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Assessment of domestic water supply situation in rural communities in Ijebu-North area of Ogun State, Nigeria


A. Agbelemoge
O.J. Odubanjo

Abstract

Water is needed by man for the sustenance of life and it is the second most important natural resource used by man after the air were breathe. Man survives longer without food than without water. The socio-economic development of man is determined partly by the availability of water. The supply of safe pipe-borne water in Nigeria is associated with the urban centres while the majority of the rural areas are without reasonable access to safe water supply.

The domestic water supply situation in Ijebu-North Area was studied using one hundred and fifty respondents from five rural communities randomly sampled and interviewed for the study.

The result indicated that only three percent (3%) of the people have access to clean and safe pipe-borne water while the remaining 97% relied on streams, rain water, wells and springs for their domestic uses. Only 26% of the people had water supply within their houses while 47% of the rural dwellers trek for over an hour to fetch drinking water.

Chi-square analysis revealed that the rural dwellers had to reduce their rate of water consumption as a result of having to trek long distances before getting safe water supply but at other times made use of water available whether contaminated or not.

The long hours spent in searching for water could have been judiciously spent on productive work if the people can be assisted to repair the broken down bore holes, teach them how to maintain these boreholes and also treat their other unsafe sources of water supply.


[JEXT Vol.2(1) 2001: 81-87]

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eISSN: 1595-5125