CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Though colourless, tasteless, and odourless at room temperature, water is vital to life (Nathanson, 2008). Hence the saying that “water is life” is synchronous to the enormous importance of water because next to air, water is the most important need of man. Therefore, it is pertinent and desirable that man harness this natural endowment properly for maximum utilization and sustainability because water is an essential input to achieve some desired outcomes, including health, education and income (United Nations, 2003).

Sustainable development is heavily dependent on sustainable water availability. The United Nations (UN) says individuals need five litres of water a day simply to survive in a moderate climate, and at least 50 litres a day for drinking and cooking, bathing and sanitation. Consequently, water is recognized as a human right by the UN General Assembly (United Nations, 2010). The resolution taken in support of this was passed on the 28th of July 2010 with 122 nations voting in favour.

However, often times government policies are not adhered to during implementations, so ‘rights in law’ are not ‘rights in reality’. Nevertheless, water is the key to success for all the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on health, education, agriculture, and crucially on the sustainability of the environment. Sustainability of potable water is crucial to eradicating poverty and achieving development goals. According to the World Water Development Report (WWDR, 2011), problems of poverty are inextricably linked with those of water – its availability, its proximity, its quantity and its quality. The UN MDGs among its eight-point agenda in 2000 set the deadline of 2015 for halving the percentage of persons without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation and the Millennium Development Goal seven calls on governments to ensure environmental sustainability.

Many countries have used the MDG’s as a standard for their policy and planning processes. However, the chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goals to halve the proportion of people without access to safe water by 2015 will be seriously lowered unless levels of sustainability can be greatly improved. But then, most discussions on domestic water is concerned with human consumption and its use as a part of daily household requirements for cooking, bathing, cleaning, washing, drinking and other domestic needs. Likewise, water supply improvements and sustainability in the water sector development in urban areas remains dominated by health-focused approaches, based on the premise that more and better water supply can help to improve the health of individuals.

However, the benefits of improved water supply and sustainability extend far beyond basic health impacts. Water is centrally important, not just for basic human consumption, but for a wide range of different livelihood activities such as fishery, laundry, block moulding, agriculture, car washing, production of food, oils, soap, detergents, food vending, water vending, hairdressing etc. It is important that water supply be sustained in order to boost the water-dependent livelihood activities, to provide the services the public demands.

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