Population Growth and Pipe-Borne Water Supply in Calabar Metropolis: Finding the Balance
Chukwudi Gbadebo Njoku1,Inah Okon2,Prince-Charles Itu3,Awhen Vincent Otese4
Citation :Chukwudi Gbadebo Njoku,et.al, Population Growth and Pipe-Borne Water Supply in Calabar Metropolis: Finding the Balance International Journal of Research in Geography 2017,3(3) : 51-59
This study focused on finding the balance between population growth and pipe-borne water supply in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria between 2007 to 2015. Secondary data was collected from Cross River State Water Board Limited (CRSWBL) and the National Population Commission. Analysis of data using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient showed that there is positive relationship between population growth and pipe-borne water supply (r=0.818, n= 1, p = 0.007< 0.05), implying that as the population increased volume of water supplied also increased, although the accompanying increase in supply is not commensurate with water needs of the populace. This is buttressed by further results which revealed insufficiency in volume supplied in the area considering the World Health Organization (WHO) and Cross River State Technical Unit (CRSTU) criteria. The Independent Sample t-Test showed there was statistical significant difference (t (12.4) = 6.84, P= 0.0 < 0.05) for the WHO criteria and otherwise (t (9.72) = 0.174, P= 0.866 > 0.05) for the CRSTU, as the mean difference of water supplied by CRSWBL during the period and water demand of the populace was significantly low for the former (108561.66m3) and high for the latter (4632857.4m3) More so, as deduced, the average quantity of water availed an individual in the Metropolis per day in 2015 was 13 litres, way lower than the 30 litres stipulated by CRSTU and 50 litres by the WHO. It was thus recommended that CRSWBL increases the volume of water supplied, with consideration to the water needs of the people and keep pace with the teeming population. Also, the pipe-borne water providers should use the WHO 50 litres standard as its yardstick for measuring its progress on efficient service delivery as the CRSTU 30 litre criteria is not universal and would give room to ineffectiveness