Abstract
Sources, availability and accessibility of potable water were studied in the three geopolitical zones; Okigwe, Owerri, Orlu zones of Imo State, Nigeria. A total of 800 pretested and randomly distributed questionnaires were used on adult respondents in the three zones. Results identified borehole water as the major (65.4%) source of drinking water among the respondents. More than half (53.8%) of the respondents have their water source located less than 50m from their houses, of which 33% have their boreholes located within their compounds. About half of the respondents visit water bodies daily. The highest total rating of supply of water by the respondents was on “poor” supply. The poor rating was more in Okigwe zone where 107 (64.7%) gave poor rating for supply of potable water. The study has shown that although there is availability and accessibility of water, there is need to monitor sitting of water sources and create awareness as well as lay emphasis on purification since what is available and accessible is not potable.
Highlights
According to the WHO (2014), about 663 million people worldwide had no access to adequate drinking water supplies, and nearly half of the people using unimproved water sources live in sub-Saharan Africa (UNICEF, 2015)
The least source of drinking water observed on the responses in Orlu was on spring water, where 8 (3.1%) people responded that they use spring as a drinking water source. 3.2 Availability of Borehole within Compound Since majority of the respondents stated borehole as the source of drinking water available to them, the assessment for the availability of boreholes within compounds became necessary
The results of this study showed that the commonly available drinking water sources in Imo State were Borehole water (65.4%), Rainwater (15.4%), River water (5.4%), Tap water (5.1%), Dug-Well water (2.5%), Springwater (2.3%) and Streamwater (2.3%)
Summary
According to the WHO (2014), about 663 million people worldwide had no access to adequate drinking water supplies, and nearly half of the people using unimproved water sources live in sub-Saharan Africa (UNICEF, 2015). About 65 million Nigerians have no access to safe and adequate water supplies (UNICEF, 2015). A satisfactory (adequate, safe and accessible) supply must be available to all (WHO, 2014). Nigeria has a large rural sector and relatively a small urban population (Utube, 2002). Safe and potable water supplies in urban centers in Nigeria are still inadequate despite four decades of independence and several efforts from various governments (Ajayi et al, 2008). The limited access to water supplies by a significant proportion of the Nigerian rural population has been blamed on institutional and socio-economic factors (Ezenwaji et al, 2016)
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