[ Eaux des forages en RD Congo: Une résilience urbaine socio-écologique salutaire et suicidaire ]
Volume 46, Issue 4, October 2025, Pages 676–695
Jean Rufin MUNKUOMO GONZALEZE1
1 Professeur de l’écologie, Université Pédagogique Nationale, RD Congo
Original language: French
Copyright © 2025 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Water is essential to life, and the health status of a population largely depends on the quality and accessibility of drinking water services. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, urban populations face significant challenges in accessing safe drinking water. REGIDESO, the national water supply company, is unable to meet the needs of the entire population due to rapid demographic growth and the deterioration of its infrastructure. In response to this socio-environmental crisis, a large proportion of households (82%) in the town of Idiofa rely on borehole water. However, this water, which is often untreated and insufficiently protected, is a major source of waterborne diseases such as amoebic dysentery, cholera, malaria, bilharzia, and typhoid fever. Children are particularly vulnerable to these health risks. This study proposes appropriate solutions aimed at ensuring sustainable production, consumption, and management of drinking water, in order to strengthen urban resilience and reduce environmental vulnerability within the urban ecosystem of Idiofa.
Author Keywords: environment, urban ecosystem, borehole, drinking water, environmental vulnerability, urban resilience.
Volume 46, Issue 4, October 2025, Pages 676–695
Jean Rufin MUNKUOMO GONZALEZE1
1 Professeur de l’écologie, Université Pédagogique Nationale, RD Congo
Original language: French
Copyright © 2025 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Water is essential to life, and the health status of a population largely depends on the quality and accessibility of drinking water services. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, urban populations face significant challenges in accessing safe drinking water. REGIDESO, the national water supply company, is unable to meet the needs of the entire population due to rapid demographic growth and the deterioration of its infrastructure. In response to this socio-environmental crisis, a large proportion of households (82%) in the town of Idiofa rely on borehole water. However, this water, which is often untreated and insufficiently protected, is a major source of waterborne diseases such as amoebic dysentery, cholera, malaria, bilharzia, and typhoid fever. Children are particularly vulnerable to these health risks. This study proposes appropriate solutions aimed at ensuring sustainable production, consumption, and management of drinking water, in order to strengthen urban resilience and reduce environmental vulnerability within the urban ecosystem of Idiofa.
Author Keywords: environment, urban ecosystem, borehole, drinking water, environmental vulnerability, urban resilience.
Abstract: (french)
L’eau constitue un élément essentiel à la vie, et l’état de santé d’une population dépend en grande partie de la qualité et de l’accessibilité des services d’approvisionnement en eau potable. En République Démocratique du Congo, les populations urbaines font face à d’importantes difficultés d’accès à l’eau potable. La REGIDESO, société nationale chargée de la distribution de l’eau, ne parvient pas à desservir l’ensemble de la population en raison de la forte croissance démographique et de la vétusté de ses infrastructures. Face à cette crise socio-environnementale, une grande majorité des ménages (82 %) de la cité d’Idiofa ont recours à l’eau issue des forages. Toutefois, cette eau, souvent non traitée et insuffisamment sécurisée, constitue une source de nombreuses maladies hydriques telles que la dysenterie amibienne, le choléra, le paludisme, la bilharziose et la fièvre typhoïde. Les enfants figurent parmi les principales victimes de cette situation. Cette étude propose des solutions appropriées visant à assurer une production, une consommation et une gestion durables de l’eau potable, afin de renforcer la résilience urbaine et de réduire la vulnérabilité environnementale dans l’écosystème urbain d’Idiofa.
Author Keywords: environnement, écosystème urbain, forage, eau potable, vulnérabilité environnementale, résilience urbaine.
How to Cite this Article
Jean Rufin MUNKUOMO GONZALEZE, “Borehole water in the DR Congo: A salutary and suicidal socio-ecological urban resilience,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 676–695, October 2025.
