Evaluation of Willingness to Pay for Reliable and Sustainable household Water Use in Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

This study focused on the evaluation of willingness-to-pay (WTP) for sustainable household water use in Ilorin, Nigeria. The study involved assessment of the existing water supply situation particularly considering water use indicators such as demography, adequacy of existing water supply system and WTP for reliable supply. Field work involved the use of structured questionnaire to obtain data on household water use and WTP for a reliable water supply of the sampled houses consisting three land use patterns. Stata/SE 8.0 and Microsoft EXCEL software were employed to evaluate the variables that affect WTP for improved household water use while ccontingency Valuation Method was adopted to evaluate the WTP for reliable and sustainable service delivery. The findings of the study revealed that: approximately 70 % of total sampled households were connected to municipal supply out of which 13 % indicated satisfaction in terms of sufficiency and 87 % used alternative sources to augment water supply; consumers are willing to pay an average sum of N737.22 per month for improved water supply services and; gender, water quality and household income level have significant impact on WTP at 5% level of significance. There is the need to put in place a framework to enhance improvement of system reliability and sustainability.

Keywords: Evaluation, willingness, reliability, sustainability, household, water