The Dynamics of Domestic Water Vending in Enugu North L.G.A of Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

The present investigation provides a case study of water vending in Enugu North Local Government Area, Enugu State of South Eastern Nigeria. Questionnaire copies were randomly distributed in the study area to 200 households. Data obtained from the field were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. The analysis revealed that almost all the residents of Enugu North L.G.A. obtain their water from independent water vending systems which are operated by the private sector. Tanker truck, distributing and small retail water vendors all operate in the study area. There are an estimated number of 250 tanker truck drivers serving Enugu North L.G.A. Approximately 35 tanker trucks serve Hill- top/Udi siding ward, while there are a total of 52 retail vendors in Onuasata ward. Majority of the respondents are low income earners who spend within the ranges of NGN500 ($3.33) and NGN1500 ($10) a month on water on the average. 50.0 percent of these respondents opined that vended water was expensive. Of the respondents, 49.4 percent consumed 91 - 100 litres per capita per day, which is less than the 120 litres per capita per day recommended by the Federal Re- public of Nigeria’s National water supply and sanitation policy document of 2000. This deficit can be attributed to the cost of vended water. From the chi-square test, there is significant difference in the unit cost of water sold by vendors in the various wards in Enugu North L.G.A. In the absence of regular water provision through pipe-connections from the public utility, water vending should be supported but regulated. Meeting the water and sanitation target and optimizing water resources for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 will require a dramatic scaling up of joint efforts by the state government and the people in ensuring that vendors provide safe water at a low cost

The diversity of water markets: Prospects and perils for the SDG agenda

“…In Ghana and Niger, the poor are more likely to be using water vendors, and paying higher prices for water (Ainuson, ; Bardasi & Wodon, ). However, in Jordan, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Pakistan, the poor and very poor are unable to afford to pay the higher prices of water vendors, and instead rely on public standpipes or lower quality sources of water, such as boreholes (Abdullah, ; David & Inocencio, ; Onyenechere, Eleazu, Azuwike, Osuji, & Igwe, ; Wildman, ).…”

The role of water vendors in water service delivery in developing countries: a case of Dala local government, Kano, Nigeria

“…Kano experiences four distinct seasons, Rani (warm and dry), Damina (wet and warm), Kaka (cool and dry) and Bazara (hot and dry) closely associated with the movement of the Inter Tropical Discontinuity (ITD) zone. The mean annual rainfall is about 884 mm while mean annual temperature ranges from 26 to 32°C and relative humidity of 17-90% (Olofin 1987). The study area is part of Kano Metropolis (among the eight metropolitan local governments of Kano state) and the water vendors serve not only the study area but also adjacent areas.…”

“…This compares well with the earlier findings by Whittington et al (1991) and more recently by Nnaji et al (2013) that in Nigeria the private water vending system supplies more than 60% of the water consumed daily in dry season. Normally, those with private boreholes or wells allow nearby poor households to draw water free in the form of charity; they do not resell it as it was commonly found in southern part of Nigeria (Olajuyigbe et al 2012;Onyenechere et al 2012) or other parts in developing countries (Kjellen and McGranahan 2006).…”

“…Water vending tends to be an integral part of water supply system in developing countries especially in poorer, low income or informal settlements (Whittington et al 1991;Snell 1998;Opryszko et al 2009;Ishaku et al 2010;Olajuyigbe et al 2012;Onyenechere et al 2012;Ayalew et al 2014) although vendors can be found in wealthier areas (Kjellen 2000). Water resources for vendors may differ in space and time, for example, in Ethiopia it is primarily from municipal supply system while in Kenya vendors sell from a combination of municipal supply and privately owned boreholes and wells (Ayalew et al 2014).…”

“…In previous literature, households were selected using snowball (Kjellen 2000;Ayalew et al 2014) and systematic random sampling procedure (Kjellen 2000), while in others stratified sampling (Ishaku et al 2010) and simple random sampling (Nnaji et al 2013;Onyenechere et al 2012) were adopted.…”