Assessing Drinking Water Quality, Accessibility, and Public Perception: Evidence from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

This study investigates the current status of drinking water supply, quality, and related public perceptions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The required data was collected through structured questionnaire from 401 households in the study area. The main focus was to examine the sources of drinking water, responsible authorities, public satisfaction, and health implications. The findings of the study indicated that 59.10% of households rely on public taps for getting drinking water, while only 17.71% use both public and private sources. During the survey in the selected districts of the province the Water and Sanitation Company (WSSC) was identified as the primary water service provider (53.62%), followed by the Development Authority (37.91%). However, despite widespread access to public drinking water supply, 68.08% of respondents reported issues related to water, while 73.07% had experienced waterborne diseases, which actually shows a significant health concern. In exploring the issues of drinking water, the respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the quality (68.83%) and as well as quantity (68.58%) of water. It was also come to noticed that the key concerns included poor taste (42.39%), color (30.17%), and smell (18.20%). By elaborating the reasons of contamination, the households claimed that major causes of poor water quality were the use of suction pumps (34.16%), rusted pipelines near sewerage lines (29.93%), and unprotected sources (24.19%). Although 52.62% had knowledge of water treatment methods, the rest lacked awareness, further increasing vulnerability to health risks.

The study concludes that while institutional frameworks for water supply exist, the system faces challenges in infrastructure, quality control, and community trust. Therefore, it can be suggested based on the findings that stakeholders need to upgrade infrastructure, regulatory action on suction pumps, improved water quality monitoring. Beside that public awareness campaigns, and enhanced inter-agency coordination also needed. Addressing these issues is essential to ensure safe, reliable, and accessible drinking water for all residents in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.