AN ASSESSMENT OF ALTERNATIVE WATER SOURCE FOR DOMESTIC USED IN MINNA METROPOLIS, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Making freshwater available in urban centre are major challenges to be faced in 21st century globally. Population growth and industrialization have put a lot of pressure on water resources the world over. Minna, the capital city of Niger State Nigeria, has witnessed population growth due to the influx of people from the various regions to seek greener pastures. The population growths have resulted in an inadequate water supply to the populace by conventional means. These problems result in an individual effort to meet their daily water demand. To explore this problem, structured questionnaires were distributed to two hundred households purposively selected from six areas in the town and semi-structured interviews were administered on water analyst. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyze the data collected. The study reveals that inadequate budgetary allocation to ministry of water resources is the major problem hindering water availability in Minna. The three alternative sources of water supply for domestic use identified were well water, water from vendors and boreholes. Consequently, increase in resource allocation to the ministry of water resources in a way of policy framework that guaranty private investment in water sector, among others to improve water availability in the study area.