Case Study Use Perceptions Groundwater Lagos
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Use and perceptions of groundwater in an urban area - Lagos, Nigeria
The project
This project looked at the domestic water sources used by a selection of residents of Lagos, Nigeria. For most of the people surveyed, groundwater from a private borehole was their main water supply, but they also used other water sources. The project investigated people’s attitudes to water supplies from different sources. It was carried out as part of the wider research project RIGSS (Resilience In Groundwater Supply Systems: Integrating resource-based approaches with agency, behaviour and choice in West Africa).
How was the project carried out?
An online internet survey was carried out of 539 residents of Lagos State, Nigeria. The survey respondents were individuals who had previously signed up to participate in online surveys, and so the demographic may be biased compared to the whole Lagos population. Nevertheless, the results provide a useful indication of urban water use behaviour and perceptions in the city.
The survey respondents were asked:
- - what is their primary, and any other source, of household water supply?
- - how they perceive the reliability and quality of their water sources.
- - how they perceive environmental risks to groundwater supplies in the city.
Where do Lagos residents get their water supply?
For around 50% of the respondents to this survey, their main water source was their own private borehole, and for a further 30%, their main water source was a private borehole shared with others. Only 13% did not have regular access to a borehole, or mainly used other water sources than groundwater direct from a borehole; and most of these stated that they would like to have their own private borehole if circumstances allowed.
The strongest measured demographic association with private borehole ownership in the survey was home ownership and home type (house with garden/land). The low proportion of respondents with no access to groundwater may be linked to the online format of the questionnaire: this proportion may be higher in different socioeconomic groupings who are less likely to be active online.
Around 80% of respondents whose main water source is their own private borehole also share their borehole with neighbours and, in fewer cases, to others in the community, with 90% of these saying that they did not charge others to use their borehole.
Other water sources used by the respondents include piped supply, water from tanks and carts, bottle and sachet water, community boreholes, and open hand dug wells.
Most of the respondents to this survey, therefore, use groundwater as their main water source. However, many people used multiple sources of water, and differentiated between sources in terms of how appropriate they though each was for various purposes, such as for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing laundry and dishes, and flushing and cleaning toilets and bathrooms. Most of those surveyed, even those with private boreholes, use bottled or sachet water as their main drinking water source. Factors that were most important in their choice of which water source to use for drinking were quality, taste/appearance, reliability, and ease of access.
The proportion of users of each source using the water for drinking is shown in the table.
| Water source | % of respondents regularly using this water source who use it for drinking |
|---|---|
| Bottle or sachet | 97 |
| Own private borehole | 58 |
| Piped water into the home | 35 |
| Shared private borehole | 30 |
| Water delivered by tanker / cart | 22 / 11 |
| Community borehole with hand pump / overhead tank | 14 / 17 |
| Open hand dug well | 5 |
What do Lagos residents think about their groundwater resource?
People’s perception of the availability of groundwater was generally positive – most perceived that groundwater was plentiful and few were concerned about over-abstraction.
The respondents were more ambivalent about the quality of groundwater, but most people with their own or access to another private borehole thought they could rely on the quality of water from it. However, most respondents also reported they used some form of household water treatment - usually boiling or a water filter, or less often letting the water settle and/or adding chlorine bleach. Those with their own boreholes were more confident in the quality of their water, and less likely to treat it.
Around half of respondents thought there was little risk of groundwater in Lagos becoming contaminated. However, there was a strong awareness that the siting and physical condition of a borehole can affect the quality of water from it.
How do Lagos residents feel about their water access and security, now and in future?
Almost all the respondents agreed that access to groundwater via a private borehole is desirable and could help people cope with water shortages. They perceived that borehole drilling, although fairly expensive, was reasonably easy, and was a viable and reliable alternative to municipal piped supply.
Most respondents agreed that more people in Lagos have their own borehole now than did ten years ago. This is supported by the median age of private boreholes reported in the survey, which was 5 - 6 years, with a small proportion (14%, excluding ‘don’t know’ responses) being over 10 years old, demonstrating the recent onset of this trend towards private boreholes.
Most agreed that water is a resource that everyone should take care of, but most also thought that people with their own boreholes should be able to abstract as much groundwater as they liked, and very few believed that abstracting groundwater could lead to environmental damage.
Source
Capstick S, Whitmarsh L, Healy A and Bristow G. 2017. Resilience in Groundwater Supply Systems: Findings from a survey of private households in Lagos, Nigeria. RIGSS working paper, Cardiff University, UK.
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