This paper reports on changes in water supplies in 16 sites in nine East Af
rican urban centres (including Nairobi and Dar es Salaam) between 1967 and
1997 The sites included both low-income and affluent neighbourhoods. In mos
t sites, water supplies had deteriorated. For sites that already had piped
water in 1967, most received less water per day in 1997 and had more unreli
able supplies. For households without piped supplies, the average time spen
t collecting water in 1997 was more than three rimes that in 1967. One of t
he most notable changes when comparing 1997 to 1967 was the much greater im
portance of private water vending through kiosks or vendors; these had beco
me a booming business in many of the low- and middle-income sites. But on a
verage, those using kiosks were spending almost 2 hours a day collecting wa
fer and the water from kiosks was nearly twice the price of piped supplies.