WATER SECURITY

The water security in the District can be rated as being good as majority of households (68%) have access to potable water for drinking and for domestic use. Access to potable water in the urban areas is much higher (85%) than that of the rural areas (60%). This is because the population and types of services or functions offered in the urban areas are much higher than in the rural areas. Major towns in the urban areas get their water supply from the Small-Town Pipe Water Systems provided by CWSA and mechanized boreholes provided by the District Assembly and Water Health-Ghana (WHG) in communities such as Adeiso, Mepom, and Asoukaw. Water facilities mostly provided in the rural areas are the boreholes and hand dugs wells.

There are currently three (3) Small-Town Pipe Water Systems, eighteen (18) mechanized boreholes, one hundred and thirty six (136) boreholes and one hundred and fifty five (155) hand dug wells. These water facilities are being managed by Water Management Teams from the various communities.

Though access to potable water in the District is not a major problem, its availability and sustainability cannot be guaranteed due to the following problem.

• Dormant District Water and Sanitation Team (DWST) due to financial and logistical challenges

• Inadequate monitoring and supervision of WSMTs activities and operations

• Poor maintenance and management of water facilities WSMTs

• Lack of transparency and accountability to the community members by WSMTs

• High number of broken down water facilities

• Limited involvement of the District Assembly in implementation of water projects by NGOs,    philanthropists and corporate organizations and even some government agencies.

Measured would have to be put in place to ensure these problems are solved and access to safe water guaranteed in the district.

Main Source of Water for drinking and other domestic use

Table 8.10 shows that 31.2 percent of households in the district use bore-hole/pump/tube well water as their main source of drinking water, whereas (24.2%) are dependent on river/stream and 11 percent of households use pipe water outside their dwelling, and those who use protected well as their main source of drinking water is 11percent.

The proportion of households in the urban areas who had their source of drinking water from pipe water outside the dwelling is 28.4 percent compared to 4.8 percent in the rural areas. In the rural areas, 37.9 percent of households depend on bore-hole/pump/tube well as their main source of water for drinking and 29.5 percent use river/stream as their main source of water for drinking. 

There are little differences in the sources of water for domestic use and water for drinking in the district. The table shows that 29.7 percent of households in the district use bore-hole/pump/tube well water as their main source of water for domestic use compared to a similar percentage (29.1%) of households dependent on river/stream for their main source of water for domestic use (13.7%). Those who use protected well as their main source of water for domestic use is 13.7 percent followed by 10.3 percent of households that use pipe water outside their dwellings as their main source of water for domestic use. The proportion of households in urban areas who had their main source of water for domestic use from pipe water outside the dwelling is 26.9 percent compared to 4.7 percent of households in the rural areas. In the rural areas, more than one-third (35.7%) of households depend on bore-hole/pump/tube well as the main source of water for domestic use compared to 35.1 percent of households that use the river/stream as their main source of water for domestic use.

Bathing and Toilet Facilities

Table 8.11 shows the distribution of households by type of bathing facility and toilet facility by locality. Most (46.2%) of households in the district use public toilet (WC/KVIP/Pit or pan etc.) and 28.8 percent use pit latrine while 14.8 percent have no facility and resort to bush, beach or field. Only 8.3 percent of households use the KVIP. For the localities, more households in the urban areas (62.1%) than in rural areas (40.9%) use the public toilet and more households (33.7%) in rural areas use pit latrine compared to 14.3 percent of households in the urban areas.

For bathing facilities, almost one-third (29.7%) of households use shared separate bathroom in the same house followed by 27.4 percent of households that share open cubicle. Households that own bathroom for exclusive use is 20.2 percent. For the localities, majority (46.4%) of households in urban areas shared separate bathrooms in the same house compared to 24.1 percent of households in rural areas. Similarly, more households in the urban areas (28.3%) than rural areas (27.2%) share open cubicle. But more households in rural areas own bathrooms for exclusive use (23.2%) than households in urban areas (11.3%).

Method of Waste Disposal

Table 8.12 shows the different methods of rubbish and liquid waste disposal by households. Almost three-quarters (73.6%) of households in the district dispose rubbish in public dump (open space) followed by 9.0 percent of households that dispose rubbish by burning and 8.7 percent of households that dispose rubbish by dumping indiscriminately. The use of public dump (container) by households in the district accounted for only 1.4 percent. Most (82.1%) urban households use public dump (open space) compared to 70.8 percent of rural households. Rural households that dispose of rubbish by dumping indiscriminately is 10.2 percent compared to 4.4 percent of households in urban areas.

Table 8.12 further shows various methods by which liquid waste is disposed by households. Almost two-thirds (62.5%) of households in the district throw their liquid waste onto the compounds of their houses. One-quarter (25.5%) throw their liquid waste onto the streets/outside their homes while less than one percent (0.8%) dispose liquid waste through the sewage system. In the urban areas, 48.5 percent of households throw their liquid waste onto their compounds compared to 67.1 percent of rural households in the district. Almost one-quarter (24.9%) of rural households dispose liquid waste onto the street/outside their homes compared to 25.1 percent of households in urban areas. Method of liquid waste disposal by households through the sewerage system is by 2.3 percent of households in the urban areas and 0.2 percent in the rural areas.