WATER SAFETY MEASURES ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANAGEMENT OF HAND DUG WELLS IN OYO ZONE OF OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Most households give considerable attention to the safety and security of their hand-dug wells (HDWs). Such effort is reflected in the continuous modernization of household water source which in some cases, assumed a life-long dimension. In most cases water source improves with an increase in social status and wealth. This research attempts to investigate the extent to which safety measures have been incorporated into the construction of household HDWs in the Oyo zone, Nigeria. The instrument used is a household questionnaire. Oyo is made up of four local government areas, and 240 questionnaires were administered per local government, making a total of 960 questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, while Analysis of Variance was used to test the hypothesis and to determine dominant factors in the explanation of water safety practices in the study area. The results show that generally household water safety practices vary widely across the four local government areas in the Oyo zone. And that the dominant factors influencing water safety practices in the zone are: restriction of public access to water source, intervals of HDW water treatment, and distance of HDW from contaminated points (drainage gutter, refuse dump, soak way, latrine, food processing site, abattoir, petrol station). The government can encourage households through the demonstration of improved HDW technologies for private individuals to emulate. There is a need to enforce environmental sanitation standards in the development of HDWs; educational awareness and campaigns are essential in this regard. Regular inspection and chlorination of HDWs by environmental sanitation officers are necessary to ensure domestic water safety in the Oyo zone.