Main Source of Water for Drinking and for other Domestic Use Water like the saying goes is life, meaning living organism cannot survive without it. There are so many uses of water but for purpose of this chapter, the concentration is on water for drinking and for domestic purpose.

8.7.1 Main Source of Water for Drinking Data were collected on the sources of drinking water for household members. The sources are classified in this section by their quality level in relation to their health effects. According to the World Health Organisation (2013) improved water sources for drinking are as follows: piped water public tap, borehole or pump, protected well, protected spring or rain water and bottled water. Improved water sources do not include unprotected well or springs, rivers/streams, sachet water, vendor-provided water and tanker trucks.  At the District level, it can be observed from Table 8.10  that the proportions of households using various improved water sources are as follows; Bore-hole/pump/tube well (47.1%); Protected well (14.7%); Pipe-borne water (inside dwelling, outside dwelling; public stand pipe) constituting (13.9%); River/streams (18.4%) and Dugout/Pond/Lake/Dam/Canal (2.1%).

8.7.2 Main Sources of Water for Domestic Purposes Regarding the sources of water for other domestic use, the pattern is similar to the one described earlier for drinking water source. The same four main sources of water for drinking are also used for other domestic purposes but by different proportions of households in the District and also in urban-rural communities. Table 8.10 shows that 39.2 percent of households use bore-hole/pump/tube well as their main source of water for other domestic purposes while 19.7 percent use river/streams with 19.0 percent using protected wells.  

With respect to rural and urban localities Table 8.10 indicates that 38.2 percent of urban households and 39.6 percent of rural households respectively in the District use borehole/pump/tube well as their main source of water for domestic purpose. In addition to that, 35.7 percent of urban households use protected wells for domestic purposes compared to 12.4 percent in rural households. The use of river and streams for domestic purposes is more common among rural households (27.3%) than households in urban areas (0.3%). On the whole, whereas about 19 out 20 (95.1%) of urban households use improved water sources for other domestic purposes, the proportion for rural households is 60.8 percent.  

Bathing and Toilet Facilities 8.8.1 Toilet Facility used by households Toilet facilities reported in the 2010 PHC can be classified into two categories in relation to their location, accessibility and human contact with the waste. These are: Built or constructed facilities in or around the house, which can be public or private. Both can be water closet flush toilet facility (WC), pit latrine, KVIP or bucket/pan latrines. Public toilet facilities are for communal or public use (paid or free use).  Table 8.11 presents data on type of toilet facility used by household by type of locality. Out of the total of 10,936 households in the District, 35.7 percent have no access to any specific facility and use the bush, fields or river banks to dispose of their human excreta. Public toilet

facilities which is W.C, KVIP, pit or bucket are used by almost half of the households (48.7%). The proportion of households using pit latrine inside the dwelling unit is 10.9 percent; similarly the proportion using KVIP inside the dwelling unit is 3.2 percent. The three toilet facilities account for use by 62.9 percent of all households. Water closet toilet facility, a sign of proper middle-class and upper-class status is used by only 1.1 percent of all households.  

Considering that WHO (2013) considers public toilet facility and open defecation as unimproved sources, then the proportion of households using unimproved toilet facilities is 84.4 percent, a very high figure that suggests some urgent policy intervention by the District Assembly and the national government.

In terms of locality of residence, there are variations in the proportions of households who use the various types of toilet facilities. More rural households have no access to any kind of facility (40.6%) and therefore use the open defecation method compared with their urban counterparts (23.2%). The proportions of households using WC inside the dwelling is higher in urban (2.7%) than rural (0.4%) communities. On the other hand, the proportion of households using public toilet facilities in urban areas is 63.6 percent much higher than the proportion of rural households using such facilities (42.9%).  

8.8.2 Bathing Facility Used by Household The Table further provides information on bathroom facilities used by households in the District. Bathroom facility is one of the major needs in every home. Ideally each household must have a bathing facility exclusive for its own use. However, in the District most households live in compound houses (rooms) or rented accommodation especially in the urban areas. Exclusive bathroom is therefore not often possible.  

In the District, bathing facilities are shared by about 31.1 percent of households used shared bathroom facilities, shared bathroom in the same house (13.8%) and shared open cubicle in the same house (17.3%). About 22.4 percent of the households have their own bathroom for exclusive use and 12.3 percent of households use private open cubicles. Seventeen percent of households use the open space around the house for bathing while as many as 15.0 percent of households used the bathroom facility in another house. All the other bathing facilities such as public bathhouse, river/pond/lake/dam and “other” are used by only 1.8 percent of households.

In terms of locality, proportionally twice as many households share bathing facilities in urban areas as compared to the rural areas.  About one in two households (50.9%) in urban areas share bathing facilities (25.8 percent for shared separate bathhouse in the same house and 25.1 percent for shared open cubicle in the same house) compared with about one quarter (23.4%) of households who use shared bathroom facilities in the same house in the rural areas. The latter proportion consists of 9.1 percent of rural households using shared separate bathhouse in the same house and 14.3 percent of rural households using shared open cubicle in the same house.  

About the same proportion of rural households (22.8%) have own bathroom for exclusive use compared with 21.3 percent of urban households. Despite this, more rural households (23.0%) use the open space around the house for bathing compared with 3.2 percent of urban households. Bathroom in another house is used by more by rural households (16.7%) than urban households (10.5%) households. Public bathhouse is not much patronized but is used more by rural households (1.6%) compared to urban households (0.2%). The use of river or pond or lake for bathing is relatively small with 0.5 percent of rural households and 0.1 percent of urban households using this natural amenity as their source of bathroom.

Methods of Waste Disposal One of the biggest challenges of both urban and rural areas in the District is adopting modern and hygienic waste disposal systems. Acceptable waste management helps to prevent the spread of some types of infections and improves the quality and general hygiene of the environment. This section of the report deals with methods of waste disposal in the District. As with the disposal of human waste, few households provide for the hygienic and adequate disposal of solid waste. It should be pointed out that the problem of improper solid waste disposal is a national concern and not specific to the Brong-Ahafo region or the Sene West District.

8.9.1 Solid Waste Disposal Table 8.12 reveals that the bulk (88.0%) of solid waste generated in the District are either disposed of in a public dump (open space, 55.9%) and public dump (container 12.9%) or are dumped elsewhere indiscriminately (19.2%). A total of about one in nine (11.5%) of households either have their solid waste collected (4.3%), burnt (4.2%) or buried (3.0%).

In terms of locality, improper solid waste disposal is generally higher among rural households where about one in four (24.2%) dump solid waste indiscriminately compared with about six percent (6.4%) for urban households. Both urban and rural households dump solid waste at public dump sites (open space or container) but in different proportions. About 53.7 percent of urban households compared with 56.8 percent of rural households dispose of their solid waste at public dumps (open space) while about one-third (34.7%) of households dispose of solid waste at public dump (containers) in urban areas as against only 4.4 percent of rural households.

8.9.2 Liquid Waste Disposal  Liquid waste disposal in the District has not been developed. This is so because as observed in Table 8.12, 9,072 households representing 83.0 percent dispose of their household liquid wastes by throwing them onto the compound of the household. An equally high percentage of households (12.4%) also dispose of their liquid waste by throwing it on the streets/outside. Both methods are all not hygienic enough. Less than two percent (1.9%) of the households in the District dispose of their liquid waste through a sewerage system or through a drainage system into a gutter or through drainage into a pit (soak away) system.

In terms of locality of residence, it is observed that about three-quarters (73.9%) of the households in the urban areas throw liquid waste on to the compound of the household, and for another 21.4 percent of households, liquid waste is just thrown onto the street/outside or into gutters. In comparison, for rural households, 86.5 percent dispose of their liquid wastes onto the compound of the household and 11.3 percent throw liquid waste onto the street/outside.