A Look into Households Water Use Behaviour in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Water is a vital resource, and the importance of its management, use and allocation cannot be overemphasized. Water is either use for domestic, industrial or agricultural purposes to satisfy human needs and development in a society. This study attempts to look into household water use behaviour in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria with a view to determine who sources, allocates and uses most indoor water in the households, and for what purpose. A tool known as water diary was modified and incorporated into this study to be able to gather the necessary information that would serve the purpose of the study. Irepodun LGA has eleven wards, 30 households were sampled at random in each of these wards to give a total of 330 households. Percentages and charts were used in the analysis which revealed that 53.25% and 47.65% of the surveyed households were female and male respectively. The result shows that female sources 76.67%, allocates 91.82% and uses 78.07% of the total indoor household’s water resource. It is therefore concluded that female are the principal actors in household water use/management and should be at the center of regional domestic water resource management.

Keywords: Water Use, Water Diary, Households, Behavior, Allocation, Resource