Public network’s chain of water in some shantytowns of sixth district of Cotonou-Bénin
The population of shantytowns of Cotonou aspires to the drinking water from the public distribution network of “Société Nationale des Eaux du Benin (SONEB)” at home ; but the necessary resources are often not available to meet it, the collection, transport and storage operations of this water multiply in households. The objective of the article is to underline the risks of contamination of this water along the supply chain. A housing survey was carried out in 190 concessions (2 households per concession) about the conditions of collection, transport and storage of water in shantytowns of the sixth district of Cotonou. The method of direct interview with observations has been done. The results show that 91.6 % of the respondents practice the storage of water of the public network ; 82.6 % use private subscribers or public points of sale (water kiosk). Water is taken to the faucet or to the barrels without coverage. 68.9 % of transport containers are not covered while 89.5 % of storage containers are covered at the level of households. About types of containers used, seals plastic (70.0 %) basins (2.1 %) are more cleaned than the cans (20.5 %) and jars (1.6 %). The storage duration varies from one day to one week. Goblets of consumption are exposed to any external contamination. This various handlings of water constitute as many potential factors of its contamination and waters diseases.