CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Safe water in sufficient quantity is fundamental to human health. According to Garelick (1987), water is a clear, tasteless and odourless liquid. It is colourless in small quantity but pale blue in deep column. This liquid, Garelick said, has a potassium ion (pH) of 7,

temperature        between    70C   and   120C,         freezes      at      zero  degree

centigrade (0C) and boils at 1000C. Plants and animals and indeed the whole ecosystem for maintenance of homeostasis require water. Water according to World Health Organisation (WHO: 1984) possesses some characteristics and so its quality can be assessed by physical, chemical and biological properties. Physically pure water is tasteless and colourless and as stated by WHO the colour should be below 15 True Colour Unit (TCU), while its turbidity should be below one Nephelo-metric Turbidity Unit (NTU) or one Jacksons Turbidity Unit (JTU). Water also contains some chemicals depending on its source. Biologically, safe water should not contain any microorganism, hence, WHO (1985) warned that the presence of faecal thermotolerant coliform organisms especially Eschericha

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Safe water in sufficient quantity is fundamental to human health. According to Garelick (1987), water is a clear, tasteless and odourless liquid. It is colourless in small quantity but pale blue in deep column. This liquid, Garelick said, has a potassium ion (pH) of 7,

temperature        between    70C   and   120C,         freezes      at      zero  degree

centigrade (0C) and boils at 1000C. Plants and animals and indeed the whole ecosystem for maintenance of homeostasis require water. Water according to World Health Organisation (WHO: 1984) possesses some characteristics and so its quality can be assessed by physical, chemical and biological properties. Physically pure water is tasteless and colourless and as stated by WHO the colour should be below 15 True Colour Unit (TCU), while its turbidity should be below one Nephelo-metric Turbidity Unit (NTU) or one Jacksons Turbidity Unit (JTU). Water also contains some chemicals depending on its source. Biologically, safe water should not contain any microorganism, hence, WHO (1985) warned that the presence of faecal thermotolerant coliform organisms especially Eschericha

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coliform (E.coli) is a definite indication of water pollution. Therefore, water, which sustains life, becomes dangerous when polluted.

Thus, public health officials are concerned with increasing deterioration of water quality due to industrial, agricultural and urban wastes. Most often these wastes are directed into surface water hence, Hoek, Konradsen and Jehangir (1999) remarked that while the direct use of surface water for drinking seem unacceptable, to the developing world, the presence of surface water for drinking is a blessing. Safe water is globally inadequate and according to the World Bank (2004), about 220 million urban residents in the developing world lack source of safe drinking water near their homes. This report of gross inadequacy persists despite the United Nation’s (UN) great strides in the 1980s. The UN at its World Water Conference at Mal del Plata in 1979 designated the 1980s (1980 – 1989) as the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (Howard and Bartram, 1993). The objective of designating the decade as the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation was to provide safe and adequate water to everybody in the planet.

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To realize this objective, WHO: (1984:104) outlined the following

strategies: development      of      human       resources,  encouraging

institutional          structures, provision    of      information          system       and

community involvement at all levels of the project.