Assessment of Safe Water Supply Management in Urban Low-Income Communities in Ibadan, Oyo State

Ensuring safe water supply in urban low-income communities requires effective management of multiple delivery channels, quality monitoring, and community engagement strategies. This study assessed safe water supply management practices and outcomes in six low-income communities in Ibadan, Oyo State, South West Nigeria. A mixed-methods approach included household water quality testing, structured surveys of 360 households, stakeholder interviews with water vendors, community-based organization leaders, and officials from the Oyo State Water Corporation. Water quality parameters measured included turbidity, pH, fluoride, nitrate, and Escherichia coli. Results showed that sachet water was the most common source used by sixty-four percent of households, while thirty-one percent used borehole water and five percent used municipal piped water. E. coli was detected in thirty-eight percent of sachet water samples and fifty-three percent of borehole samples. Only twelve percent of households reported receiving any water quality information from vendors. Community standpipes installed by NGOs were non-functional in six of eleven locations visited. Willingness-to-pay surveys indicated that households would pay up to two hundred naira per twenty-liter can for certified safe water. Water quality certification processes were absent for the majority of local sachet water producers. The study recommends strengthening sachet water quality regulation, investment in functional community water points, and establishment of a community-based water quality monitoring system. Keywords: safe water supply, urban communities, Ibadan, sachet water, water quality.