ABUJA – The Chairman, National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS), Mr Samuel Ome, on Tuesday said the consumption of dirty water was a leading cause of water-borne diseases in the country.
Ome told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that outbreak of water-borne diseases like cholera, dysentery are manifestations of residual chlorine, which are usually below standard in treated water.
He said the group was working with all stakeholders to ensure that the quality of water being produced at the restricted point was the same when Nigerians consumed them.
“If you have been hearing that water is hard, you can’t use it to wash clothes; this means that it has high magnesium and calcium content.
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“In essence, you have to treat them to soften them, so that you can use soap on them, these are the chemical component on the water we treat.
“Then on the biological side, we have different biological pathogens in water, the difference between the two is that chemical species last longer before it manifests.
“The biological one takes maximum of three days and you start having dysentery, running stomach, vomiting and others within three days. [pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]
“So once we treat for both components, it is stored in a clear water tank, from that point, you can now start distributing it to homes,” he said.
The chairman also said that the group had observed that within the chlorine reticulation system, concentration diminishes.
He said it was this development that was making it possible for microbe organisms to be contained in the water.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]
He said two things were treated in water, saying chemical species like magnesium, sodium and others were added to the water.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]
He said high concentration of lead, cadmium, arsenic, fluoride are injurious to health, adding that this was the cause of coloured teeth in some parts of the country.
“Fluoride is necessary for your teeth but when it exceeds a certain threshold, it becomes injurious, thereby affecting the bones.”
He said that the group was also working with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria to incorporate a Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality for the benefit of the citizenry.
Speaking on plans for 2015, Ome said the group would embark on advocacy to reach out to the government to increase awareness on water, sanitation and hygiene.
He said the importance of sanitation and personal hygiene of people to the nation’s growth cannot be over-emphasised.
“A sickly community, a sickly family, a sickly nation cannot involve in serious global economic development and production.
“So with a healthy citizenry, healthy population productivity goes up because when you are sick you consume but when you are healthy you produce.
“The wealth of every nation is the aggregate contribution of every individual in terms of the work you do and that is translated into national productivity,” he said. (NAN)
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