Evaluation of Rural Water Supply Schemes in Selected Communities in Orire local government, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Operation and maintenance of water supply scheme is one of the challenges militating against sustainable water provision in rural areas. This study focused on the evaluation of water supply scheme in selected communities in Oriire Local Government of Oyo State. The study involved assessment of the available water supply scheme, its sustainability level and the quality of the water facility. Field work involved the use of structured questionnaire to obtain information and data on socio-economic status, water use, accessibility,
functionality while the water quality of the non water supply scheme (river water source) was determined at the laboratory. Chi square, T-test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to analyse the data obtained from the field. The study revealed that there is irregular supply of water from the water supply scheme due to inadequate planning for maintenance and rural water supply scheme is not sustainable. It was observed that when local communities participate directly in planning their water supply systems, these systems are more likely to be sustainable than systems that are imposed by government or donor association. The tested drinking water quality was found to be adequate in term of pH, biochemical oxygen demand, chloride ion, total dissolved solid and total hardness. For the water sample tested, all these were generally good except turbidity which was higher than 5NTU. The stream water in the community can also be developed to be the part of water supply scheme.