Water resources endowment and the challenge of underutilization in a tropical community in Nigeria

The success of achieving global water accessibility is contingent upon the sustainable management of water sources. This study aimed to identify and comprehend the sources of water for household use in Iwo, Osun State, Nigeria, by surveying 458 households. Both descriptive and inferential analyses were employed to examine the collected data. The findings revealed that 76% of households primarily relied on groundwater as their water source, while only 19% had access to both pipe-borne and groundwater. Significance at p < 0.05 was established, prompting factor analysis (FA) extraction from the 13 variables analyzed. The results identified three key factors that accounted for 79.563% of the reasons behind the underutilization of pipe-borne water (PBW) sources: proximity to the pipe network facility, preference for a specific water source, and reasons for non-connectivity of PBW to homes. Another FA was conducted on 12 factors, exposing two significant factors that explained 66.496% of the reasons for the neglect of surface water. These factors included the usability/quality of urban streams and the impact of seasonal changes. The study highlighted a considerable underutilization of PBW due to various reasons, suggesting the need for policies aimed at maximizing surface water sources through PBW.