A huge number of children in their millions get debilitated and pass on consistently from water borne diseases and absence of essential sanitation and hygiene.Objectives: To assess the source, functionality and availability of water in primary schools in Obio-Akpor Local Government area.Methodology: This was a descriptive cross sectional study that involved the use of an observational checklist to get information from 25 primary schools and the administration of 480 self-administered structured

more »

... questionnaires to pupils in the primary schools. A multistage sampling was employed in choosing the pupils that were studied.Results: 22 (88.00%) of the primary schools had borehole with electric pump and 2 (8.00%) of the primary schools had no water supply, 1 (4%) of the primary schools had piped water to the school premises and 2 (8.00%) of the primary schools had no water supply. The study also revealed that; of the 23 primary schools that had a source of water, 18 (78.26%) had constant water supply and 5 (21.74%) occasionally had water supply, pupils in 20 (86.96%) schools had to walk a distance of < 5 minutes from the source to the common point of use, and pupils in 3 (13.04%) schools had to walk > 5 minutes. Conclusion: The water facilities as observed from this study, met with internationally acceptable standards. However, development of maintenance plan and strict compliance with admission proceedings such that the number of pupil admitted into both private and public primary schools do not exceed the capacity provided for by the existing water facilities is inimical to communicable disease prevention.