International Journal of Engineering Sciences, 2(4) April 2013, Pages: 96-99

TI Journals
ISSN
2306-6474

International Journal of Engineering Sciences

www.waprogramming.com

Investigating Urban Water Supply Output in Nigeria:

The Case Study of Benin City
D.J.Idiata 1, A.O.Enabulele 2, F.O. Omoruyi 3, A. Iguisi 4
1,2,3
4

Department of Civil Engineering, Edo State Institute of Technology and Management Usen, P.M.B 1104 Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Edo State Institute of Technology and Management Usen, P.M.B 1104 Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.

AR TIC LE INF O

AB STR AC T

Keywords:

Urban water supply coverage has actually decreased in parts of developing world, an indication of
urban growth but also of deterioration of existing systems. With the population of Nigeria to triple
by the year 2050 it has become important to critically analyze the water supply output to its
citizenry. Benin City is no less different from what is obtainable in other cities in the nation. It is
the fifth populous city in the nation behind Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, and Kaduna and interestingly,
ahead of Port Harcourt. The information was obtained by visiting sachet water production plants
and the public utility board. Analysis and calculations reveals the total water supply output is
88,860,268 litres/day. The sachet water producing plants output is 1,270,268 litres/day and the
public utility board is 87,590,000 litres/day. However, the bulk of the total water supply output
comes from the Ikpoba river dam, which supplies over 51 percent of the total; while the other
sources together combined (sachet water companies and head works) are about 49 Percent of the
total.

Public Utility board

Water supply output
Sachet water
Benin City

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1.

Introduction

What is the difference between these two landscapes, one desert-like and the other with lush vegetation? Climate, heat, and water all
contributory factors, but basically water, makes all the difference [1]. Man and animals not only consume water, but they also consume
vegetation for their food. Vegetation, in turn cannot grow without water [2].
According to Punmia et al [3], water is essential for survival; many ancient civilizations were located on the banks of rivers. Increase in
population, urbanization, sophistication in living standard, modernization of agriculture and rapid industrial development, has placed
tremendous demand on water supply output [4].
It is a universal fact that population growth is intricately intertwine with such critical issues as water shortage, climate change, loss of
biodiversity, pollution etc. [5]. The UNICEF [6], opined that Millions around the world still lack access to safe water and improved
sanitation.

2.

Population issues

Population is expected to triple in Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Congo, East Timor, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, and Burkina
Faso. The population of Nigeria has been on a steady growth of 2.83 percent rate prior to year 2000 and estimated growth rates for 20002010 and 2010-2025 is about 2.7 and 2.6 percents respectively [7,8].
The use of water is increasing rapidly with our growing population. Already, there are acute water shortages of both surface and
underground waters in many parts of the world. Careless pollution and contamination of the streams, reservoirs, wells and other
underground sources have greatly impaired the quality of available water [9].
Rapid population growth has placed incredible stress on earths resources. The provision of adequate water supply and sanitation to the
rapidly growing urban population is increasingly becoming a problem for governments throughout the world. In Nigeria, water shortage as
well as access to safe water is a daily issue that threatens the health and living standards of our teeming population of about 144 million.
This is because demand of the ever increasing population overwhelms the supply of water [5].
Urban water supply coverage has actually decreased in parts of developing world, an indication of urban growth but also of deterioration of
existing systems and the situation in Nigeria today is 60% coverage from the public water board and others 40% [4,10].
* Corresponding author.
Email address: djgrandmaster4christ@yahoo.com

Investigating Urban Water Supply Output in Nigeria: The Case Study of Benin City

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Internat ional Jour nal of Engineeri ng Science s, 2(4) Apri l 2013

3.

Area of study

The principal agglomeration of the world puts the population of Benin City at 1.225 million [11] and Benin City is made up of three local
government councils namely Oredo, Ikpoba-Okha and Egor-Uselu. Water supply in Benin City is not different from what is obtainable in
other cities in the nation. It is the fifth populous city in Nigeria behind Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, and Kaduna and interestingly, ahead of Port
Harcourt [12,13] opined that the population of Benin City will increase to 2.3 million by the year 2025 base on the population grow rate of
3.3%.

4.

Methodology

This section of the work will tend to cover the presentation and analysis of the data collected. The data collected was through personal
interviews and visitation by the researchers to the respondents. In this research forty six (46) sachet water companies in Benin City,
spanning a total distance of over 70km between these various companies was visited.

5.

Results and discussion

The packaging of the sachets water is in 50cl or 60cl packs. From table 2 it is discovered that the 50cl pack is 13% of the result while the
60cl packs makes 87%.
Table 1. Showing names and output of some sachet water companies in benin city
S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
Total

Company
AV
UNIBEN
ADESUWA FA
EL MORIJAH
MAMA
BAZ
UWA
IDIA
BYHISGRACE
MARIA
OSAS
NIRO
ST JANE
GEO
BELIEVERS
ESTEEM
ABUGENUINE
C.J
NG
STLAUREN
SPRINGATES
OGEE
NOTREDAME
BIG JOE
OGHOSA
DADEV
YEME
IMPERIAL
M.A
MAYRO
AFES
ONA
CLARIFY
ST THERESA
G-JOE
FAITHMARK
POSSIBLE
EDNA
DOUBLE BLESSING
ABBEY
DIVINEHELP
KASSIM
ODION
AQUAPAC
SIMON
TONSODO

Output per day (bags)

Volume per sachet (cl)

1,000
10,000
2,500
700
5,000
600
10,000
3,000
4,500
7,800
1,200
1,000
1,000
3,000
1,000
800
1,000
2,000
1,500
3,000
1,000
1,200
3,000
10,000
700
4,000
500
1,500
1,200
1,500
1,000
2,000
700
500
500
4,000
500
5,000
500
2,500
600
1,300
1,200
1,000
500
1,200
108,200

60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
50
60
60
60
60
60
50
60
60
60
60
50
50
60
60
60
50
50
60
60
50
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
2,700

Source: Field work 2009

D.J.Idiata et al.

98

Internat ional Journal of Engineeri ng Scie nc es, 2(4) Apri l 2013

Sachet water companies producing above 5000 bags daily are Uniben, Uwa, Big Joe, Maria pure water, Mama and Edna. These companies
produce 44.2% of the total of water by sachet companies, while others are 55.8%.
Figure 1 below shows the graph of the Public Utility Boards water production output, It is discovered that water system employed by the
public utility board are mostly head works fitted with pumps.

eh
Us

Ad

e su

wa

pa

ot i

io k
Or

Ez

Iy a

Ug

Ik p

ob

ad

ro
bo
wo
Go
ve
r n m E si g
ie
en
th
o
An
u
Ik p s e
dr e
w
ob
W
ah
ils
il l
on
e st
a
Ad te
eso
gb
e

50,000
45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
am

D aily o u tp u t (m etrecu b ed )

The Ikpoba dam is a dam built across the Ikpoba River and it is the main source of the public water supply system in the city, it produces
51.4 percent of the boards total water output, while others combined gives 48.6 percent of the total output.

Facility
Figure 1. Showing water output from the government utility (facilities) board

A. Estimation of the mean per sachet

From table 1: showing the daily supply of water from the sachet water companies in Benin City gives the quantity per sachet to be 50cl or
60cl.
The mean per sachet = 2700/46
= 58.7cl.
B. Estimation of mean supply per day for sachet water companies
= 108,200/46
= 2352.2 bags/day
Converting bags to litres
A bag contain 20 sachets of water
Mean volume of sachet = 58.7cl
:. A bag of sachet water = 58.7 x 20
= 1174cl
C. Total sachet water produce per day in cl
= 108,200 x 1174
= 127,026,800cl
:. In litres = 127,026,800/100
= 1,270,268litres
D. Estimation of mean daily water by the public utility board in litres
Mean per day = 87,590/12
= 7299.17cubicmeters
Converting to litres = 87,590x 1000
= 87,590,000litres/day
:. Total water supplied per day
= 87,590,000 + 1,270,268
= 88,860,268litres/day

Investigating Urban Water Supply Output in Nigeria: The Case Study of Benin City

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Internat ional Jour nal of Engineeri ng Science s, 2(4) Apri l 2013

6.

Conclusion

With respect to the research carried out. It is believed that such conclusive inferences are adequate enough to serve as premise for making
relevant recommendations. The research is believed to have been able to provide a starting point in actually investigating the availability
and supply of water in Benin City and its environs. From the calculations and analysis on the research it is discovered that the public utility
board produces 99 percent of the total water supplied and the sachet water companies investigated produces just 1 percent of the total. Of
the total water supply the Ikpoba River dam produces 51 percent of the total, the combined head works (boreholes) 48 percent and the
sachet water companies 1 percent.
The sachet water produced are handy and can be sold virtually anywhere and it constitute the major source of drinking water in the city.

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