An assessment on provision of accessible potable water in Edemaya Community, Ikot Abasi of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study evaluated the level of access to potable water supply in Edemaya, Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, using the Descriptive and Physical survey methods. Fifty structured questionnaires were distributed randomly and retrieved, while informal interviews were also conducted. Community heads or their spokesmen were the targeted respondents and data on major sources of water supply and distance to the nearest major source of water supply in the communities were collated and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS; Version 23). The rationalized data were used to generate frequency percentage distribution for the analysis. Field investigation revealed that 23 Villages make up Edemaya clan, 15 have Streams and 3 have Borehole but no access to pipe borne water, while 5 have no source of water. The most common source of drinking water was surface water (64%) and majority (56%) of the water drawers spent more than 30 minutes to fetch water from their dwelling places. (50%) of the household embark on a tiring journey of more than 200m in search for water. These suggest a very poor access to potable water supply in the communities prompting the recommendation to Akwa Ibom State Government for urgent necessary action.