WATER SCARCITY IN ENUGU STATE

Enugu is such a beautiful city, I have always admired it. Tasty local meals, good transport system, exciting night life, beautiful scenery, an international airport and a big shopping mall. This state has a lot going for it. Chioma, uche and I share mutual love for dear Enugu. Uche wouldn’t take up a job if she wouldn’t be posted to Enugu and Chioma had decided to move into the city while job hunting.

ACCOMODATION

Chioma had already started looking for a place, she had two agents showing her around. They had taken her to the Independence layout where lots of housing projects are going on, Trans-ekulu, New haven and other areas in the city. She complained bitterly at how expensive the apartments are “Onyi, all the houses these people carry me go are so expensive, to make it worse, them say na well them they use”......“Well? How come? I no get, tell them to show you houses wey get borehole nah, how person go pay that kind big money for rent come dey draw water from well, nawa o” then she told me the agents had informed her that houses in Enugu metropolis don’t have boreholes. “How can” I had thought in my head, what of all the hotels and beautiful homes in that city, you mean they all use wells?

CURIOUS ME

I called up some friends who confirmed the information, imagine my surprise. Having bore holes is the new normal for most home owners in Nigeria. People dig wells no doubt but as an alternative and not because they are not allowed to drill a boreholes. I knew I had to find out more about this.

HOW COME?

My first port of call was the Enugu State Water Corporation where I met the executive director commercial, Prince .G. Meniru. He gave me a brief and concise “water map” of Enugu state. He affirmed the stories of boreholes not being drilled in Enugu metropolis i.e. between the Onyeama mine towards ninth mile and the end of Gariki .This is as a result of the geophysics of the area. The metropolis sits on mountains with coal deposits underneath so individuals who venture to drill boreholes end up disappointed because the machines would either breakdown or they wouldn’t get good yield eventually. The much that could be found at such low depths is sulphur polluted water trapped between the rocks which is very unsafe for use. He however told me that there are lots of spring water sources within the state. The aquifer around the ninth mile area is said to be the best in the east. Boreholes in this area are dug between 100 -150 feet deep to get clean water.

It has always been said that what naturally brings people to a place besides good music, free food and drinks, are good roads, water supply and constant electricity. In the agrarian age, it was fertile soil and clean water source. The only thing that has remained constant is water supply. The need for water cannot be overemphasized in life hence my surprise to why Enugu city/capital is situated in the most water deprived area of the state and the answer is coal which was discovered in 1909. As mining activities increased in the area, a permanent cosmopolitan settlement emerged, supported by the railway system. Enugu acquired township status in 1917 and became strategic to the British and by 1929, it became the capital of the former eastern region.

HOW PEOPLE MANAGE

People living within Enugu metropolis have devised various ways to manage the water situation. Apart from the state water corporation’s supply, what is most used are wells which yield surface water and is still unsafe. In a few areas, the water is good enough for bathing and cooking in others it’s not. Well owners in these places use it for washing and flushing toilets. One thing is common though drinking water is bought and stored in tanks. The wells sometimes have pumping machines attached to them so the water is sent into overhead tanks and into the house just like with bore holes. The sad news is that the wells don’t last through the year. Most wells dry up during the dry season.

A water well

Water storage tanks owned by different people living in the same building

Water storage tanks

 I visited two big hotels in the city to find out how such large buildings manage water and even own pools. I found out that they own large water reservoirs which are filled with water either bought with tankers from ninth mile or supplied through pipes by the state water corporation. The water is used to service the hotels and pools as large as 25,000 liters. Unlike pools found in areas with constant and low cost water supply, pool management in these hotels are different. When a pool is filled, the water expected to last 3 months. The water is treated and pool vacuumed weekly or fortnightly depending on use. After three months the water is let out and the pool is refilled.

 

A hotel's underground water reservoir, showing the hose used to let in water

A popular sight in Enugu.Tankers delivering water to homes

A VISIT TO NINTH MILE

There was no way I could conclude this story without visiting ninth mile, the “water hub” of the state. It’s easy to see large water tanks along Enugu-Onistha express towards ninth mile, boreholes drilled to sell water to tankers taking it into the town. It’s also easy to observe the presence of the Nigerian Bottling Corporation, 7up bottling company, Nigerian Breweries Limited as well as other water bottling companies and the reason is simple, just as Prince .G. Meniru had told me, the aquifer in this area is high. A visit to Aqua Rapha water bottling company further revealed that outside the aquifer being high, the water in the area is very clean i.e. it’s not hard, it’s not polluted with harmful gases and substances etc. hence it is cost effective to site these companies here as water treatment is not as expensive as it would have been if they were located elsewhere.

  RECOMMENDATION

In school, I had done a seminar on the topic “Effective Water Management” so I got the opportunity to read some publications on water. According to epa.gov, water conservation is defined as a process that encompasses the policies, strategies and activities to manage fresh water as a sustainable resource, to protect the water environment and meet current and future demand. I also got to know about lots of conservation methods and new adaptations to recycle and reuse gray water. This makes me wonder why would a hotel already having water difficulties would flush away over 25,000 liters of used pool water. Can’t this water used to flush toilets?

How about rain water? Enugu has about 7 months of rainfall during the raining season, can’t this water be harnessed? Imagine if the roof of Shoprite was designed in a way that every drop of rainfall on it runs off into a reservoir, imagine the amount of water that would be collected yearly.

Although the State Government should extend water supply to every part of the State, individuals and corporate organizations should be sensitized on water conservation and treatment. When it comes to conserving water, small adjustments can have big impact. Behavioral changes like taking shorter showers and turning off the tap after you wet your toothbrush and engineering changes like installing low flush toilets (toilets that require less water to flush) go a long way.

 I love my Enugu still. There is this excitement that comes with every visit. Uche got a job in Enugu and that means more fun visits for me.