Piped water flows but sachet consumption grows: The paradoxical drinking water landscape of an urban slum in Ashaiman, Ghana

Stoler, Justin; Tutu, Raymond Asare; Winslow, Kiana

doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.01.009

Cited by 55 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The literature on the subject shows that in Accra, sachet water is a response to a gap in urban water provision shaped by chronic shortages when rapid population growth exceeds expansion of the local water infrastructure. In a 2013 survey in a poor community with "paradoxical" good piped water access, convenience was given as the top reason for buying sachets (43 %), followed by "better quality" [than GWCL water, presumably] (23 %) (Stoler et al 2012b(Stoler et al , 2015b. The Food and Drugs Authority registers sachet producers and monitors the raw water treatment; use of sachets has been associated with higher levels of self-reported overall health in women and lower likelihood of diarrhoea in children, meaning that the urban poor may reap an unintended health advantage as sachets replace the consumption of stored water that is often cross-contaminated in the home (Stoler et al 2012a).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-supply and accountability: to govern or not to govern groundwater for the (peri-) urban poor in Accra, Ghana

Grönwall

2016

Environ Earth Sci

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Poor urban dwellers tend to be disadvantaged in terms of public service delivery, often relying instead on groundwater through self-supply, but their specific needs and opportunities-and own level of responsibility-are seldom on the agenda. The Greater Accra Region of Ghana and the country as a whole serve to illustrate many interconnected aspects of urbanization, inadequate service provision, peri-urban dwellers' conditions, private actors' involvement and user preferences for packaged water. Based on interviews and a household survey covering 300 respondents, this case study aims to provide insights into the water-related practices and preferences of residents in the peri-urban, largely unplanned township of Dodowa on the Accra Plains in Ghana and to discuss implications of low accountability and a complex governance landscape on the understanding of reliance on groundwater. Self-sufficient from wells and boreholes until a distribution network expansion, Dodowa residents today take a "combinator approach" to access water from different sources. The findings suggest that piped water supplies just over half the population, while the District Assembly and individuals add ever-more groundwater abstraction points. Sachet water completes the picture of a low-income area that is comparatively well off in terms of water access. However, with parallel bodies tasked with water provisioning and governance, the reliance on wells and boreholes among poor (peri-) urban users has for long been lost in aggregate statistics, making those accountable unresponsive to strategic planning requirements for groundwater as a resource, and to those using it.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-supply and accountability: to govern or not to govern groundwater for the (peri-) urban poor in Accra, Ghana

Grönwall

2016

Environ Earth Sci

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“…[3][4][5] Consumption of commercial packaged water has grown markedly in Africa, and studies of water quality have shown they often have lower levels of fecal contamination than other sources. [6][7][8][9] In a previous study of water sources and water quality in the urban region of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, we found that < 1% of the population had access to piped water. 10 Despite the lack of a centralized sewage collection or treatment system, 71% of the borehole samples and 85% of sachet water samples did not display any detectable fecal contamination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Seasonal Variation in Drinking and Domestic Water Sources and Quality in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Kumpel¹,

Cock-Esteb²,

Duret

et al. 2017

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Abstract. We compared dry and rainy season water sources and their quality in the urban region of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Representative sampling indicated that municipal water supplies represent < 1% of the water sources. Residents rely on privately constructed and maintained boreholes that are supplemented by commercially packaged bottled and sachet drinking water. Contamination by thermotolerant coliforms increased from 21% of drinking water sources in the dry season to 42% of drinking water sources in the rainy season (N = 356 and N = 397). The most significant increase was in sachet water, which showed the lowest frequencies of contamination in the dry season compared with other sources (15%, N = 186) but the highest frequencies during the rainy season (59%, N = 76). Only half as many respondents reported drinking sachet water in the rainy season as in the dry season. Respondents primarily used flush or pour-flush toilets connected to septic tanks (85%, N = 399). The remainder relied on pit latrines and hanging (pier) latrines that drained into surface waters. We found significant associations between fecal contamination in boreholes and the nearby presence of hanging latrines. Sanitary surveys of boreholes showed that more than half were wellconstructed, and we did not identify associations between structural or site deficiencies and microbial water quality. The deterioration of drinking water quality during the rainy season is a serious public health risk for both untreated groundwater and commercially packaged water, highlighting a need to address gaps in monitoring and quality control.

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“…The occurrence of packaging water into sachets popularly referred to as "pure water" is one of the most lucrative business ventures across Ghana 1 . This business has gained much popularity and acceptance among the Ghanaian populace particularly because in the past drinking water was sold in cups and plastic bags hand-tied at one end; a practice which was faced with a lot of sanitary issues 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior to packaging, the water goes through a number of treatment processes, mainly filtration, in an attempt to make it purer and safer for consumption 3 . Most households and families depended greatly on tap water from the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) for drinking and household activities including cooking 1 . However, with the frequent shortages associated with the supply of potable water across the country, and the questionable quality of the water supplied, many households and families in Ghana have resorted to "pure water" mostly for drinking and cooking purposes 4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiological assessment of sachet water “pure water” from five regions in Ghana

Mosi¹,

Adadey²,

Sowah³

et al. 2018

AAS Open Res

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Sachet water, popularly known as "pure water" has become an Background: invaluable entity in most Ghanaian households. Despite its importance, there is no extensive nationwide investigations on its wholesomeness for consumption. The aim of this study was to determine the microbiological quality of 41 brands of sachet water sampled in 16 districts across 5 regions in Ghana.The samples were analyzed for the presence of total and fecal Methods: coliform ( ) using the Colilert*-18 Test Kit. Escherichia coli Majority of the samples (56.09%) were excellent, 4.87% satisfactory Results: and 14.63% suspicious. Ten samples (24.4%) were unsatisfactory. For the degree of fecal contamination, (85.56%) were satisfactory, four (9.76%) were suspicious, and two others (4.88%) were unsatisfactory. The contaminations observed could be attributed to poor sanitary conditions (during and/or after production) and failure of some production facilities to adhere to standard manufacturing practices.Our data suggest that microbiological quality sachet water from Conclusion: some sources have not yet attained levels that make it absolutely pure and wholesome for consumption in many areas.

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Piped water flows but sachet consumption grows: The paradoxical drinking water landscape of an urban slum in Ashaiman, Ghana

Cited by 55 publications

References 26 publications

Self-supply and accountability: to govern or not to govern groundwater for the (peri-) urban poor in Accra, Ghana

Self-supply and accountability: to govern or not to govern groundwater for the (peri-) urban poor in Accra, Ghana

Seasonal Variation in Drinking and Domestic Water Sources and Quality in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Microbiological assessment of sachet water “pure water” from five regions in Ghana

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