BY JOSEPHINE AGBONKHESE

IN the absence of safe drinking water in most communities across the country, Covenant University Professor of Microbiology, Mr. Louis Egwari, in this interview, gives practical tips on how best to ensure water is devoid of micro-organisms and safe for drinking, even up to storage methods.

WHAT are the implications of drinking water being unsafe?
There’s the risk of outbreak of diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, water-borne viral infections, etc. The implication is devastating because it affects the individual and nation in general.

So, what in your opinion is the best source of potable water?

Relatively, borehole is the best source of water for now; but this is if it is well located because location also determines the quality of a borehole’s water.

*Prof Egwari

Some people are still fortunate to get water from government sources; isn’t this also potable?
Results from studies we’ve done show that we still have issues with this water. Pipes run for long distances and what happens from the waterworks to various destinations of usage can only be imagined. If the pipes are broken, nobody will know because they run underground. And of course, depending on where the leaks are, there may be filtrates from drainages and the rest. So, you find that water which was potable from the source may not be potable by the time it gets to the home or other points where it is consumed. The more the distance from the waterworks, the higher the chances of the water being contaminated.

Nutrients for microorganism

Also, the taps dry-up from time to time; so, you have rust. Again, maintenance is lacking.
At times the flow is so sluggish also. Unfortunately, all of these enable microorganisms to grow. Even the chemicals used to treat can become nutrients for microorganism because as they deposit, they decompose and become some other compounds which microorganism can utilize. Once the pipe is contaminated, it remains contaminated for as long as possible since there is neither maintenance nor change of those pipes. Again, there is the issue of vandalisation and of pipes being broken into by people constructing roads. The end user suffers the consequences.

Aside municipal water, most Nigerians with functional boreholes now believe water ‘bought’, like bottle and sachet water, are best for drinking. Is that correct?
That has to do with psychology. Probably such people want to be sure of their safety, maybe because they’ve suffered typhoid, cholera or dysentery in the past and now feel borehole water is not good enough. Hence, they believe water ‘bought’ has been well treated and is best for drinking. Unfortunately, the same people use borehole water for brushing their teeth, not realizing that once contaminated water touches your mouth, the organisms in it attaches to your buccal cavity and also move onto your bowel. Some of those waters may be relatively okay. But I do not take sachet water because I believe most of them are badly treated; besides, everybody does the business these days.

Are these sachets and bottles used for packaging generally safe?
They are all petroleum-based products and do have shelf lives as pet bottles. The one you buy and consume is meant to be disposed and recycled. Instead, that is the same bottle we collect and store water in our fridge over and over again, even when it has already lost its integrity (withholding capacity) and has begun releasing its chemicals into contents stored in it. That’s where problem is.
Sadly, it has become our culture to pour groundnut, herbal drinks, etc., in them over and over again. So, while we consume these things with these bottles, the chemicals in them accumulate in our bio-system and appear many years after as heart-related diseases and more.

Are both borehole and municipal water 100% safe for drinking once boiled?
At least the micro-organisms in them would have been destroyed once boiled at a hundred degrees. Some people also use alum to sediment particles. But it is important to use this in the right quantity so you don’t change the taste of the water.

However, if heavy metals are present in your water, boiling cannot be enough; not even filtration. So, in such cases, special means of extracting these chemicals are required, and that is done in waterworks with sophisticated filters that have activated carbon.

Ideally, water is supposed to be supplied by government. Water, road, power and education are essential services every government should make available.  But in the absence of such essential amenities as water, my advice to every Nigerian is to boil your water no matter its source; at least to destroy the micro-organisms that can cause diseases.

Absence of potable water

This will help in the absence of potable water from government.

What’s your advice on water storage in the home?
When you store water, add alum or chlorine in the right quantity to sediment and kill whatever organism is in it. Also, wash your water tank at least twice a month because the tank becomes slimy after a short while.

To understand this better, store water in your bucket for three days and try to feel the bottom of the bucket afterwards. You’ll notice it is slimy. Because of nonchalance, we put whatever we like into our body and continue to unnecessarily overwork our body system.

Hence, the body spends so much time and energy to detoxify and when it breaks down, we start using antibiotics to augment. If we can be patient enough to observe these little hygiene practices, things will be better.