Household access to groundwater and its implication in an urban poor community, Ghana

The access to drinking water in urban informal settlements of developing countries is a challenge for the poor. The objective of the study was to determine access to groundwater supply and its implication to consumers. A survey of 300 households in the study site showed that the households’ main water sources were public standpipe (37%), pipe water into buildings (20.67%), unprotected dug well (15%) and protected well (13%), motorized borehole (5.67%) and hand-pump borehole (4%). The groundwater use was high with about 78% of households accessing it as a main source or secondary source. Results showed that 96% of all the households use sachet water as a major source of drinking water. The households view the groundwater as unwholesome for drinking because of its salty taste, impurities and colour.