Water and sanitation status of families in Ikorodu: a peri-urban settlement in Lagos

In a rapidly developing city like Lagos, peri-urban communities are characterized by urban-rural drifts due to the heavy cost of shelter in central urban metropolis, leading to a clustered community in the suburban settlements. The paper investigates the water and sanitation status of families living in Ikorodu a peri-urban community of Lagos. Water source, domestic hygiene practices the incidences of water borne infections; the water storage behavior, number and type of latrines and distance to well, were considered in the research. A detailed household survey was undertaken among two hundred and eight families using structured questionnaire. The result showed that only 25% of the population has access to safe water through the public water system, with the rest of the population accessing water through the unprotected wells 48.1%, water tankers 16.3% and water hawkers 8.2%.The pit latrines and soak-away are located to the wells with 0-3m(24.5%), 4-6m(24.5%), 7-9m(27.4%) and >9m (18.8%). Diarrhea frequencies per month in the families range from 1-4 (41.3%), 5-8 (4.8%), 9-12(0.5%). The findings indicate that the water and sanitation facilities are inadequate. There is need for all stakeholders to ensure adequate provision of safe water and appropriate sanitation facilities to eliminate the frequency of diarrhea and other possible water borne infections if the Millennium Development Goals must be attained by 2015.