Making Water Available 

Every year on the 22nd of March, World Water Day is celebrated to focus on the value of water and the need to preserve it. Water is critical for a healthy body. This is why the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) designated this day in 1993 to call attention to the water-related challenges we face.
The United Nations has chosen the theme: “Groundwater: Making The Invisible, Visible” for the 2022 World Water Day celebrations. Each day, a specific theme is decided with a focus on relevant topics to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), which is in line with the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.
Groundwater is water found underground in aquifers, which are geological formations of rocks, sands, and gravels that hold substantial quantities of water. It feeds springs, rivers, lakes and wetlands, and seeps into oceans. Groundwater is recharged mainly from rain and snowfall infiltrating the ground and can be extracted to the surface by pumps and wells. Life would not be possible without it as it supplies a large proportion of the water we use for drinking, sanitation, food production and industrial processes.
The quantity and quality of water available for human consumption today have been affected by damaged ecosystems. Now, about 2.1 billion people live without safe drinking water at home; it impacts their health, education and general livelihood. Water safety and quality are fundamental to human development and well-being. Providing access to safe water is one of the most effective instruments in promoting health and reducing poverty.
As we mark this all-important day, we should recognise the vital role water plays in our lives and reflect on how significant it is. Water carries nutrients and oxygen to cells and lubricates joints. It lessens the burden on kidneys and liver by flushing out waste products, dissolving minerals and nutrients to make them accessible to the body.
More than 1.42 billion people, including 450 million children, are living in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability. This means that 1 in 5 children worldwide does not have enough water to meet their everyday needs. The figures in Nigeria are particularly worrying, with more than 26.5 million or 29 per cent of Nigerian children experiencing high or extremely high water vulnerability.
About 116 million people in Nigeria do not have basic sanitation, as 37.8 million practise open defecation across the country, while 55 million are without clean water, with 110 million not having basic hygiene facilities, and around 60,000 children under the age of five in Nigeria die from diseases caused by the nation’s poor levels of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Nigeria is at a critical juncture in the fight to get clean water, decent sanitation and good hygiene to the people of the country and across the world. If everyone, everywhere can access clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene, then we could end the scourge of extreme poverty and create a more sustainable future.
There is a need for the Federal Government and relevant stakeholders to act on the conservation of groundwater resources. This has also been corroborated by the Institution of Water Engineers, which called for an end to the indiscriminate drilling of boreholes. This is in line with the theme that draws attention to the protection of groundwater and its recognition in sustainable development policy-making.
Though water provision and supply are capital intensive, they are a basic necessity for the well-being of the citizenry. Government at all levels can venture into water supply through public-private-partnership to ensure adequate production and distribution. Accordingly, the Rivers State Government, through the Port Harcourt Water Corporation (PHWC) is implementing the Urban Water Sector Reform and Port Harcourt Water Supply and Sanitation Project, and the Third National Urban Water Sector Reform Project.
The project is to provide improved water and sanitation services for the entire population of Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas. Beneficiaries of the project will include over 1.5 million inhabitants of the Port Harcourt metropolitan city. The project is co-financed by the state government, African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank. Water projects are ongoing at Trans-Amadi, Abuloma, Woji and Elelenwo. Opobo/Nkoro, Akuku Toru, among other rural communities, are equally having their share of the state government’s water scheme.
To further reposition water supply services across the state, the Rivers State Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development has taken steps to clamp down on table water producers, whose products fall short of the four categories of water established in the state. The ministry, in its categorisation, has four classes of water graded as A, B, C, and D, with grade A, being suitable for drinking, while B, C, especially D are not potable. We think that there should be an aggressive public awareness campaign on what water is recommended for drinking.
The move by the Rivers State Government to eliminate quacks in the water production industry is highly commendable. This will ensure quality production of water. We strongly advocate the full implementation of the Water Sector Reform Law No. 7 of 2012 to minimise undesirable activities in the water industry. The 30-metre gap between a borehole and suck-away provided for in the law should be enforced to stem pollution of borehole water in the state.
The water situation in Nigeria is a time bomb and there is an urgent need to look critically into many issues affecting this resource. As long as drilling is done indiscriminately, water cannot be regarded as a source and the government must rescue this situation. Poor planning of water schemes by state governments is one of the primary reasons for the inadequate supply of potable water across the country. However, the Rivers State Government’s action in certifying boreholes and table water production is a model quite worthy of emulation.