Clean water pathways under devolved water provision: Access, affordability and decentralized innovations in Kenya

preprint OA: closed CC-BY-4.0
📄 Open PDF Full text JSON View at publisher

Abstract

Abstract Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 commits nations to achieve universal access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030, yet progress remains critically insufficient, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya exemplifies these challenges: following its 2010 constitutional transformation, water service delivery was devolved to 47 counties, creating a patchwork of local water markets with varying quality standards and price structures. We analyze household water access under this devolved governance system using data from 1,632 household-water source observations across 13 peri-urban and urban communities collected over three years (2023–2025). Our findings reveal a fragmented, market-driven landscape where 68.8% of households navigate water insecurity by accessing multiple sources. Costs vary substantially even among commonly used sources, with private vendors averaging 49.23 Kenyan Shillings (KES) per 20-liter container compared to 15.70 (±24.08) KES at government-serviced WASCO kiosks. The overall affordability is very low compared to developed countries with an 833% higher cost per liter of water compared to residents in Texas (USA) and with Kenyans spending approximately 25% of their income on water as compared to Texas residents (0.69%) and Indian residents (2.5 % in urban areas and 15% in rural areas). Household water procurement strategies vary based on cost, quality, and convenience, with distance to sources, transportation methods (including head-carrying, bicycles, and donkeys), and intended use (drinking, cooking, washing, bathing) all influencing source selection. Critically, we find a complete absence of “safely managed” water pathways meeting SDG 6.1 criteria across all study communities; even the highest-quality pathways achieve only “basic” service levels. We examine Solar Water Farms (SWFs)—decentralized, solar-powered reverse osmosis systems—as a socio-technical intervention, finding that communities with SWF access experience an 18.3 percentage point reduction in self-reported illness and 15.67 KES lower costs per 20-liter container. These findings demonstrate how Kenya’s devolution and commercialization approach has created access pathways but failed to ensure equity or quality, suggesting that achieving universal safely managed water access will require substantial public investment rather than continued reliance on market-driven pathways alone.
Full text 23,221 characters · extracted from preprint-html · click to expand
Clean water pathways under devolved water provision: Access, affordability and decentralized innovations in Kenya | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Clean water pathways under devolved water provision: Access, affordability and decentralized innovations in Kenya Manish Kumar, Daniel King, Deidra Miniard, Abby Chapman, Joseph Portillo, and 33 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9216062/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 commits nations to achieve universal access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030, yet progress remains critically insufficient, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya exemplifies these challenges: following its 2010 constitutional transformation, water service delivery was devolved to 47 counties, creating a patchwork of local water markets with varying quality standards and price structures. We analyze household water access under this devolved governance system using data from 1,632 household-water source observations across 13 peri-urban and urban communities collected over three years (2023–2025). Our findings reveal a fragmented, market-driven landscape where 68.8% of households navigate water insecurity by accessing multiple sources. Costs vary substantially even among commonly used sources, with private vendors averaging 49.23 Kenyan Shillings (KES) per 20-liter container compared to 15.70 (±24.08) KES at government-serviced WASCO kiosks. The overall affordability is very low compared to developed countries with an 833% higher cost per liter of water compared to residents in Texas (USA) and with Kenyans spending approximately 25% of their income on water as compared to Texas residents (0.69%) and Indian residents (2.5 % in urban areas and 15% in rural areas). Household water procurement strategies vary based on cost, quality, and convenience, with distance to sources, transportation methods (including head-carrying, bicycles, and donkeys), and intended use (drinking, cooking, washing, bathing) all influencing source selection. Critically, we find a complete absence of “safely managed” water pathways meeting SDG 6.1 criteria across all study communities; even the highest-quality pathways achieve only “basic” service levels. We examine Solar Water Farms (SWFs)—decentralized, solar-powered reverse osmosis systems—as a socio-technical intervention, finding that communities with SWF access experience an 18.3 percentage point reduction in self-reported illness and 15.67 KES lower costs per 20-liter container. These findings demonstrate how Kenya’s devolution and commercialization approach has created access pathways but failed to ensure equity or quality, suggesting that achieving universal safely managed water access will require substantial public investment rather than continued reliance on market-driven pathways alone. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Environmental impact Social science/Environmental studies Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SI.docx Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9216062","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":611934525,"identity":"1bf226cb-eed9-49a8-a9c9-56971b190960","order_by":0,"name":"Manish Kumar","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA9ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJCCA4wNDAZg1ge4GBuRWhhnQLUS1MIA08LMQ4wW3fazBw/+3MFgbHDt8LPPtm1/5AyOH3/A8KHsME4tZmfyEg7znmEwM7idZjw7t83AWLInx4Bxxjk8Wg7kGBxmbGOwMbidYMwM1JLYz5DDwMzbhkfL+TcGB3+CtaR/ZrZsM6hv43/+gPkvPi03cgwO8LaBHJZjzMzYZpDAL5FgAGTg0/LG4DBvm4Sx5O2cYsaec8aGM2cA7e05l47HYTnGH3+22Rj23U7fzPCjTE7e4Hz6wwc/yqxxaoECCVTuAULqR8EoGAWjYBTgBwDLEleUzcoowQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5545-3793","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Manish","middleName":"","lastName":"Kumar","suffix":""},{"id":611934526,"identity":"ea48375e-3c56-4a36-95d6-16f91970fd28","order_by":1,"name":"Daniel King","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daniel","middleName":"","lastName":"King","suffix":""},{"id":611934527,"identity":"587c3c73-4d93-495a-b8c8-90923d7791ba","order_by":2,"name":"Deidra Miniard","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Deidra","middleName":"","lastName":"Miniard","suffix":""},{"id":611934528,"identity":"7f1dd45c-9bc6-4bd6-84aa-3904004cfeff","order_by":3,"name":"Abby Chapman","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abby","middleName":"","lastName":"Chapman","suffix":""},{"id":611934529,"identity":"965b279c-e5b7-48d7-9bde-1684c9f96eeb","order_by":4,"name":"Joseph Portillo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Joseph","middleName":"","lastName":"Portillo","suffix":""},{"id":611934530,"identity":"72d1b16d-fe82-4de6-85ca-031c4ab3cab7","order_by":5,"name":"Prachi Mehendale","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Prachi","middleName":"","lastName":"Mehendale","suffix":""},{"id":611934531,"identity":"05984211-cc21-4c6a-b6c7-b2b396b8b5c1","order_by":6,"name":"Ronald Vogler","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ronald","middleName":"","lastName":"Vogler","suffix":""},{"id":611934532,"identity":"7af5464e-e1b4-47b7-adc3-40b23b85ef73","order_by":7,"name":"Faith Nzilu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South East Kenyan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Faith","middleName":"","lastName":"Nzilu","suffix":""},{"id":611934533,"identity":"8040933d-c72e-496d-a23e-d2b44a7af40e","order_by":8,"name":"Sylvia Mutunga","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South East Kenyan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sylvia","middleName":"","lastName":"Mutunga","suffix":""},{"id":611934534,"identity":"40d8514f-b3f1-4e27-965a-d3f6d1eae94a","order_by":9,"name":"Tabitha Kimeu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South East Kenyan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tabitha","middleName":"","lastName":"Kimeu","suffix":""},{"id":611934535,"identity":"ec2e4f13-e45d-4dd1-bb15-f2296ad95e0b","order_by":10,"name":"Joy Muriungi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South East Kenyan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Joy","middleName":"","lastName":"Muriungi","suffix":""},{"id":611934536,"identity":"224df532-29f3-46cd-89d7-0687127da17f","order_by":11,"name":"David Kimaili","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South East Kenyan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"David","middleName":"","lastName":"Kimaili","suffix":""},{"id":611934537,"identity":"2930858e-18cf-4d22-b5ee-ea51617ddf85","order_by":12,"name":"Jennifer Pierce","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jennifer","middleName":"","lastName":"Pierce","suffix":""},{"id":611934538,"identity":"a59fc4f8-8742-4f50-9770-3f8f48ed10cc","order_by":13,"name":"Carly Barnett","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carly","middleName":"","lastName":"Barnett","suffix":""},{"id":611934539,"identity":"e34d6e78-3fa5-4f86-b503-8fe142e5ddcc","order_by":14,"name":"Aarya Nair","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aarya","middleName":"","lastName":"Nair","suffix":""},{"id":611934540,"identity":"d0308d80-0d4b-42b0-996c-84a94be4be85","order_by":15,"name":"Isabella Tran","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Isabella","middleName":"","lastName":"Tran","suffix":""},{"id":611934541,"identity":"c5533e8b-c83f-434d-b37a-cec5f5c4201b","order_by":16,"name":"Kelsey Nyandusi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kelsey","middleName":"","lastName":"Nyandusi","suffix":""},{"id":611934542,"identity":"9429b7e1-9bf6-4efc-b9a3-5a97537eb409","order_by":17,"name":"Shriya Mukkavilli","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shriya","middleName":"","lastName":"Mukkavilli","suffix":""},{"id":611934543,"identity":"cc3f72d6-8f70-4501-9c75-b319a7c7d45c","order_by":18,"name":"Suhani Gajera","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Suhani","middleName":"","lastName":"Gajera","suffix":""},{"id":611934544,"identity":"698c21e4-93bb-4420-81fd-b153d5d0f63f","order_by":19,"name":"Jayline Garza","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jayline","middleName":"","lastName":"Garza","suffix":""},{"id":611934545,"identity":"906ebebe-fb56-450d-b3cf-5983fcfd3b5f","order_by":20,"name":"Davina Tran","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2685-6914","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Davina","middleName":"","lastName":"Tran","suffix":""},{"id":611934546,"identity":"cc5565bb-7503-49c8-b2de-634f1fdc4ac4","order_by":21,"name":"Carter Heslam","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carter","middleName":"","lastName":"Heslam","suffix":""},{"id":611934547,"identity":"a24441fb-f811-461d-b96a-01c1a2fc228f","order_by":22,"name":"Shrika Paramasivam","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shrika","middleName":"","lastName":"Paramasivam","suffix":""},{"id":611934548,"identity":"fbf1f1ec-f202-4c9e-9a2d-12843c2c51c3","order_by":23,"name":"Elena Ribeiro","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elena","middleName":"","lastName":"Ribeiro","suffix":""},{"id":611934549,"identity":"5ac930a5-ee69-4e39-891a-4948f6ea2006","order_by":24,"name":"Habsa Aydid","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Habsa","middleName":"","lastName":"Aydid","suffix":""},{"id":611934550,"identity":"6747ac8e-9caa-45cb-a5d5-e1bb7f59aceb","order_by":25,"name":"Amit Maheshwari","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Amit","middleName":"","lastName":"Maheshwari","suffix":""},{"id":611934551,"identity":"24136ed4-1d52-4b97-b6b3-f58233f119e5","order_by":26,"name":"Anya Choudhary","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anya","middleName":"","lastName":"Choudhary","suffix":""},{"id":611934552,"identity":"99141a99-eb98-48c7-8041-8270835715be","order_by":27,"name":"Sana Haider","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sana","middleName":"","lastName":"Haider","suffix":""},{"id":611934553,"identity":"05b55aef-9243-4b2d-99c5-3127817080a2","order_by":28,"name":"Nadya Harris","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nadya","middleName":"","lastName":"Harris","suffix":""},{"id":611934554,"identity":"618b9f04-7ca8-41a2-b420-ec8a493d4c64","order_by":29,"name":"Juliet Ippolito","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Juliet","middleName":"","lastName":"Ippolito","suffix":""},{"id":611934555,"identity":"c4651fa9-cff4-4c80-bdef-50e53381f1b9","order_by":30,"name":"Arnav Karnik","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Arnav","middleName":"","lastName":"Karnik","suffix":""},{"id":611934556,"identity":"1ab287e9-d1d3-413a-8ef0-edb4b572ed65","order_by":31,"name":"Shelly Kleinerman","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shelly","middleName":"","lastName":"Kleinerman","suffix":""},{"id":611934557,"identity":"66a0b79e-d5ae-4bf6-a91a-8e62e3d6a462","order_by":32,"name":"Satvik Raghunathan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Satvik","middleName":"","lastName":"Raghunathan","suffix":""},{"id":611934558,"identity":"c7abbb8a-a446-42af-b63f-d14beff881ee","order_by":33,"name":"Natalie Sherman","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Natalie","middleName":"","lastName":"Sherman","suffix":""},{"id":611934559,"identity":"62b3e9f2-4e13-496c-b7e0-51f35e34c391","order_by":34,"name":"Desmond Obala","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South East Kenyan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Desmond","middleName":"","lastName":"Obala","suffix":""},{"id":611934560,"identity":"5bf39062-cc75-43ff-8c0a-139c5c88b171","order_by":35,"name":"Mery Cheruto","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South East Kenyan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mery","middleName":"","lastName":"Cheruto","suffix":""},{"id":611934561,"identity":"648240fa-531d-452e-8b34-8843c71df60d","order_by":36,"name":"Matheaus Kauti","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South East Kenyan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Matheaus","middleName":"","lastName":"Kauti","suffix":""},{"id":611934562,"identity":"a8014cb6-8f64-498f-8502-b5ed7297e046","order_by":37,"name":"Patrick Bixler","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Patrick","middleName":"","lastName":"Bixler","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-24 21:15:27","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9216062/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9216062/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106961064,"identity":"f198105c-8e62-4835-bfe3-e1713c82904c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-15 09:24:07","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1491992,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"StateofWaterNaturewaterReadytoSubmit.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9216062/v1_covered_e6f7c157-c364-4484-bd6c-4d47e09a8ce3.pdf"},{"id":106955897,"identity":"5fc11f09-41c3-4346-8cf2-009d680b93cd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-15 08:15:59","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":508283,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Information","description":"","filename":"SI.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9216062/v1/e0133b576cbfdfe1b9851560.docx"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Clean water pathways under devolved water provision: Access, affordability and decentralized innovations in Kenya","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9216062/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9216062/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 commits nations to achieve universal access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030, yet progress remains critically insufficient, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya exemplifies these challenges: following its 2010 constitutional transformation, water service delivery was devolved to 47 counties, creating a patchwork of local water markets with varying quality standards and price structures. We analyze household water access under this devolved governance system using data from 1,632 household-water source observations across 13 peri-urban and urban communities collected over three years (2023–2025). Our findings reveal a fragmented, market-driven landscape where 68.8% of households navigate water insecurity by accessing multiple sources. Costs vary substantially even among commonly used sources, with private vendors averaging 49.23 Kenyan Shillings (KES) per 20-liter container compared to 15.70 (±24.08) KES at government-serviced WASCO kiosks. The overall affordability is very low compared to developed countries with an 833% higher cost per liter of water compared to residents in Texas (USA) and with Kenyans spending approximately 25% of their income on water as compared to Texas residents (0.69%) and Indian residents (2.5 % in urban areas and 15% in rural areas). Household water procurement strategies vary based on cost, quality, and convenience, with distance to sources, transportation methods (including head-carrying, bicycles, and donkeys), and intended use (drinking, cooking, washing, bathing) all influencing source selection. Critically, we find a complete absence of “safely managed” water pathways meeting SDG 6.1 criteria across all study communities; even the highest-quality pathways achieve only “basic” service levels. We examine Solar Water Farms (SWFs)—decentralized, solar-powered reverse osmosis systems—as a socio-technical intervention, finding that communities with SWF access experience an 18.3 percentage point reduction in self-reported illness and 15.67 KES lower costs per 20-liter container. These findings demonstrate how Kenya’s devolution and commercialization approach has created access pathways but failed to ensure equity or quality, suggesting that achieving universal safely managed water access will require substantial public investment rather than continued reliance on market-driven pathways alone.","manuscriptTitle":"Clean water pathways under devolved water provision: Access, affordability and decentralized innovations in Kenya","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-15 08:15:54","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9216062/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-water","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"natwater","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Water](https://www.nature.com/natwater/)","snPcode":"44221","submissionUrl":"https://mts-natwater.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex","title":"Nature Water","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Research","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"cbab96be-da52-42d6-82ea-c6624b6c2e81","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 15th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":65108804,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Environmental impact"},{"id":65108805,"name":"Social science/Environmental studies"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-15T08:15:55+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-15 08:15:54","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9216062","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9216062","identity":"rs-9216062","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: preprint-html

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Citation neighborhood (no data yet)

We don't have any in-corpus citations linked to this paper yet. This is a recent paper (2026) — citers typically take a year or two to land, and the OpenAlex reference graph may still be filling in.

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-05-20T01:45:00.602351+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-05-28T02:00:01.590549+00:00
License: CC-BY-4.0