Household water practices in a rapidly urbanising city: implications for the future of potable water in African lower-middle income countries

Access to an adequate quantity of potable water in urban households has been of significant interest as well as a major problem to many governments globally but more notably in the low income and middle-income countries of Africa, of which Nigeria is one. Rapid population growth, urbanisation and major demographic shifts in Nigerian cities have long challenged the capacity of the government to provide effective municipal water supply. This has resulted in a problematic situation characterised by uncontrolled and unregulated water sourcing mainly from groundwater by the majority of urban households among the rising middle class population who draw significantly on resources to sustain modern lifestyles. This research examines how the middle class household water practices and their variants have been shaped by the complex causal interplay between this problematic scenario and socio-cultural as well as technological factors, with significant implication for water demand.
The research investigated which water use practices and variants exist in the middle class households, how they are carried out and the various factors that fused to shape the way they are enacted. Through the lens of social practices theory, the ongoing activities in the two key domains (governance and household domains) which are causally relating to shape water use were investigated. This was achieved through a qualitative approach which employed interviews, focus group discussions and visual methods.
This thesis identified how water sourcing practices, body washing /toilet practices, kitchen practices, laundry practices, garden practices and car washing practices were enacted in households. Poor water governance resulted in the private water sourcing which is increasing the water use. The fact it is ‘private’ conveys a meaning that strengthens the sense of personal ownership and control of the water sources, which owners also see as tariff-free, prompting unconstrained use with potential negative implications for the context’s hydrogeology. Alongside this water sourcing, many water use practices were identified as engaging significant quantities of water: for example, frequently occurring practice variants included repeated toilet flushing per use episode, manual washing and repeated rinsing of clothes, and leaving taps and hose pipes running for kitchen activities, car washing and garden watering. In contrast, the use of buckets and bowls for body washing may represent a water saving compared to western body washing practices. Other variants and patterns of all these practices have been identified, alongside bundles in which different practices occur together, further revealing the complex nature of water practices.
This thesis posits that the problem of water supply and demand in the context of this study is complicated. It theories that in order to effect change for a sustainable water future, water policy makers require entirely new understandings of the context-specific nature of these problems in order to craft solutions with that understanding.