L-R: Engr Oladimeji Botimi, Director Watr Supply Ondo state, RUWASSA; Dr. Musa Ibrahim; Permanent Secretary FMWR; Engr.
Suleiman Adamu, Minister of Water Resources; Mrs. Elisie Ofili, Deputy Director Standard organisation of Nigeria and Mr. Emmanuel Awe, Director water supply, FMWR at the unveil of Nigeria Standard for Drinking Water Quality, in Abuja.
Speaking on Thursday during the unveiling of the NSDWQ in Abuja, Engr.
Suleiman Adamu, Minister of Water Resources, noted that the ministry had been assigned the responsibility of enforcement, saying, not much had been done in respect to enforcement of standard with water producer carrying on with business without regard for the quality of drinking water supplied to the people.
He said that the water quality laboratory had the responsibility for water quality surveillance and enforcement of the standards.
Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO), he said, “diseases related to drinking water contamination represent a major burden on human health and interventions to improve the quality of drinking water provide significant benefits to the health and wellbeing of the people.” Dr. Musa Ibrahim, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources said much progress had been made in providing water supply facilities in Nigeria.
He explained that “according to data from 2016 multiple indicator cluster survey 5 (MICS 5), access to improved drinking water supply sources is estimated at 64.1% in the country.
Giving the scale of the challenge, this is highly remarkable achievement.” He noted that the quality of water could be highly compromised during collection, trough transport to point of use, so that for the same period the percentage access to safe drinking water is 32.1%, adding that the NSDWQ NIS-554-2015 will improve quality of water consumption.
He said, “FMWR have been given the responsibility to enforce the standard any state agency that goes away with what we have in the standard will be penalized, we have a fine that water board will pay if the water is not according to standard.
“For the private suppliers of water we have a standard that they must collect sample of their water for test in any water laboratories of their choice every year to carry out analysis to be sure that what they are drinking is safe, adding that enforcement of standard on private water supply and owners borehole will be carried out by the water laboratories.”