CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of study
Water is one of the earth’s most important resources that use for human life and its quality totally depend on geological environment, recovery, utilization as per need and human activities like domestic, industrial or commercial, mining operations, agricultural etc-(Wagh et al, 2014). Water occupies about 71% of the earth’s surface and yet it is one of the scarcest commodities especially in the developing countries of the world (Karikari and Ansa, 2006). Water is also one of the most demanded of all urban and rural amenities and it is indispensable for man’s activities. Oketola et al,(2010) noted that water is abundant on the planet Earth as a whole, but fresh potable water is not always available at the right time or the right place for human or ecosystem use and water is undoubtedly the most precious natural resource vital to life. Furthermore, water is distributed in nature as surface and ground water in different forms and sources which are oceans, seas, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, wells, boreholes and springs.
The world is faced with problems related to the management of wastewater. This is due to extensive industrialization, increasing population density and high urbanized societies (McCasland et al., 2008). The effluents generated from domestic and industrial activities constitute the major sources of the natural water pollution load. This is a great burden in terms of wastewater management and can consequently lead to a point-source pollution problem, which not only increases treatment cost considerably, but also introduces a wide range of chemical pollutants and microbial contaminants to water sources (Amir et al. 2004). In most urban-rural communities in the developing countries especially the Sub-Saharan Africa, surface waters (rivers, streams, and lakes) have been the most available sources of water used for domestic purposes (Higler, 2012). The water from these sources is contaminated with domestic, agricultural, and industrial wastes and is likely to cause water related diseases (Ojekunle, 2012; Ayeni, 2014). Water is a resource that has many uses, including recreation, transportation, hydroelectric power and domestic, industrial and commercial uses (Kumar, 2007). Water also supports all forms of life and affects our health, lifestyle, and economic well- being. Although more than three quarters of the Earth’s surface is made up of water, only 2.8 percent of the Earth’s water is available for human consumption (Iskandar, 2010). At present, approximately one-third of the world’s people live in countries with moderate to high water stress and the worldwide freshwater consumption increases six fold between the years 1900 and 1995 more than twice the rate of population growth, thus, many parts of the world are facing water scarcity problem due to limitation of water resources coinciding with growing population (United Nations Environmental Programme, UNEP, 2002).