Proximity of Septic Tanks to Water Sources and Its Health Implications on Residents of Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The significance of drinking water quality holds immense importance as it directly influences human well-being. This paper examined the proximity of septic tanks to water sources and its health implications on residents on Ondo State. The multi-stage sampling technique was employed in the stratification of Ondo State into the 3 senatorial districts; selection of local government areas of Owo, Akure South and Okitipupa from the selected senatorial districts respectively and stratification of settlements into urban and rural. The systematic random sampling technique was used to select 50% and 10% samples from the urban and rural settlements respectively. However, 1.5% (1299) of the total number of household heads were considered for structured questionnaire. The study revealed that about 54.8% of the residents did not adhere to the WHO standard of 30 meters’ distance between the septic tanks and sources of water. A regression model on the proximity of the septic tanks to water sources (DISEPTA) and health implications (HLTIMP) were highly significant at the 0.001 level with coefficients of 0.678, 0.790, and 0.633. These results suggest that an improvement in DISEPTA would lead to an increase in the overall health quality of the residents. Additionally, it will result in a reduction of underground water contamination by 67.8% in Owo, 79.0% in Akure South, and 63.3% in Okitipupa LGAs. The study concludes that continuous monitoring of our water sources is imperative due to the rapid urbanization; establishment of an agency to oversee the placement of water sources in relation to septic tanks.