COST OF DOMESTIC WATER IN BAYELSA STATE, SOUTH-SOUTH NIGERIA.

PublicHealth

The practice of buying water for domestic consumption remains the only means of access to water supply in Bayelsa State and this poses serious threats to the health and wellbeing of the people. A study was carried out to determine the cost of water in three randomly selected communities in Bayelsa State, South-South Nigeria from January 2013 to April 2014. The study adopted the descriptive cross-sectional design, using a structured questionnaire and oral interview as the main instruments for data collection. From the findings, 81% of the respondents sampled lacked access to improved water supply, compared to just 18.9% having access to potable water. The study further indicated that the proportion of respondents who bought 20 litre Jeri-can of water equivalent to the basic minimum requirement per person per day at 20 naira, 62(45.2%) was significantly higher than those who bought 50 litre Jeri-can of water at 40 naira per person per day, 26 (19%). It was also discovered that low income families (households) spent 5.8% of their monthly income on water purchase which was twice the 3% of the monthly income recommended by the United Nations Development Programme. Conversely, high income families spent as low as<0.4% and <1.4% to buy water for domestic consumption. The scenario implied that many households in the low income group were left with little or nothing to take care of the family needs after spending a large chunk of their earnings on water, giving the high poverty profile and cost of living in the State. The cost of water charged by water vendors and borehole owners also reduced the quantity of water used by poor families for hygiene purposes, thus enhancing the spread of waterborne diseases, such as diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid fever, trachoma, ring worm infections etc. It was therefore recommended that the Bayelsa State government should improve its MDGs community water supply and sanitation coverage, with massive enlightenment campaign on hygiene promotion.

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