Why Ban ‘Pure Water’? A case for the masses!

There are insinuations and rumours in the social media circle on the purported proposed ban of ‘Pure Water’ by the Government commencing January 2014. ‘Pure Water’ can be defined as water packaged and sealed in units of branded 50cl sachets, distributed to retailers in bags of 20 units and in turn sold by retailers as individual units to consumers who are largely of the low income class and partly a percentage of the middle income class. The alleged primary reason for the ban is the environmental impact of the disposed sachets after use on the environment.
If true, I completely agree with the Government on the adverse impact the poorly disposed sachets have on the environment and the ozone layer as a whole. These sachets can barely be recycled with minimal efforts for reuse. They have to undergo a mechanical means of disposal through combustion which contribute heavily to the gases depleting the ozone layer. Furthermore, the poorly disposed empty sachets litter the roads, walkways and landscapes; get eroded and flushed into the drain by the rain or wind; consequently result in blockage of main drainage channels and finally lead to flooding and resultant environmental related diseases. This is unfortunate, as the advent of ‘Pure Water’ has largely served as a panacea to the unavailability of drinkable potable water in the country. Yes, there have been debates on the thoroughness, fitness for drinking and cleanliness of the several and diverse bagged water products in the market; notwithstanding, with the introduction of NAFDAC certifications, there have been relative increase in the quality control procedures deployed by the ‘Pure Water’ companies to ensure compliance as required. I am unable to ascertain the level of quality assurance by enforcement inspectors of the statutory agencies. Nonetheless, a deficient system has been bridged by this near good solution which ensures some degree of clean water - ‘Pure Water’ as the name implies is available to the poor and downtrodden in our society. The ph value of drinking water is between 6.5 and 8.5 on a scale of 0-14 with 7 as the safest. The ph value measures the degree of acidity-alkalinity of water.

Predominantly, there are presently three forms of packaging drinking water. They are ‘‘Pure Water’’, bottled water (branded in 50cl, 75cl and 100cl plastic bottles) and dispensable water (a combination of a dispensing machine and refill bottle). ‘Pure Water’ and bottled water sell at an average of N5 and N50 respectively. In some States, E.g, Niger Delta ‘Pure Water’ sells for N10. We shall limit our comparison to ‘Pure Water’ and Bottled Water only because of the start-up capital cost (N25,000 – N32,000) required to purchase a Dispenser unit which readily cannot be afforded by a majority of the populace. The huge disparity in price is noteworthy and is a key driver for this article. Moreso, there is no proven scientific assessment to ascertain that the content in bottled water packs are more fit than the content in ‘Pure Water’ sachet other than the fact that bottled water companies are notable organisations whilst ‘Pure Water’ companies are small scale enterprises. Also, there is a general assumption that the former through the known organisational culture and quality policy will deploy global standards as against the latter which lacks such administrative capacity to market such instruments.

Before the advent of ‘Pure Water’ in the early 2000s, there was bottled water primarily consumed by the elites and high income earners. Majority of other consumers depended on water from their respective taps irrespective of the source. Some enlightened and educated consumers went ahead to boil the water using electric boilers or kerosene stoves being the key sources of generating heat suitable to purify the water. Local filtration methods were afterwards proffered to ensure the water is adequately fit. This meets the domestic household demand for drinking water. Water was also hawked to markets, workshops and other related public places through manually packaged water in white transparent nylons of light gauge tied at the open end with impoverished methods of cooling. The manually packaged water obviously had no form of statutory control and must have emanated from any available source the seller deemed fit. This method of selling alleged drinking water was phased out by the affordable ‘‘Pure Water’’

Drinking Water is a mandatory dependency that must be taken daily. An average adult is advised to consume a minimum of 2.5 litres of water daily to remain healthy. This translates to 5 nos. ‘Pure Water’ or 5 nos. bottled water or N25 or N250. For a country where a majority lives below 1 dollar per day, I trust you will concur that the majority will settle for ‘Pure Water’, N25 as against the other alternative.
Water if not available in adequate quantity can cause dehydration and lead to other complications in the body. In similar vein, poor quality drinking water leads to cholera and typhoid fever amongst other array of causable diseases. To this end, I summarise this analysis and recommendation as follows:

Advantages of Banning ‘Pure Water’:
a. Reduction in environmental impact and depletion of the ozone layer due to combustion/burning
b. Reduction in non-decomposable elements clogging the drains
c. Assumed control of the quality of drinking water considering that some of the ‘Pure Water’ sachet companies have no quality control measures
d. Reduced impact of the chemical interaction between the chemical characteristics of the sachet, branding print and the water

Disadvantages of Banning ‘Pure Water’
a. Reduction in the amount of water consumed daily by the masses
b. Scarcity of a degree of clean drinking water (at present the notion that NAFDAC is involved puts some elements of control in place); and return to drinking water directly from the tap. The present cost of kerosene, erratic power supply and electricity consumption cost will negate boiling of tap water by the majority.
c. Mass unemployment – it is worthy to note that these ‘Pure Water’ companies exist in large quantities in every Local Government Area of the country. It has provided income for both the producers, distributors and retailers.
d. Increased risk of cholera outbreak and resultant deaths/higher mortality rate– The neighbourhood clinics and Government owned hospitals will be besieged with new cases of poor quality drinking water related cases.
Recommendations:

1. Short Term:
a. Orientation of all stakeholders (producers, distributors, retailers and consumers) – The Government is advised to commence an orientation exercise through the media (TV, radio, social, still, moving and print) sensitizing the populace on the need for proper quality control in the preparation of the ‘Pure Water’ and also the pertinence to aptly dispose the empty sachets after use and the imminent dangers of non-conformance/compliance.
b. Promulgation of legislation or policies criminalising packaging of unsuitable water for sale as ‘Pure Water’. Random sampling of bags of ‘Pure Water’ from different producers by testing individual sachet units by Local Government Officials will drive the enforcement strategy. Erring producers should be punished by closure of their outfits and legal action. This will deter the defaulters from continuing with the heinous act.
c. Enforcement of safe disposal of used sachets in homes and public places. Market places, shops, Cabs and commuter vehicles should be mandated to have waste baskets (Lagos State once enforced this).
d. Apposite waste management system and controlled incineration of the used disposed sachets by Government established incinerators.
e. Follow up to ensure the ‘Pure Water’ companies pay requisite tax to the Government which will contribute to the monitoring, control and enforcement of the aforementioned short term recommendations.
f. Finally, a special purpose entity under the aegis of “National Association of ‘Pure Water’ Producers” (NAPWP) should be encouraged to regulate the activities of the Producers to maintain an apposite standard across board.

2. Long term
a. Overhaul of the State Water Board Departments
b. Introduction of new water mains to every neighbourhood – Case Study: Calabar
c. Supply of potable drinking water to World Health Organisation Standards through water mains constituting of suitable pipe ways (not susceptible to corrosion or contamination of the supplied water) to each home
d. Continue to implement the short term recommendations in ‘1’ above until there is a reduction in the dependency and demand for ‘Pure Water’
e. Devise ways to absorb affected ‘Pure Water’ producers (employers and employees) in the new State provided water scheme.
f. Improve the socio-economic welfare of the populace to enable alternative purchase of dispensable water through dispensers and refill bottles. This option has the least environmental impact other than dependence on energy for cooling or heating of water.

In conclusion, it is highly suggested the Government renege its decision to place a ban on production and sale of ‘Pure Water’. Instead, the above recommendations should be considered as a way forward approach to curb the resultant menace that may have emanated from the dawn of this ingenious (truly ingenious) product. It is worthy of note that over 90 million Nigerians out of a population of 120 million depend on ‘Pure Water’ daily. This implies that over 360 million sachets (what a viable business if properly done) are taken daily (at an average of 4 per person). If this supply is to be cut off, the Government should braze up for an ameliorating strategy or live up to the consequences; otherwise I may be right to say: ‘the government wants to deliberately reduce the population of the poor masses with this policy; they should duly state same accordingly’. There are several other polythene based products that have the same adverse impact on the environment. A general solution of synergised root cause analysis and appropriate waste management system should be devised for a better Nigeria. Control of water quality, appropriate disposal of used sachets, monitoring and control procedures are sure fire ways to manage the ‘Pure Water’ debacle.

Happy Sallah Celebrations!

A true analysis. Weldone.
I so pray this finds its way to appropriate quarters and is treated with despatch.

halllelujah!!! 2nd to comment. i hope this makes FP
to the related issue if pure water sachets re banned the price for bottle water should be reduded drastically cos a 50cl of sachet water which is sold for between #5 to #10 as the case may be is more in term of quantity compared to bottle water which is sold for #50 and about.

Nice post.

Thanks guys!

How will we ensure the message is duly conveyed to the appropriate quarters if not suitably driven

Government should BAN that 'pure nuisance'

juju2008: Government should BAN that 'pure nuisance'

hmmmm