu city. The respondents from small household sizes are more satisfied with water affordability as compared to those from large-sized households (Figure 2(a)). This is because large household sizes often spend more on water as compared to small household sizes since water demand and expenditure are often influenced by the number of people in a household (Bisung & Dickin 2019).

More men (74.1%) as compared to women (69%) are satisfied with water accessibility (Figure 2(b)). Women are the primary users and managers of water in the households and thus they are likely to be more sensitive toward its accessibility. Bisung & Dickin (2019) note that most women in SSA are often forced to travel long distances and take longer to meet the household water demand. Analysis of educational levels and water accessibility indicates that those without any formal schooling are less satisfied (54.5%) as compared to college and university graduates (85.2%). This could be attributed to the fact that majority of the educated people live in formal settlements and use in-house piped water systems unlike the less educated individuals who live in the informal settlements that largely depend on water kiosks and vendors.

Water is more accessible in government-owned houses (100%) as compared to owner-occupier (81.4%) and rental houses (64.6%) (Figure 2(b)). Government houses are connected to water through in-house piping, while not all rental and owner-occupier houses have piped water connections. The finding corroborates Gulyani & Talukdar (2008) that in most informal settlements, accessibility of water is often inadequate because landlords never re-invest their accrued rental profits in water service improvement. Thus, water delivery always remains inaccessible unless the landlords are forced by the municipal authorities to improve water delivery on the property (Scott 2013). Households with high income are more satisfied with water accessibility as compared to low-income earners. About 65% of households earning less than KES15,000 expressed satisfaction with water accessibility as compared to 96.8% of those earning above KES 60,000. This is because most water utilities in SSA always extend piped water connections to high-income neighborhoods for speedy cost recovery (Adams et al. 2019). This increases service accessibility in high-income areas as compared to LIAs (Abubakar 2019). In terms of household size, the findings show that households with less than four members have higher satisfaction (79.1%) as compared to those with more than eight members (50%). This is because a large household size is likely to experience an increased burden of fetching water to meet all the domestic household needs such as cooking, washing, flushing toilets and cleaning activities.

The pro-poor model has increased water coverage per household in the informal settlements of Kisumu city (Boakye-Ansah et al. 2020). Change to structured networks from spaghetti lines has allowed the previously unconnected households to join the piped water network easily (Butcher 2016; Schwartz et al. 2017). The SSPs strive to connect more customers to the network so that they can be more profitable (Nzengya 2018). The high rate of household connectivity has minimized illegal connections, leading to increasing water flow to LIAs previously un-served or under-served by the utility (Hanjahanja et al. 2018).

Figure 2(c) shows that the majority of those surveyed (both men and women) are dissatisfied with water reliability in Kisumu city, even though women appear to be more displeased (71.4%) as compared to men (66.9%). The reason for this is that water unreliability is likely to be more inconvenient to women as they have the primary role in food preparation, caring for children and washing (Rop 2010). The respondents without any formal education (100%) indicate that they are dissatisfied with the reliability of water delivery, while 50% of college and university graduates affirm their satisfaction. The findings could be linked to the fact that higher educational accomplishments are likely to influence individuals to invest in reliable sources of drinking water as pointed out by Abubakar (2019). Behera Rahut & Sethi (2020) have also argued that the average years of schooling is positively associated with drinking water source and service reliability.

Households living in government-owned houses are most satisfied with water service reliability (70.6%) followed by those in rental houses (27.5%), while rentals are the least satisfied (21.4%). The reason for these results is that the government-owned houses are supplied through conventional water delivery, hence consumers do not depend on the small-scale service providers unlike most rental houses especially in the informal settlements. Household income influences satisfaction with water reliability in Kisumu city. Respondents earning less than KES15,000 are more dissatisfied (77.4%) as compared to those earning above KES. 60,000 (19.6%). However, it is worth noting that water unreliability occurs due to an interplay of political, institutional, social, natural and technical factors other than a household's economic well-being (Simukonda et al. 2018). Thus in some cases a household may have a high income but still experience an unreliable water supply. In terms of household size, the findings indicate that large-sized households experience more dissatisfaction with water reliability. The reason for these results is that water unreliability is more inconvenient to larger household sizes because the small family can easily borrow water from their neighbors at a zero cost (Kayaga & Franceys 2007).

Drinking water should be free from chemical, physical, microbial and radiological hazards that could threaten human health (Roaf 2014; Shaw 2014). Poor water quality is linked to outbreaks and endemic illnesses, especially among infants (WHO & UNICEF 2021). Figure 2(d) shows that household heads with college and university education are more satisfied with water quality (75.9%) as compared to those without any formal schooling (18. 2%). This implies that the higher the level of education, the lower the level of dissatisfaction with water quality. This could be linked to the fact that households headed by those having high academic qualifications use improved water sources because education increases awareness of health risks associated with poor water quality. This position is supported by Abubakar (2019) who opines that households headed by those lacking education or those with primary education are more likely to use drinking water sources at the lower rungs of the JMP ladder. Adams et al. (2016) note that uneducated persons are 2.18 times more unlikely to use improved drinking water source as compared to those with tertiary education.

Households living in government-owned houses are most satisfied with water quality (82.4%), while those in rental houses are the least satisfied (63.9%) (Figure 2(d)). This could be linked to the fact that the majority of tenants in the government houses use in-house piped water supplied by the utility. In-house piped water has less chance of being contaminated during conveyance as compared to vended water sources. Households with higher household income have higher satisfaction with water quality, while those with large household sizes have higher dissatisfaction with water quality. Income levels are positively correlated to the quality of water consumed in a household (Abubakar 2019). Households having higher disposable income find it easy to pay for improved water sources as compared to the low-income earners. The number of people in a household affects water demand. For example, in case of shortages, a large-sized household is often forced to use unimproved water sources (Haque et al. 2020).

The JMP categorizes drinking water sources into the improved and unimproved dichotomy (WHO & UNICEF 2021). Sources that ensure water safety based on their design and construction are referred to as improved sources. Wells and water vendors are classified as unimproved sources of drinking water, while water supplied by the utility such as public standpipes and communal water kiosks, piped to the yard and water piped into the house are categorized as improved sources of drinking water. Table 3 shows the chi-squared test of independence performed to examine the relationship between gender, education, tenancy, income, household size and the drinking water source. The analysis shows that there exists an association between drinking water sources and household socioeconomic factors (p-value >0.05).

Table 4 shows the estimation results of the ordinal logistic model, p < χ² < 0.0001 where the model fits well with the variables selected. The ORA reveals that the gender of the household head has a negative effect on the satisfaction with affordability (β = −0.343) and accessibility (β = −0.266) but with a positive effect on satisfaction with service reliability (β = 0.147) and quality (β = 0.256). This implies that the males are more satisfied with water affordability and reliability while women are more satisfied with reliability and quality of the water. These findings are supported by Harris et al. (2017) who indicated the existence of gender differences in water knowledge, access, uses, experience and governance at household levels. However, in the model, gender is statistically insignificant for the prediction of satisfaction with water service delivery.

The model shows that household size is statistically significant at 5%, thus the desirable determinant of satisfaction with water reliability. The household size has a positive effect on satisfaction with water affordability (β = 0.0059) and a negative effect on water accessibility (β = −0.00567), reliability (β = −0.102) and quality (β = −0.0824). Large household size is associated with a decline in satisfaction with water accessibility, reliability and quality among the sampled respondents. Water unreliability is more inconvenient to larger household size as compared to smaller size, because the small family can easily borrow water from the neighbors at a zero cost (Kayaga & Franceys 2007).

The eductional level of the household head is a statistically significant determinant of water affordability at a 1% level of significance while reliability and quality at a 5% level of significance. The analysis depicts that household heads with higher levels of education are likely to experience increased satisfaction with water affordability, reliability and quality as compared to those with limited or no levels of education. This position is supported by Behera et al. (2020), that the average of years of schooling is positively associated with a drinking water source.

The ORA shows that the type of tenancy is a statistically significant determinant of water affordability at a 10% significant level and accessibility at a 1% significant level. The tenancy has a positive effect on the satisfaction with water reliability (β = 0.152) and quality (β = 0.187). The analysis demonstrated that changes in tenancy lead to variations in satisfaction with water service delivery. Occupants of government houses are more likely to be satisfied as compared to those in rental and owner occupier. The findings support Kayaga et al. (2003) that residential house ownership status is a key determinant of water service delivery. The empirical results point out that the coefficient of the household income is positively significant in predicting water affordability, accessibility and reliability each at a 1% level of significance. This implies that high-income earners are more likely to be satisfied with water delivery than low-income earners in terms of affordable, accessible and reliable water services. The higher the income, the more the ability and willingness to pay for improved water services delivery (Abubakar 2019; Behera et al. 2020).

Attempts to up-scale sustainable water service delivery to over 129,000 households in Kisumu city have proven to be an uphill task for the public utility, just like in other cities in developing countries. The service delivery problem is more precarious in the informal settlements whose attributes are high poverty levels, insecure land tenure, social exclusion, overcrowding neighborhoods and unhealthy living conditions. Water supply efficiency in these areas is undermined by illegal connections, higher rates of disconnection, high non-revenue water and substandard technical work. Efforts by the utility in Kisumu city to adopting a pro-poor based public–private partnership model to bridge the gap of infrastructure development and water service provision in the informal settlement is a great move towards the realization of SDG 6 as pointed out by Boakye-Ansah et al. (2020). The Kenyan national regulator reports also show that KIWASCO's performance on hours of water supply, non-revenue water reduction and water coverage have been on an upward trajectory since 2006 due to the pro-poor service delivery initiative. As these achievements are being accentuated, the major question for the water and sanitation experts is: Do the indicators of success capture the user's perspective in terms of satisfaction? As underscored by Kayser et al. (2013) and Bartram et al. (2014), most monitoring tools and approaches fail to measure how perfectly the service delivered matches the consumers' expectation.

Without de-emphasizing the need for assessing utility performance using data from WARIS, this article used the consumer perspective in analyzing water service delivery. The article examined if income, household size, gender, education and tenancy determines water delivery satisfaction. The findings indicate that households having higher disposable income have the capability of responding faster to water bills and can easily pay for water connection charges. Water unreliability occurs due to an interplay of political, institutional, social, natural and technical factors other than a household's economic wellbeing. Small-sized households are more likely to be satisfied with water affordability and accessibility as compared to those from large-sized households. This is because large household sizes often spend more on water as compared to small household sizes. Moreover, a large household size is likely to experience more burden of fetching water to meet all the household domestic needs. Conversely, individuals without any formal schooling are less likely to be satisfied with water accessibility as compared to college and university graduates. This is because the majority of the highly educated people live in the formal settlements where they use in-house piped water system unlike the uneducated staying in the informal settlements where they depend on water kiosks and vendors that often depends on unreliable potable water sources. Lastly, even though it is a priori that gender has a moderating effect on water delivery satisfaction, the logistic regression analysis indicates that the gender of the head of the household is not a determinant of water delivery satisfaction among the sampled respondents. The article recommends that the utility considers tenancy, income, household size, and education of the consumers in water service provisioning.

We express our gratitude to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for the financial support during field work (Funding Program No. 57299302).

Gordon Ocholla conceptualized and designed the research, carried out the data collection and analysis and wrote the original draft of the paper. Sammy Letema and Caleb Mireri supervised the research and reviewed and edited the article.

All relevant data are included in the paper or its Supplementary Information.

The authors declare there is no conflict.