Addressing Nigeria’s Water Treatment Challenges and Impact on Communities

Despite various initiatives, Nigeria's water infrastructure is overwhelmed, leaving millions vulnerable to waterborne diseases.

Nigeria is currently facing significant challenges in the aspect of water treatment, with millions of individuals unable to access safe and clean drinking water. The country's population growth rate is one of the highest in the world, at 2.6% annually, resulting in an ever-increasing demand for water and sanitation services.

Unfortunately, Nigeria's existing water infrastructure is struggling to keep up with this rapid population growth, leaving a large portion of the population without access to safe drinking water or proper sanitation facilities. The Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report published in 2019 found that 60 million people in Nigeria lack access to safe drinking water and 122 million lack access to basic sanitation facilities. Currently, over 40% of Nigerians obtain their drinking water from groundwater sources, with around 30% using hand-dug wells and 10% using boreholes. Unfortunately, an additional 35% depends on surface water sources, putting them at risk of exposure to flooding and solid waste disposal.

The transportation of waste, particularly biological waste, contaminates both surface and groundwater sources and exposes individuals to waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, and dysentery. Nigeria's limited capacity for water treatment, distribution, and management, as well as insufficient water treatment facilities, poor sanitation practices, and a lack of environmental regulation enforcement, have contributed to this situation.

According to a recent PUNCH investigation report, a sewage plant in a Lagos housing estate failed to meet national and global standards for its operation, putting residents at risk of health issues such as infertility and cancer. The plant's wastewater disinfection process model was meant to prevent such issues, but. . .