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.
The regulatory compliance seal order on the BIPORAL water plant supplying water to residents of Banana Island in Ikoyi was sequel to the tests earlier conducted by the LSWRC, which revealed that the water quality of the plant was unsafe for consumption and required improved treatment.
Addressing newsmen at the site of the plant during quality control enforcement, LSWRC Executive Secretary, Mrs. Funke Adepoju said the decision was taken 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.
In her words: “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 the World Health Organisation (WHO) 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 as well as 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.
While maintaining that the Lagos State government is very much interested in the quality of the water consumed by residents, Adepoju declared that no unwholesome practice that will endanger the people’s health would be allowed, stressing that the power of the Commission to regulate the activities of the water sector by monitoring water quality is being exercised because so much caution has been thrown to the wind in water production and profit is placed above safety.
“It is important to remind us all that waterborne diseases are deadly. You have cholera, typhoid and dysentery among others. So, if these diseases are deadly, it then behoves on us as 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 Pillars of the T.H.E.M.E.S agenda of the Babjide Sanwo-Olu administration”, she averred.
The Executive Secretary added that all water producers and private service providers in residential estates as well as those engaged in the processing, packaging, distribution, sale and supply of water in Lagos, are all obligated by the Lagos State Environmental Management and Protection Law, 2017, to deliver water that meets quality specified by the regulator.
