DETERMINANTS OF HOUSEHOLD ACCESS TO SAFE PIPE-BORNE DRINKING PIPE-BORN WATER

ABSTRACT

This study was geared at identifying the Determinants Of Household Access To Safe Drinking Pipe-Born Water In The Kumba Municipality. In an attempt to meet up with the broad coverage of the work, it was broken down into different specific objectives which included; To examine how social, economic culture and environmental factors affect household access to safe drinking water, to identify some of the sickness which have affected people of Kumba municipality as a result of poor drinkable water, to examine or explain how the people have adapted to the problem of poor water access, to quality and sanitation describe some of the majors which have been put in place by the government/ council of Kumba to combat this problem of safe water accessibility and lastly, to list some of the proposed solutions of the people of Kumba to the government which can help solve the problem of poor water accessibility. Both primary and secondary data were collected from 100 respondents using questionnaires(primary) and interview (secondary).

The study revealed that Environmental factors contribute more to lack of access of drinking water in Kumba municipality, than other factors like economic, cultural and etc. It was discovered that Dysentery, skin rashes, cholera, typhoid, and Diarrhea are some of the diseases that the people of Kumba municipality are always exposed to such diseases as result of poor drinkable water. It was again discovered that most of their treatments are done in  Pharmacies, the use of traditional herbs, and occasional in hospitals. The results revealed them efforts made by the various household as an attempt to meet up with good drinkable  water were; buying of water, identification of natural streams and treatment of their drinkable water

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Of The Study

Water is a common denominator of the ecosystem and the human system (Definition by Falkenmark, 2002) fresh water occurs as a complex system processing a number of dimension. Surface water, ground water, water quality and quantity are all linked in a continuous-acle. The hydrological cycle-rainfall, run off from the land infiltration into the ground and Evaporation from the surface back into the atmosphere. All these aspects of water system are needed in one way or the other to satisfy humanity thereby granting them good standard of living as such the world, Africa, Cameroon and the Southwest Region in the town of Kumba to be precise have different ways in which they have access to safe pipe-born, drinking water and sanitation and water quality different at the world at large.

Globally in the world, in the who European Region, more than 63 million people gained access to safe drinking  water services and 84 million people to sanitation service between 2000 and 2017. Nevertheless over 16million people still lack access to basic drinking water and more than 31million people are in need of basic sanitation. Tap water id free in most European countries and people have access to drinking water. If you ask for water the server assumes you mean a bottle of water, in United States if you ask for water the server assumes you mean tap water. In Europe, 48 million people do not have pipe-born water at home and more than 3000,000 people still practice open defecation, mainly in the countryside.

Furthermore, in Africa many countries lack data on the quality of water and sanitation services. The report includes estimates for 90 countries on safely managed drinking and 84 countries on safely managed sanitation. Also Sub Saharan Africa suffers from chronically over by rdened water systems under increasing stress from fast-growing urban areas. Because of weak governments, corruption mismanagement of resource, poor long-term investment and lack of environmental research and urban infrastructure only exacerbate the problem. In Africa  there are top 3 countries which have little access to water we have Eritrea, Papua New Guinea and Uganda are the three countries with lowest access to clean water close to home, with Papua, new Guinea the second lowest  in the world at 37% and Uganda a new addition to the list this year at 38% access.

In Cameroon, Access to drinking water and sanitation has been a long- standing issue between many states. However, it represents a daily struggle for hundreds of thousands of city dwellers who live mainly in the developing countries. The government of Cameroon with the assistance of providers of funds have implemented strategies to make sanitation and access to safe drinking water a reality. We have therefore decided to access sanitation and access to Douala iu sub division. In Cameroon in urban areas, only 58% of the population has access to improved sanitation facilities and the rate in rural areas is 42%. Women and girls shoulder the highest burble in collecting water 15% of urban and 18% rural population use improve drinking water sources over 30minutes away.

Moreover, access to safe drinking water in the south west region of Cameroon, access to water is a key challenge across the area. Both in terms of quantity and quality. It can be seen that only minority of people manage to secure enough water to meet their needs and that a fifthy of the communities rely exclusively on un improved sources. In this area, limited access to water is due to the fact that people do not have enough containers to fetch and store water and that existing water points are not sufficient or are too far. This situation is particularly to those people living in the bush and to a lesser extend in rural villages, likely due to the limited coverage of WASH infrastructure in remote area. Also in this area, there is limited access to sanitation and unavailability of latrines and that existing ones do not ensure privacy and gender separation, so there bound to be open defecation as a wide spread practice especially among communities living in the bush and rural areas.

In the city of Kumba, found in the southwest region of the country Cameroon in meme division, displaced people settle in their farms lack safe water access and most of them and their hosts are all facing an increased risk of wash related diseases and mostly natural factors determine their access to water.

More so, hold water treatment is not conventional, and typically many people lack the means and knowledge to ensure safe environmental health practices. The scare water source and inadequate WASH infrastructure in Kumba increase financial strains on households in urban areas and entrance the use of unsafe water sources.

 To conclude, most suburbs in Kumba fetch water mostly in streams which they use for other household purpose and mostly this water lack sanitation and most renoun source of water in Kumba I from the lake. With the taking in of this dirty water, some people get sick which affect them to carry out their day to day activities.

1.2 Problem Statement

As a result of poor water quality and quantity the people of Kumba face some challenges to get good water for drinking and because these water which they consume at times is very dirty and even the few taps which are available the surrounding are not kept clean, people drink this water and as a result they have illnesses like diarrhea, dicentary, and skin rashes which is as a result of poor access and quality of water which they use.

1.3 Research Questions

1. What factors determines the household of Kumba access to safe pipe-borne drinking water?

2. What are the challenges faced by the people of Kumba as a result of poor access to water quality and sanitation?

3. What has the government done to ensure access to safe drinking water in Kumba municipality?

4. How has the people of Kumba municipality adapted to the poor water quality and quantity which they experience?

5. What are the solutions which can be implemented in the Kumba municipality in other to help the people to curt the problem of poor access to water quality and sanitation?

1.4 Research Objective

Determinants of household access to safe drinking pipe-born water in the Kumba Municipality.

SPECTIC OBJECTIVES

1. To examine how social, economic culture and environmental factors affect household access to safe drinking water in the Kumba municipality
2. To identify some of the sickness which have affected people of Kumba municipality as a result of poor drinkable water.
3. To examine or explain hoe the people of Kumba municipality has adapted to the problem of poor water access, quality and saniatation
4. To describe some of the majors which have BEEN put in place by the government/ council of Kumba to combat this problem of safe water accessibility.

To list some of the proposed solutions of the people of Kumba to the government which can help solve the problem of poor water accessibility

FURTHER READING: SIMILAR GEOGRAPHY PROJECT TOPICS WITH MATERIALS