A study of water vending and willingness to pay for water in Onitsha, Nigeria

Most people in Onitsha, Nigeria obtain their water from an elaborate and well-organized water vending system which is run by the private sector. About 275 tanker trucks collect water from private boreholes and sell it to households and businesses equipped with water storage facilities. Many of these households and businesses resell water by the bucket to individuals who cannot afford large storage tanks or who cannot be reached by the tanker trucks. During the dry season the private water vending system collects about 24-times as much revenue as the public water utility. On an annual basis, households in Onitsha pay water vendors over twice the operation and maintenance costs of a piped distribution system.