| dc.description.abstract | The major problem that arises with the rapid growth of population is whether it is possible to fulfil basic requirements of human beings such as food, water, shelter and air (De Silva, 2007). Especially, drinking water is a basic need of human life and in fact an essential component in primary healthcare and poverty alleviation (Amponsah, Aidam and Senadza, 2009). However, the growing intensity of population and development activities create tremendous pressure on available water resources. Therefore, it is essential to understand the relationships among a full range of population characteristics such as the size, growth, distribution, and density of population, total households and the usage of water sources. With this brief background, the aim of this paper is to identify the recent changes in population and its impact on the usage of drinking water sources in households in Kalutara district during the period of 2001-2012. Towards achieving this aim, population and households data on sources of drinking water was obtained from the reports of Census of Population and Housing in 2001 and 2012. The data were analyzed using thematic maps and correlation analyses. Accordingly, the highest population and population density were recorded in the west coast while the lowest were in rural areas and there was an increase both spatially and temporally. The study also revealed that there was a similar distribution pattern in total households and the high total households was in Panadura and Kalutara DSDs in both the years. The high annual growth rates were recorded in Bandaragama and Horana DSDs. It was found that the majority of the households used improved sources of drinking water, especially from shallow ground water wells (including protected and unprotected dug wells). There was an increase in the use of improved sources of drinking water and a decrease in use of unimproved sources of drinking water. In the coastal side, there was a considerable increase in the use of pipe-borne water as the major source of water. It was evident that the highest proportion of unimproved sources of drinking water was used by the households in Palindanuwara DSD. The t-test results showed that there was a significant difference (p<0.05) between those who used all classified unimproved sources of drinking water in 2001 and 2012. Further, the study revealed that there was a strongly significant (p<0.05) relationship between the increase in population size, population density and total households while it led to a chain effect on the use of all the classified improved sources of drinking water in both the years. However, all the unimproved sources of drinking water, except two sources which use tanker-truck and bottled water, have shown negative correlation values. It was also evident that the increase in population density had a significant (p<0.05) influence on the use of surface water. The study, therefore recommends that the source of drinking water should be managed sustainably in order to ensure continuous availability in the long-term. | en_US |
