Water is a substance that is colorless, odorless and tasteless but it still happens to be the most important thing in the world.
Nigeria is so rich in water resources that many of its 36 states are named after rivers. In addition to surface water found in nearly every part of the country, there is also plenty stored in the ground. The country has 215 cubic kilometers a year of available surface water. This is a lot higher than many African countries, particularly those in the southern and northern regions of the continent. South Africa, for example, has about 49 cubic kilometers a year. Groundwater in Nigeria is widely used for domestic, agricultural, and industrial supplies.
Water has a vital importance for all living things and some of the main functions in the human body can be summarized as follows; it is a biological solvent that provides both the transport and dissolution of vitamins and minerals in the body; it is important in regulating body temperature.
Direct purposes include bathing, drinking, and cooking, while examples of indirect purposes are the use of water in processing wood to make paper and in producing steel for automobiles. The bulk of the world’s water use is for agriculture, industry, and electricity
It is no surprise that countries or regions who do not have access to basic clean water supply (both drinking water and non-potable water), and sanitation have all sorts of serious problems as individuals and a society.
Community water supply takes priority over other water use purposes worldwide. Investment in water and sanitation systems in developing economies brings a multitude of economic and social benefits. Water infrastructure systems across the world will deteriorate unless substantially more rehabilitation is done. This paper presents a structured and hierarchical framework for sustained water services development consisting of institutions, provision, water infrastructure and production of services that hopefully create better understanding of how to develop our systems and services as part of the built environment for more sustained futures.