The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LSWRC) on Monday sealed the Banana Island Property Owners Resident Association (BIPORAL) Water Treatment Plant for failing to meet the required safety and quality standards.
According to a statement by Otaru Adegoke, the Public Affairs Officer for LSWRC, the regulatory compliance seal order on the BIPORAL water plant supplying water to residents of Banana Island in Ikoyi was sequel to tests earlier conducted by the LSWRC which revealed that the water quality of the plant was unsafe for consumption, and needed to be subjected to improved treatment.
Addressing newsmen at the site of the plant during quality control enforcement, LSWRC Executive Secretary, Mrs Funke Adepoju, said the decision had to be taken in view of the need to protect residents from consumption of unhygienic water which is harmful to health.
She said the plant will remain shut until necessary improvements are carried out by the service provider in line with the drinking water quality control of the State Government and the plant recertified safe to resume operation.
“It is important to note that drinking water must be safe and wholesome, free from pathogenic agents or harmful chemical substances and comply with prescribed standards of WHO (World Health Organisation) and the Lagos State Drinking Water guidelines. We have tested their water and wastewater and results show that it falls short of the prescribed limit. The Service provider is obligated to deliver water that meets quality specified by the regulator.
“The Service provider needs to ensure the functionality of the water and wastewater treatment plants. This is basically to protect the consumers which is what is paramount to us as a government. For now, the plant will not operate until the necessary treatment is carried out,” Adepoju said.
She said the State Government was very much interested in the quality of the water residents consume, saying that no unwholesome practice that will endanger people’s health would henceforth be allowed.
“However, the power of the Commission to regulate the activities of these category of players in the water sector by monitoring water quality is being exercised because so much caution has been thrown into the wind in water production and profit is placed above safety.
“It is important to remind us all that all water borne diseases are deadly. You have cholera, typhoid, dysentery, among others. So, if these diseases are deadly, it then behoves on us a government to ensure that we protect the consumers who in this case are residents and citizens of the state in line with the Health and Environment Pillar of the THEMES agenda of the Babjide Sanwo-Olu administration,” she said.
She added that all water producers be it carbonated water and beverages producers, be it water tanker operators, be it table and sachet water producers, be it dispenser water producers, be it private service providers in residential estates and all those engaged in the processing, packaging, distribution, sale and supply of water, are all obligated by law, specifically Lagos State Environmental Management and Protection Law, 2017, to deliver water that meets quality specified by the regulator.