RETHINKING RURAL WATER SUPPLY IN IKOT OSURUA
CHAPTER ONE
1.1Â Â Â Â INTRODUCTION
Water generally is the essential item for any living being, it is possible to survive without food and shelter for some-days, but without water, it is not possible to survive even for a day. Without air, one cannot be alive even for few minutes. Next to air; it is water which is of utmost importance to living beings. Water is a free gift of nature to human race that why all ancient civilization developed along the river banks because water was available for drinking, domestic use and also for irrigation. Water for drinking purpose has been appreciated by human race from time immemorial, as a matter of fact, community life developed in the beginning only at places where there was enough water to sustain life, that was the reason why people living in the arid and semi-arid region had to search hard for natural springs. They had to dig wells, construct cisterns to store water, etc.
As the most vital element among the natural resources, water is critical for the survival of all living organisms including humans, food production and economic development. Today there are many cities worldwide facing an acute shortage of water and nearly 40 percent of the world food supply is grown under irrigation and a wide variety of industrial processes depend on water. The environmental economic growth and development are all highly influenced by water-its regional and seasonal availability, as well as the quality of surface and groundwater.
Hydrological cycle is the movement of water containing basic continuous processes like evaporation, precipitation and runoff as runoff. This is a continuous cycle which starts with evaporation from the water bodies such as ocean.
    USES OF WATER
Of curse some of the most important uses for water are at our homes.
Domestic water use is water used for indoor/outdoor household purposes and all the things you do at home-drinking preparing food, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, brushing your teeth, watering the yard and garden.
    WATER TREATMENT
Drinking water sources are subject to contamination and require appropriate treatment to remove disease causing agents. Public drinking water systems use various methods of water treatment to provide safe drinking water for their communities.
Today, the most common steps in water treatment used by community water systems (mainly surface water treatment) include: Coagulation and Flocculation, Sedimentation, Filtration, Disinfection.
Water may be treated differently in different communities depending on the quality of the water that enters the treatment plant. Typically, surface water requires more treatment and filtration than ground water because lakes, rivers, and streams contain more likely to be contaminated than ground water.
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities commercial organization, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes, irrigation is covered separately.
In 2010, about 87% of the global population (5.9 billion people) had access to piped water supply through house connection or to an improved water source through other means than house, including standpipes, water kiosks, spring supplies and protected wells.
However, about 13% (about 900 million people) did not have access to use unprotected wells or springs, canals, lakes or rivers for their water need.
Surface water is water collected on the ground surface such as in streams, lakes, rivers, wetlands or ocean that is open to the atmosphere, it is related to water collected as groundwater or atmospheric water. Surface water is naturally lost through discharge to evaporation and subsurface seepage into the ground. There are other sources of ground water but precipitation is the major one and groundwater originated in this way called meteoric water.
Concerns over water resources among others have become increasingly evident in issues related to water supply, and degradation of aquatic environments have showed a significant concern in many of this issues, for example contaminated aquifer that discharges water, conversely streams can be a major source of contamination to aquifer.
1.1Â Â Â Â AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objectives of this study are:
- To supply safe and wholesome water to the users, whether these constitute a family, a group of families, or a community.
- To make water readily available to the users, in order to encourage personal and household hygiene.
1.2.   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Water is one of the most important substances on earth. All plants and animals must have water to survive. If there was no water there would be no life on earth.
Apart from drinking it to survive, people have many other uses for water. These include cooking, washing their bodies
washing clothes, washing cooking and eating utensils such as bullies, saucepans, crockery and cutlery, keeping houses and communities clean, recreation such as swimming pools, keeping plants alive in gardens and parks.
It is most important that the water which people drink and use for other purposes is clean water. This means that the water must be free of germs and chemicals and be clear not cloudy.
This research would also be of help of communities that are involved in farming to enhance irrigation practice in their vicinity.
This project would serve as a guide to any student who may be interested in carrying out further research on water supply, or related topic, its uses and advantages in water supply.
1.3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â DEFINITION OF TERMS
  AQUIFER: Is porous and permeable geological formation capable of storing and yielding water in sufficient quantity.
CONDENSATION: It is the conversion of a vapor or gas to a liquid.
CONNATE WATER: Is the type of water entrapped in sedimentary rock during the sedimentation process.
