International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy

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Water is Life: Situation Analysis of Access to Household Water Supply in the Wa Municipality, Ghana

Received: 21 January 2015    Accepted: 29 January 2015    Published: 15 February 2015
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Abstract

Far too many people in urban Ghana live without access to safe drinking water and this is a primary determinant of continuing poverty. Using questionnaire survey and key informant interviews, this study explored the situation of households’ access to potable water supply in the Wa Municipality, a low-income urban area in north-west Ghana. This study highlights several important issues on access to water supply focusing on availability, accessibility and cost. A clustered sample of residential areas of the municipality was employed and the study was able to examine spatial disparities in access to water supply. The results indicate that access to potable water supply in the municipality is generally high as only 13 percent of households depend on open wells as their main source. Also, the private sector (individuals and non-governmental organizations) are major players in public water supply in the municipality. In spite of the progress made in access to potable water supply, distance and cost of water remain serious challenges confronting households. The study recognizes that private individuals create additional water facilities to augment public supplies, but the positive impacts on health and livelihoods could be greater if access to finance could be facilitated. Most importantly, water supply improvement strategies should incorporate an integrated vision, which sees adequate and quality water both as a goal in itself and as a contributor to economic and social development through gains in public health.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijepp.20150301.11
Published in International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy (Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2015)
Page(s) 1-13
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Accessibility, Health, Households, Urbanization and Water Supply

References
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[5] Howard, G., Bartram, J. (2003). Domestic Water Quantity, Service Level and Health. New York: World Health Organization.
[6] United Nations (2003). The 1st UN World Water Development Report: Water for People, Water for Life. Retrieved on 16 August 2014. Available: http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/index.shtml
[7] Nickson, A. (2002). The role of the non-state sector in urban water supply. In Paper for the Making Services Work for Poor People. World Development Report (WDR) 2003/04 Workshop, 4–5 November in Oxford.
[8] Mwanza, D. (2004). African Public Utilities not Performing Efficiently. Paper presented at the 12th Union for African Water Suppliers Congress, 16–19 February, 2004 in Accra, Ghana.
[9] Panayotou, T. (1997). The role of the private sector in sustainable infrastructure development. In: Gomez-Echeverri, L. (ed.), Bridges to Sustainability: Business and Government Working Together for a Better Environment. Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Bulletin Series 101. Yale University, New Haven, pp 54-72.
[10] Schwartz, K. H., Schouken, M. (2007). Water as a political good: revisiting the relationship between politics and service provision. Water Pol. 9(2):119-129.
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[14] Osumanu, I. K. (2013). Health changes of urban poverty and water supply in Northern Ghana. In: Wagner JR (ed.), The Social Life of Water. New York & Oxford: Berghahn Books, pp. 158-179.
[15] Owusu-Sekyere, E., Aasoglenang, T. A., Bonye, Z. S. (2014). Household water supply vulnerability in low income communities in Ghana: experiences from Aboabo in the Kumasi Metropolitan Area. Int. J. Envt. Prot. Pol. 2(1):9-18.
[16] Addo, K. K., Mensah, G. I., Bekoe, M., Bonsu, C., Akyeh, K. (2009). Bacteriological quality of schate water produced and solid in Teshie-Nungua suburbs of Accra, Ghana. Afr. J. Food Agr. Nutri. Devt. 9(4):1019-1030.
[17] Stoler, J., Weeks, R. J., Fink, G. (2012). Sachet drinking water in Ghana’s Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area: past, present and future. J. Water, San. Hyg. Devt. 2(4):223-240.
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Author Information
  • Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University for Development Studies, Wa, Ghana

  • Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University for Development Studies, Wa, Ghana

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    Enoch Akwasi Kosoe, Issaka Kanton Osumanu. (2015). Water is Life: Situation Analysis of Access to Household Water Supply in the Wa Municipality, Ghana. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, 3(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20150301.11

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    ACS Style

    Enoch Akwasi Kosoe; Issaka Kanton Osumanu. Water is Life: Situation Analysis of Access to Household Water Supply in the Wa Municipality, Ghana. Int. J. Environ. Prot. Policy 2015, 3(1), 1-13. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20150301.11

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    AMA Style

    Enoch Akwasi Kosoe, Issaka Kanton Osumanu. Water is Life: Situation Analysis of Access to Household Water Supply in the Wa Municipality, Ghana. Int J Environ Prot Policy. 2015;3(1):1-13. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20150301.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijepp.20150301.11,
      author = {Enoch Akwasi Kosoe and Issaka Kanton Osumanu},
      title = {Water is Life: Situation Analysis of Access to Household Water Supply in the Wa Municipality, Ghana},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-13},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijepp.20150301.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20150301.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijepp.20150301.11},
      abstract = {Far too many people in urban Ghana live without access to safe drinking water and this is a primary determinant of continuing poverty. Using questionnaire survey and key informant interviews, this study explored the situation of households’ access to potable water supply in the Wa Municipality, a low-income urban area in north-west Ghana. This study highlights several important issues on access to water supply focusing on availability, accessibility and cost. A clustered sample of residential areas of the municipality was employed and the study was able to examine spatial disparities in access to water supply. The results indicate that access to potable water supply in the municipality is generally high as only 13 percent of households depend on open wells as their main source. Also, the private sector (individuals and non-governmental organizations) are major players in public water supply in the municipality. In spite of the progress made in access to potable water supply, distance and cost of water remain serious challenges confronting households. The study recognizes that private individuals create additional water facilities to augment public supplies, but the positive impacts on health and livelihoods could be greater if access to finance could be facilitated. Most importantly, water supply improvement strategies should incorporate an integrated vision, which sees adequate and quality water both as a goal in itself and as a contributor to economic and social development through gains in public health.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AU  - Issaka Kanton Osumanu
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    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
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    AB  - Far too many people in urban Ghana live without access to safe drinking water and this is a primary determinant of continuing poverty. Using questionnaire survey and key informant interviews, this study explored the situation of households’ access to potable water supply in the Wa Municipality, a low-income urban area in north-west Ghana. This study highlights several important issues on access to water supply focusing on availability, accessibility and cost. A clustered sample of residential areas of the municipality was employed and the study was able to examine spatial disparities in access to water supply. The results indicate that access to potable water supply in the municipality is generally high as only 13 percent of households depend on open wells as their main source. Also, the private sector (individuals and non-governmental organizations) are major players in public water supply in the municipality. In spite of the progress made in access to potable water supply, distance and cost of water remain serious challenges confronting households. The study recognizes that private individuals create additional water facilities to augment public supplies, but the positive impacts on health and livelihoods could be greater if access to finance could be facilitated. Most importantly, water supply improvement strategies should incorporate an integrated vision, which sees adequate and quality water both as a goal in itself and as a contributor to economic and social development through gains in public health.
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