Consumer’s Perception of the Quality of Municipal Water Supplies in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Water is everywhere but potable water that is safe and suitable for drinking and other human activities is not always available. This study evaluated the management of water resources and the consumers’ perception of the safety of municipal water supply by Imo State Water Board. Questionnaires, which served as primary data generation instruments and comprising of sex, age, status, employed, local government of domicile and twenty-one (21) questions on water resources management were administered in three Local Government Areas of the state, namely Owerri Municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West. The respondents agreed that they do have public water supply was not regular and adequately treated and this was attributed to lack of commitment on the part of the local and state governments. The major alternative sources of water were from boreholes, wells and groundwater. All respondents also agreed on some levels of contamination and pollution of these alternative sources of water. The respondents indicated that they have suffered one form of water-borne disease or another due to poor quality water supply. Serious attention should be paid to the treatment of water supplies in Owerri for public health safety to reduce or otherwise eradicate outbreak of water-borne diseases.

Keywords: Municipal water, quality, consumers, water-borne disease, Nigeria