By Oluokun Tunde
Water from wells is an integral part of the human community; most especially in Ibadan communities where there are lack of supply of pipe borne water. Many homes have resulted into the use of wells as alternative source of water.
Following the decision of the school management not to accommodate students on campus; many students who have been yearning for resumption after a year of staying home stormed Agbowo and other nearby communities around the university to secure apartments — whether standard or non-standard, some care less.
Agbowo community is largely occupied by students and staff of the University of Ibadan (UI) and The Polytechnic Ibadan as well as other local occupants. It is readily accessible to the main gate of the University of Ibadan. Individual houses in the community are closely packed together with high number of inhabitants. The traffic congestion at Agbowo is a story for another time.
However, due to inadequate supply of pipe-borne water, many people have been sourcing their daily water need from wells. Notwithstanding that source of water can easily be fecally contaminated and increase the incidence of outbreaks of preventable water borne diseases — in which diarhoea is a common one.
Surely, it has been shown that untreated water from well is not a good source of water for drinking and cooking. The more reason why wells should be situated far away from septic tanks. It is generally recommended that deep wells be sited at least 15 meters or 50 feet uphill from the location of a septic tank to reduce risk of contamination. This is not so for many houses situated in Agbowo. Other houses use pumping machine to access the well water and the water are stored in the storage tanks and used without treatment.
According to the study from the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ibadan, to assess the bacteriological quality of ground water at the Agbowo community, it was reported that many wells from the Agbowo community were contaminated with coliform, sand and other bacteria. The presence of coliform in water indicates that disease-causing organisms (pathogens) are in the water.
It was also stated that the layout of houses in the community is not well planned such that the distances between wells and septic tanks and even refuse dump are very minimal.
The WHO standards stated that total coliform must not be present in any 100mL of water meant for drinking or for treated water entering distribution systems. This is of great concern to public health since the water from these wells are consumed by many students without treatments.
The presence of coliform in water is an indication of fecal contamination and has been associated with water borne epidermic. It has also been noted that any water source used for drinking or cleaning purposes should not contain any organism of fecal origin.
Just last week, a female friend who is also a UI student was admitted in a private clinic at Agbowo after she complained of stomach pains, fever and watery stool.
Other factors such as the environment where the well is situated and level of hygiene of the well, in terms of drawers and the population of people the well is serving could be considered as other possible sources of contamination aside the septic tanks. Well water from deeper wells are cleaner than shallow ones.
The water channel that flows through the Agbowo community is a potential source of contamination for the wells as some houses do not have toilets or latrines and thereby dispose off defecated materials in the river, this as well increases the level of contamination.
Residents at Agbowo may be at risk of suffering from water borne illnesses after consumption of water without treatment. Students should take note of the setting standards of their houses how far wells are sited from septic tanks. The treatment of well water such as boiling or adding of disinfectants in water before use is advisable even if you’re using the water for bathing alone.
