As a consequence they are prone to experiencing health problems such as headaches, general fatigue and pains in the chest, neck and waist. However, to a large extent, the mode of transporting water depends on the gender of the drawer. Amongst males there has been an increase in the use of bicycles and hand-driven carts. On average, the daily number of trips for water made per household increased from 2.6 in 1967 to 3.9 in 1997. This is largely due to the increase in water use by unpiped households.
Drawers can travel considerable distances to obtain water.
On average the distance covered to collect the daily water for one household decreased slightly from 428 to 405 meters. This decrease is in part due to the improved accessibility of protected sources such as hydrants, standpipes and wells. It also reflects the increase in vendors supplying water direct to the house. However, the decrease is not uniform. At some sites, households reported that sources that were previously available had dried up and as a consequence they had to walk longer distances to the next source.