No abstract

In most peri-urban communities of south east Nigeria, shortages of domestic water supply relative to demand is a common feature. This is because most of these peri-urban communities usually fall outside the urban water supply projects physical boundary, thus forcing the people who live there to consume water from doubtful sources which most often contain pathogens found in human faeces. Apart from consuming water from doubtful sources, most inhabitants of this area also travel long distances to collect it or pay dearly to purchase it from water vendors. The study was therefore undertaken to determine the factors necessary for a safe water supply in such areas. Towards achieving this objective, a questionnaire was designed and 2000 were administered to households in the area between January and June, 2013. A total of 15 factors were isolated and analysed in 10 periurban communities of the region. The major analytical tool employed was multiple regression analysis with which we were able to determine the relative importance of each variable using SPSS version 20. Based on the result obtained, important determining factors for safe and sustainable water services were discussed in terms of their implications to the formulation of a needed policy that will ensure improvement in supply of the service to meet demand.

-The paper focus on the concept of community participation on water scheme without being wholly controlled by the State Water Corporation, rather the communities are empowered to play more active roles in safeguarding and sustaining development programme, emphasising on purpose, decision making, training, operation and maintenance, participation model and benefits, with the aid of SPSS version 21 statistical package. Therefore, the communities are expected to influence and share control over development initiatives, decision and resources that affect them.