Community water supply project in Ikuru Town, Andoni, Rivers State: performance and challenges

The paper aims at evaluating the performances and challenges of a community water supply project in Ikulu town. At the outset of 2021, as the decade of action to deliver the sustainable development goals (SDG) by 2030 gets underway, Ikuru Town is not on track to achieve Goals 6 (clean water and sanitation). Assessment of the Ikuru water supply project involved two ways: visitation to the treatment plant to observe the condition of the facility and use of the unstructured interview. Water samples were collected after treatment from the user point. Sampling was repeated three times on three different days. Physicochemical and microbial qualities of water samples were analyzed, using the standard for examination of water and wastewater by APHA. Results showed that total coliform bacteria were present in the water sample. Iron concentration was above the WHO limit. The concentration of manganese was above the recommended level and Iron bacteria were also present after treatment. In conclusion, the water is not potable and palatable due to its objectionable taste and orange brown colour. Therefore, there is needs for drastic treatment of Ikulu community water project at the point source, using shock chlorination as a recommended method to improve its performance level. Moreover, supportive intervention is required from governmental institutions to overcome the challenges of this water project for sustainability.