Table Water Producers Make Case For Boreholes

Producers of table water in Enugu State have called on the state government to sink boreholes for them to ease their business.

The Chairman of the Association of Table Water Producers of Nigeria (ATWAP) in the state, Mr Jones Okonkwo, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Enugu.

Okonkwo said that members of the association sourced raw water for their business operation from private water tankers.

He lamented the absence of a law backing personal individuals from sinking boreholes in the state.

Okonkwo explained that low pricing of water had contributed to its low quality, adding that more money was needed to maintain high quality.

‘’Some of us who are in Enugu, the major challenge we face is the source of raw water because we cannot sink a borehole within Enugu metropolis except you go down to 9 mile. If you do not have your factory at 9 mile, then you must source your water using water tanker to deliver to your factory.

“So what we need is government helping us to sink borehole or giving us soft loan to sink boreholes.

“Another challenge we have is in the pricing, the current price of N5 per sachet of water has been on since 1991, everything has changed in Nigeria and because of that, most factories find it difficult to pay their staff very well.

“After about one month, some of them will go, you cannot have regular staff, is a major challenge for continuity, for quality control.’’

He said that the association would organise a workshop on water storage to better equip their customers on the dangers of improper storage of table water.

Okonkwo called on their members to report cases of quacks in the business to NAFDAC for proper actions.

Managing Director of Impact Pharmaceutical Limited, Mr Jasper Onyeka, called on the producers of table water in the state to take the businesses seriously.

Onyeka urged them to always ensure proper treatment of their water in order to gain customers credibility.