Assessment of water supply in the informal settlement of Lagos Mainland local government area, Lagos, Nigeria

Nigeria's commercial hub, Lagos State, is one of Africa's most economically vibrant and crowded cities. Less than 60% of Lagos residents have access to potable drinking water, and the situation is worse in informal settlements, where more than 60% of the state's population reside. The ambiguity surrounding the legality of the informal settlements of Makoko and Iwaya, shanty communities built on water, made it difficult for the government to yield to their water-supply infrastructure need that would assist in having unlimited access to potable water supply, and this situation has attracted the involvement of other stakeholders in meeting their potable water needs. The study used a mixed method approach to evaluate the area's water supply by examining the water supply infrastructure and the water quality from the consumer's perspective. The study examined the availability of water supply infrastructure, reliability, maintenance frequency, and providers' responsiveness to consumer complaints over the past decade. The study also investigated the water sources, quantity, quality, and affordability. According to the responses, the landlords, volunteers, and private investors complement the residents' water supply infrastructure needs, as the government outreach only grasped 30% of the surveyed residents. The study also revealed that attaching water service fees to rent, which the landlord adopts, is the most successful financial strategy, while infrastructure reliability and accessibility, and water quality are still major issues. The water provided is expensive, as households spend at least 10% of their income on water. The study recommends that the government should adopt policies that would enhance the extant water supply, attach a minimum of ten buildings to one borehole and subsidize its installation, encourage fixing water service fees to rent, adopt a routine schedule for providing water supply, and enlighten residents in water purification before consumption while ensuring that the water provided is affordable.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Community and Regional Planning

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Urban planning

Department dc:contributor.department

Department of Urban Planning and Development

Grantor

Iowa State University

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Tayo, Yusuf A

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Das, Biswa
• Owusu, Francis
• Sun, Hua

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31274/td-20240329-96

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dr.lib.iastate.edu:20.500.12876/Nr1VNjkz