Global Journal of Science Frontier Research, H: Environment & Earth Science, Volume 22 Issue 1

Figure 7: Source of Water for Households. Source; Field survey, 2020 The study showed that, the sources of water in the district are not safe. According to Pickut (2015), clean water is water that is safe enough to drink by humans because it is protected at source and free of mineral and biological pollutants, and so cannot cause harm. However, majority of the respondents depends on river water and boreholes which could be contaminated with pathogenic bacterial and heavy metals due to human activities and mineralization of underlying rocks. Water is a limited resource all over the world and increasing amounts of organic waste threaten water resources quality and availability. Research in the Densu River basin by Karikari and Ansa-Asare (2006) , concluded in their study that microbial presence in the river was due to contamination caused by human activities such as intensive agriculture and livestock. Groundwater resource is generally good except for some cases of localized pollution and areas with high levels of iron, fluoride and other minerals (USAID, 2011) . This is worsened by climate change; a phenomenon caused by increasing emissions of Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (Nitrous Oxide, Nitric acid, Methane, Chlorofluorocarbons, etc) and subsequently increasing temperatures in the atmosphere (Asumadu- Sarkodie & Owusu, 2016). The impact of climate change in Mion District is felt on water resources with research showing that there is increased evaporation, decreased and highly variable rainfall pattern, and frequent pronounced flood and drought situations (Asumadu- Sarkodie et al. , 2015a ; Asumadu-Sarkodie et al., 2015b ). The impacts of the rising temperature are felt in the dry season (December–March) (Asumadu-Sarkodie et al., 2015b ). In Mion District, the felling of trees for firewood, charcoal production farming and development contribute to deforestation. j ) Relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and indicators of open defecation free communities The research sought to find out whether there was a relationship between household sizes and the communities within the study area. The column percentages show that there was a remarkable difference in the communities in terms of household sizes. Household size between1-5 was likely to be found at Montolo with 26.9% as compared to other communities (Appendix I). A household size of 6-10 and 11-15 were likely to be found at Jibilago with 23.2% and 24.3% respectively. The finding of household size of 11-15 at Jibilago was similar to Bungbali which all had 24.5%. A household size of 16-20 was likely to be found at Nkwanta with 40.0%. In addition, a household size of 21-25 was more likely to be found at Wasambo with 22.6%. Furthermore a household size of over 26 persons was likely to be found at Binagmando with 66.7%. The differences in the percentages show that there was a relationship between the household size and he communities. A Pearson Chi-square of p=0.00 (Table 3) indicated that there was a strong relationship between household size and the communities. 71, 31.5% 50, 22.2% 60, 26.7% 44, 19.6% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Dugout River Borehole Well Sources of water Number of respond… © 2022 Global Journals 1 Year 2022 38 Global Journal of Science Frontier Research Volume XXII Issue ersion I VI ( H ) Assessing the Determinants of Open Defecation Free Communities b ased on the Socio-Demographic and Economic Status of Household Heads in the Mion District of Northern Region, Ghana