Comparative Analysis of Access to Water supply in threeCommunities in Rivers State.
Gordon T. AMANGABARA*, John D. Njoku (Ph.D), Martins C. IwujiDept of Environmental Technology, School of EnvironmentalTechnologyFederal University of Technology, Owerri
* Corresponding/Lead [email protected]+234 803 309 4635
ABSTRACT:
The United Nations General Assembly, at its Millenniummeeting in 2000, established eight Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) with targets to be achieved by 2015, with theaim of speeding up poverty alleviation and socio-economicdevelopment. The MDGs were elaborated and endorsed by theintergovernmental community at the World Summit onSustainable Development, convened in Johannesburg in 2002.Water quality management contributes both directly andindirectly to achieving the targets set out in all eightMDGs, although it is most closely tied to specific targets ofthe goal 7: Halve by 2015 the proportion of people withoutsustainable access to safe drinking water and basicsanitation. Providing safe and secure water to people aroundthe world, and promoting sustainable use of water resourcesare therefore fundamental objectives of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals. This paper examined the possibility ofachieving the above target in Nigeria with particularreference to the provision of portable water supply in threecommunities in Rivers State: Old Township Area of PortHarcourt City, Okrika Mainland - Okrika LGA (representing anurban settlement) and Bolo in Ogu/Bolo LGA (representing asemi-urban settlement). Groundwater was identified as themain source of water supply in the three communities. Thestudy further investigated the rate of abstraction and the
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quality of abstracted ground water and found that the shareof people using drinking water from improved sources hasrisen but there is a disparity in the quality of waterbetween urban and rural areas, whereas it is reported thatcity dwellers are twice as likely to have safe water as theirrural counterparts, this is not the case in Rivers State.
Keywords: Groundwater, abstraction, quality, quantity, MDGs,Sustainable, Sanitation
1. Background:
Eleven years ago, leaders from every country agreed on a
vision for the future – a world with less poverty, hunger and
disease, greater survival prospects for mothers and their
infants, better educated children, equal opportunities for
women, and a healthier environment; a world in which
developed and developing countries worked in partnership for
the betterment of all. This vision took the shape of eight
Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which are providing
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countries around the world a framework for development and
time-bound targets by which progress can be measured. The
MDGs were elaborated and endorsed by the intergovernmental
community at the World Summit on Sustainable Development,
convened in Johannesburg in 2002. A key consideration was
that water quality management contributes both directly and
indirectly to achieving the targets set out in all eight
MDGs, although it is most closely tied to specific targets of
the goal 7, to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable
access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
In line with the MDGs goal on sustainable water supply, the
Federal Government in 2003 launched the Presidential Water
Initiative programme “Water for people, water for Life” The
target of the programme was to improve access to safe
drinking water in the country to 65% by the year 2007, 85% by
2011 and 100% by 2015. To match words with action, Government
invested over N80 billion in 2006 from the parlous N8 billion
in 1999, external support for the programmed rose to about
US$25m in the same year.
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Dividends of this investment showed in many States including
Imo State where it was reported that 83.7% now have access to
safe drinking water in Aboh Mbaise LGA and generally, access
to safe drinking water in rural areas in Imo State increased
to 45% in 2010 ( Emeka, 2010). However, there are still
institutional reports indicating freshwater scarcity ranking
among the most urgent environmental challenges of this
century in Nigeria especially in urban and semi urban areas
(UNEP, 2011; UNDP & IFAD, 2006; WHO/UNICEFJMP, 2004).
The reports highlight that 1.1 billion people lack sufficient
access to safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion people lack
access to basic sanitation and apart from being unevenly
distributed in time and space, water is also unevenly
distributed among various socio-economic strata of society in
both rural and urban settlements. This distribution is likely
to have direct impact on people’s health as well as their
livelihood opportunities.
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The United Nations estimate for rural Areas is
40L/capita/day. Emeka (2010) reported that the Nigerian
National Policy on water supply and sanitation of January
2000 sets the following consumer standards:
i. 30 litres/capita/day with 250m for rural Areas
ii. 60 litres/capita/day with pipeline reticulation &
house connection for semi-urban areas.
iii. 120 litres/capita/day serviced with full reticulation
and consumer premises.
Whereas it is estimated that daily water use per inhabitant
totals 600 litres in residential areas in North America and
Japan and between 250 and 350 litres in Europe.
2. The Observed Situation in Port Harcourt, Okrika and
Ogu/Bolo LGA of
Rivers State:
In a study conducted between August 2010 and July 2011 with
the objective of investigating access to portable water
supply in three communities in Rivers State [Port Harcourt
City, Okrika Mainland (urban Settlement), Bolo (Semi-urban
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settlement)] vis-à-vis the quality of water abstracted;
showed an interesting result ( Tables 1, 2 and 3).
3. Access to Portable Water Supply:
Port Harcourt City
There are ten major water supply/extraction points
(Government Pumping Stations owned by Water Works) in Port
Harcourt namely Rumuola Pumping Station, Diobu, Moscow Road,
Borikiri, Ernest Ikoli Street (Old GRA), Olumeni ( Old GRA),
Trans Amadi, Woji, Elelenwo and Rumukwurushi. These pumping
stations effectively supplied water last some fifteen years
ago. As a result of this problem every household operates her
own private borehole or visit the nearest commercial private
borehole. While the government well are sunk to an average
depth of 250m, the private boreholes are between 25m and 50m
making them susceptible to contamination
Average water consumption data was difficult to obtain
because the government pumping stations do not have formal
metering for domestic customers but only for industrial
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customers who have since constructed their own private
boreholes from which they obtain water. More so, they
functioned last some fifteen to eighteen years ago. However,
of the 1000 households that were administered with
questionnaire; 96% of them operate their private boreholes
and have storage tank of 20,000 litres which is pumped twice
for home use and seven times a week for the private
(commercial) boreholes for selling to public, washing of cars
and rugs, this translate to an average of 230l/day which is
within the United Nation target supply.
Okrika Mainland ( Okrika Local Government Area)
There are two major water pumping stations in this area
provided by the Local Council and the Port Harcourt Refinery
servicing about fifteen communities. In addition, private
bore holes are also sunk in the area to provide water to
households. The depth of the government well is 320m and
private boreholes are just between 25m and 45m
Bolo Town (Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area)
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Water supply in Bolo Town is provided by two pumping Stations
provided by the Federal Government and managed by the
Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area Council. The depths of the
wells are 340m and 280m respectively. There are three
Neighbourhood Water Scheme provided by the Bolo Community
(these are put into use when ever the Government pumping
stations fail. for example, when there is no diesel to power
the generator pumping the water) the average depth of these
boreholes is between 80m and 120m. Water supply is adequate
in this community, although there a few private boreholes,
they owners of these boreholes still rely on the public water
supply in the community.
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Fig. 1 Map of Rivers Sate showing LGAs and the study areas
4. Water Quality and Water Usage in the Study Area
Water samples collected during the study period were analysed
for water quality and the presence of pollutants and compared
with both the World Health organization (WHO) and the
Nigerian National drinking water standards. The Nigerian
Industrial Standard (NIS) 554:2207 deals with standards for
drinking water quality nationally. The standard was developed
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by the Ministry of Health, working through a technical
committee of key stakeholders.
Table 1. Groundwater Quality in three Selected
Communities in Rivers State.
Parameters PHC (Town Area) Okrika Mainland
Bolo Town
Aquifer Type:
Govt. Lower
Lower Lower
Private Upper Upper
Average Depth (m)
Govt: 250 320
310
Private: 35 - 55 25-45
60
Temp. (0C) 28 27.8 27
pH (6.5 – 8.5) 6.80 6.2
7
10
Chloride (250mg/l) 35.90 63.90
35.5
Iron (0.3mg/l) 0.120 0.2
0.04
Elect Cond. (500 μs/cm) 90 300 19
Hardness 18 20 16
TDS (500mg/l) 34 100 18
TSS (N/S) 0 0 0
T.Coliform (cfu/g) 6.8 x 10 2 – 4.2 x 10 5 4.2 x 10 5
– 1.6x10 3 2.4x10 5 – 1.4 x10 3
* Values in parenthesis are World Health Organisation (2004)limits* values are mean of all sample collection
Table 2 Presence of PAHs in Groundwater in three Communities
in Rivers State
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PAHs PHC (Town Area) Okrika Mainland Bolo Town
Naphthalene - 0.52510
-
Acenaphthylene - 0.18837 -
Acenapththene - 0.88317 -
Fluorene - 0.20438 -
Phenathrene - 0.26732 -
Anthracene - 0.25084 -
Benzo (a) anthracene - 0.488975
-
Benzo (b) fluorathene - 0.5008440
-
Benzo (k) fluoranthene - 0.0237385 -
Pyrene - 0.0508440 - * Values are mean concentration of samples in the area
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Table 3. Access to Water Supply in some selected Areas in
our study Communities.
Areas Public Supply Privately own Commercial
Boreholes Mobile Supply
Port Harcourt:
- Borikiri - 210 280
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- Old Township Area - 150 50
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- Marine Base - 120 12
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- Okrika Waterside - 125 4
-
Okrika Mainland
Ekerekana Ama 100 6 - -
Okochiri 120 4 - -
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Dakar Ama 50 2
- -
Bolo
Old Town square 250 - -
-
Ward 7 500 - -
-
St. Michaels Area 350 -
- -
New Layout 280 -
- -
Source: Fieldwork
The results showed that borehole water in the Port Harcourt
area have high concentrations of microbial contaminants
possibly from the many waste dump sites around. The borehole
water in the Okrika mainland area is mainly polluted with
petroleum products such as the BTEX family (i.e. benzene,
toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene and PAHs) which are very
carcinogenic. The people in the Okrika Mainland area though
have adequate supply of water; the supply is not safe and
secure. People in the area are exposed to the petroleum
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contaminated groundwater when used for bathing, washing,
cooking and drinking. The presence of petroleum pollutant in
the ground waters of Okrika Mainland may be connected to the
activities of the oil refinery as well as artisanal oil
refining ( illegal oil bunkering) activities in the area.
5 Challenges
Results show that there is increased access to water but this
did not translate to increase in “sustainable access to safe
drinking water and basic sanitation”. The basic challenge is
government willingness at the State and Local Government
level to invest in the water sector. It is embarrassing that
Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State can not boast of
effective pumping stations to supply portable water to its
teeming population.
Weak Institutional framework is also another challenge. The
various regulatory bodies charged with monitoring and
evaluating private boreholes and erection of overhead tanks
have not done their jobs. Ownership roles especially at
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Community and Local Government levels of water projects are
poorly defined
Activities in and around boreholes is a major determinant to
the quality of water abstracted. For example, the Town area
of Port Harcourt is mainly reclaimed land, so sandy soil is
the predominant soil type. Many private boreholes within the
area are serviced by leachates from dumpsites as wells as
from Sewers and septic tanks, this explains the heavy
presence of microbial contaminants (pathogenic
microorganisms) like Streptococcus, E.coli; Pseudomonas, Bacillus,
Micrococcus etc. In the Okrika Mainland area, it is a clear case
of Artisanal refining.
Government inability to effectively manage her Water Board in
supplying safe and adequate drinking water as well as its
cavalier approach to check indiscriminate sinking of
boreholes is a complete disregard and a threat to the Right
to Sustainable Access to Safe drinking water. Beyond the
legal sense of water as a human right, many critical
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questions remain for meaningful implementation, for example
what aspects should such a right entail? The obligation not
to pollute is not sufficiently emphasized and minimum rights
to water (for example 40l/capita/day) can provide excuses for
government.
6 Way Forward
There should be community ownership of these water projects
to enhance continuity. A good example is the Bolo Community.
They run their water facility themselves in the last twenty
years. Communities should be involved in the selection,
planning and implementation of their water projects.
Government at all levels should have clear cut policy on the
provision of “safe” drinking water and ensure compliance with
this policy. The General Comment (15) of the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations
Economic and Social Council unequivocally expresses that it
is the responsibility of government to deliver clean water
and adequate sanitation.
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7 Summary and Conclusion
Through its General Comment 15, the Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations Economic and
Social Council stated: The human right to water entitles
everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically
accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic
uses” The United Nations affirmed the right to water on the
26/11/2002, noting that such a right is “indispensable for
leading a life in human dignity” and “ a prerequisite for the
realization of other human rights”.
While the right to water has been implicit in the rights to
health, housing, food, life and dignity already enshrined in
other international conventions, such as the International
Bill of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, The General Comment 15 is the first to focus
explicitly on the right to water and the responsibilities
that government have in delivering clean water and adequate
sanitation services to all. Incidentally the international
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community has for a long time explicitly acknowledged human
right to food. However, people continue to die of starvation
and nearly a billion people remain under nourished, does
explicitly acknowledging a human right to water makes a
practical difference in people’s lives? What we need is
action!
Water is a renewable resource, as it reproduces itself
through the hydrological cycle. While there is plenty of
freshwater at the global scale, there is a challenge of
having sufficient water, of the right quality, at the right
place and at the right time. The MDG target to halve by 2015
the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe
drinking water and basic sanitation in Nigeria may not be
achieved giving the lack of proper direction at the State and
Local government level. It is a little embarrassing that the
government of Rivers State waited until UNEP came up with
their report on Ogoniland on the poor quality of water supply
to come up with a programme of water supply to Okrika and
Eleme Communities. It is a truism that access to water has
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increased tremendously but such access to drinking water is
hampered by activities that contaminate and pollute the water
sources. The study found that the share of people using and
having access to drinking water has risen but the disparity
in the quality of water is in favour with semi urban/rural
areas with motorized boreholes than the urban and city areas.
References
Emeka, U (2010) Rural Water Supply and the MDGs: Asustainable Approach. Paper
presented at the Conference of the Association ofProfessional Women Engineers
of Nigeria (APWEN) Owerri Chapter
Standards Organization of Nigeria (2007). Nigerian Standardfor Drinking Water Quality.
NIS 554: 2007 Retrieved on the 17th July 2010 fromwww.unicef.org/nigeria/ng
publications Nigerian Standard for Drinking WaterQuality. pdf
UNDP/IFAD ( 2006). United Nations Development Programme andInternational Fund
for Agricultural Development. Linking land and watergovernance, Farmers’
views. World Water Week, Stockholm Water Sypomsium.
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UNEP (2011) Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland. Nairobi,Kenya.
WHO/UNICEP JMP(2004). World Health Organisation and UnitedNations Children’s
Fund Joint Monitoring Programme: Meeting the MDGDrinking Water and
Sanitation Target: A Mid term Assessment. JointMonitoring Programme for
Water Supply and Sanitation, Geneva.
WHO (2004). Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality. Volume 1: Recommendations. 3rd
edition. WHO, Geneva.
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