Sources of Drinking Water in

Households in Eti Osa Local

Government Area
11.18.2022
─

Submitted by:
Olusola Gideon Olagunju
170402014
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Submitted To:
Engr. Balogun–Adeleye
Course: Environmental Engineering (CEG 419)
 Table of Contents

Table of Contents 2
Abstract 3
Introduction 5
An Overview of Eti-Osa 7
Geography 7
Financial Strength 7
Literacy Level 7
Home types and Structural Arrangements 7
Drinking Water in Households 8
Purchase of Processed and Packaged Water 8
Use of Boreholes 9
Water Delivery Systems 10
Proposed Solutions to Drinking Water Challenges 12
Conclusion 13
References 14
 Abstract
Challenges to providing safe drinking water include a diminishing
supply of usable water, often most acute in areas with rapidly growing
populations; an increasing need to reuse wastewaters that include
sewage and industrial contaminants; and the demographic constraint
of an ageing population with increased relative susceptibility to
drinking water contaminants. These factors all contribute to an increase
in the health risks that may be associated with drinking water
consumption.

The study of sources of drinking water in households is a useful field of

study, with applications in many more avenues, such as pathology and
health hazards in a demographic, or in planning expansion /
contraction of residential capacity of an environment. Traditional
epidemiological study methods are confounded by the mobility of the
population and by difficulties in exposure assessment. It is often hard to
know exactly what a person’s integrated exposure is to drinking water
contaminants that vary over time and space and how to assign a risk
to a specific compound when a person is exposed to many of them. In
addition, surveillance of the population is keyed to outbreaks of
classical diseases, not to the detection of low-level or endemic emerging
diseases. Fresh methods for monitoring the health of the community,
such as those that look at population-wide outcomes and integrate
exposures over time and space, are needed. Examples of such
approaches are given here.

At the laboratory level, drinking water hazards are usually studied via
a reductionist model. In this approach, individual compounds are
studied in the absence of their actual context (e.g., as part of the
chemical soup, however weak or strong) in which they are found. It
seems increasingly unlikely that resources will be available to test every
new compound that can be found in drinking water, to say nothing of
the combinations that exist. Reflecting this reductionist model, the
regulatory structure that exists regulates chemicals on a
compound-by-compound basis. Research into the health hazards of
compounds is often driven by regulatory interest, yet our scientific
infrastructure is unlikely to be able to test the thousands of new
compounds that are produced each year. New scientific approaches
and paradigms are needed that recognize these realities.
Monitoring drinking water for chemical contaminants is difficult for a
variety of reasons. For example, many compounds are present at such
low concentrations that detection via standard methods is difficult.
Furthermore, specific analytical techniques for the tens of thousands of
chemical contaminants found in drinking water simply do not exist.
Analytical techniques for the detection of pathogens in drinking water
are primitive, relying almost solely on classical culture techniques. We
now understand that conventional water treatment does not remove all
risk of pathogen transmission. Chlorination-resistant organisms such as
Cryptosporidium remain important risks for immunocompromised
populations and for the general population when other measures such
as filtration are weak or when they fail. Evolving technologies that
involve water concentration, advanced chromatographic methods, and
genomic recognition may prove extremely helpful.

Advanced treatment modalities such as ultraviolet irradiation,

activated charcoal absorption, and membrane filtration of water may
provide a broad, blanket form of water treatment to inactivate or
remove infectious organisms and chemicals, but their costs are
perceived as primarily affordable only for systems that serve large
populations.

In sum, new scientific methods for the study of health risks in the
population are needed, as are advanced monitoring and analytical
methods. Water treatment technologies are not completely protective
of the population and current advanced treatment methods are costly.
 Introduction
For humans to survive, some important conditions must be met. These
are not optional, cannot be classified as wants, or delayed and
gratified later. They must constantly and continuously be satisfied, and
at appropriate levels.

These NEEDS are 1. Air (Oxygen), 2. Water, 3. Food, and 4. Shelter. A

lot of research, by biologists, has gone into determining safe available
levels of each of these resources, in order to improve general quality of
life, life expectancy, and make life more comfortable.

Of these requirements, water is second only to air in its value to human

life. Without water, humans would not only become very uncomfortable
quickly, but would invariably perish. A lack of water (drought) is widely
feared as widespread lack of this resource could lead to a collapse of
industries, and even civilizations.

Apart from being required immediately for human consumption, water

is used by humans for many other purposes, including preparation of
food, cleaning of themselves and their environment, and in
manufacturing of supplies and produce.

Naturally, water is an abundant resource, and about 71 percent of the

Earth's surface is water-covered. This abundance might lend to the idea
that there would exist a sufficient volume of water to cater to the needs
of mankind, and theoretically, that might be true. However, in practice
it has been found that there is not enough water for the most
important uses of mankind, or not enough water with the right
properties.

These properties are encompassed in the term potable water, and

there is a rising concern that there is a lack of potable water world
over. Owing to this concern, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 is
about “clean water and sanitation for all”. Governmental and
non-governmental organisations world over are expressing a greater
interest in ensuring availability of safe, clean water for drinking and
other important uses, for every member of the human race.

To achieve this aim, studies are ongoing at multiple levels worldwide to

determine availability of water resources for specific uses by people, be
it on a worldwide, continental, national or local scale.
This study aims to illustrate the drinking water arrangements made by
individuals on one such scale, that is in the Eti Osa Local Government
Area of Lagos State, Nigeria.
 An Overview of Eti-Osa
Eti Osa is widely touted to be the ‘crop’ of Lagos State, Nigeria, being
one of the, if not the most expensive and luxurious appearing local
government in the state, at least externally.

Geography
Eti Osa Local Government has a minimum elevation of -3 feet above
sea level, and a maximum elevation of 118 feet. It has an average
elevation of about 7 feet, making it one of the lowest local
Governments in Lagos State [1]. The geology consists of quaternary
alluvial deposits such as red-yellow, red-brown, grey and sandy clays,
silt, sand, gravels, and other detrital material. [2]

Financial Strength
Residents of Eti Osa Local Government are on average, middle to
upper class citizens financially, as evidenced by an abundance of gated
homes, secure communities and franchises which depend on these
finance levels for their survival. This statistic is skewed towards home or
business owners and/or their dependents. Furthermore, in a suburb in
this Local Government, a family of four has an estimated monthly cost
of about ₦959,830, without rent. A single person, monthly, spends an
estimated ₦260,294 without rent. [3]

Literacy Level
A review of the LAGOS STATE LITERACY SURVEY (2011) Conducted
By: LAGOS BUREAU OF STATISTICS (LBS) MINISTRY OF
ECONOMIC PLANNING AND BUDGET ON BEHALF OF LAGOS
STATE AGENCY FOR MASS EDUCATION SECRETARIAT, ALAUSA,
IKEJA [4] reveals that the levels of education of residents of Eti Osa
Local Government is high, in comparison with other local governments
within the state.

Home types and Structural Arrangements

Houses in Eti Osa Local Government area are usually within three
categories:
● Within a controlled estate.
● Within a gated community, with central planning, and high levels
of neighbourly interaction.
● Individually constructed with high fences and gates.
 Drinking Water in Households
Inorder to get a reasonable description of the provisions for household
drinking water sources, two research methods were employed. Research
on published material and actual interviews of individuals.
The results of these research are presented thus:

Households in Eti Osa Local Government come about water from

primarily three (3) sources:
1. Purchase of sachets / bottled (processed and packaged) water
for direct consumption
2. Use of boreholes, with or without treatment techniques.
3. External supply of unpackaged water via water delivery systems,
such as water tankers.

An explanation of each water source follows thus, with rationales

behind their selection, along with specific challenges with their
implementation or accessibility.

Purchase of Processed and Packaged Water

In many households, purchase of
“pure water” for drinking, and
others is not just a norm, but the
expectation. This stems from
knowledge about the locality of
residence. General consensus is
that groundwater in the local
government is plagued by high
iron concentration, above the
0.3mg/L for drinking water
standards, which gives a
reddish-brown colour to the water. Furthermore, the permanent
hardness of the water is caused by the combination of Calcium,
Magnesium, Sulphate and Chloride and this also accounts for its high
salinity. [2] A photograph of a sample of said water from the borehole
of a homeowner was provided at different stages of treatment, to
illustrate the reasoning behind his choice of water purchase. Another
interviewee, a medical professional, who owns his borehole, declines to
utilise this water for drinking, due to a knowledge of pathogens and
chemicals abundant in water, as well as an understanding of the
negative impact run-off water has on water from these boreholes.

Any treatment techniques are considered to be an exorbitant expense,

and not always cost effective when compared with the cost of
packaged processed water at retail value.
Cost Breakdown
An 18L bottle of water for dispensers - ₦800
A bag of 20 50cl sachets of water - ₦200
On average, an individual would consume 3-6 sachets of water per day,
meaning an individual would consume about 6 bags of sachet water
per month, or spend about ₦1200 per month on drinking water. This
value sees an increase as family size increases, climate changes and
frequency of external visits fluctuates.

Use of Boreholes
Traditionally, due to the relative affluence of residents of the Local
Government, houses are constructed with provisions for individual
boreholes. These boreholes are constructed at depths depending on
existing soil and surrounding water conditions. However, due to the
high saline and ferrous conditions prevailing water around this area,
many find it unthinkable to drink water from their own boreholes
directly. Treatment techniques involving Chlorine are researched and
employed for small residences or individual buildings.

In estates where there is a large volume of residents, or proposed

residents, it is considered a worthwhile venture to pursue advanced
treatment techniques for their water. An example of this is in Victoria
Garden City, where the establishment of the VGC Water Plant seeks to
provide clean safe drinking water for all residents of the area.
Treatment technique undertaken here is REVERSE OSMOSIS.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification method that removes ions,
undesirable compounds, and bigger particles from drinking water
through a partially permeable membrane. In reverse osmosis, an
applied pressure is utilised to counteract osmotic pressure, which is a
colligative property driven by chemical potential differences in the
solvent, a thermodynamic variable.
Reverse osmosis can remove a wide range of dissolved and suspended
chemical species, as well as biological species (mostly bacteria) from
water, and is utilised in both industrial processes and potable water
production.
As a result,
the solute is
held on the
pressured
side of the
membrane
while the
pure solvent
passes
through. This
membrane
must not
allow large molecules or ions to pass through the pores (holes) in order
to be “selective,” but it must enable smaller solution components to
pass through. [5]

Use of borehole, along with treatment methods, is a viable option, but

is often found to be expensive, and the financial burden can be quite
burdensome, unless spread across a large group of bearers, such as
residents in an estate.

Water Delivery Systems

Beyond boreholes and individual purchase of packaged water, another
drinking water source in Eti Osa local government is the use of such
water delivery
systems as Water
Tankers. This idea
originates from the
governmental
water delivery
scheme, by which
water was sourced
by a governmental
agency and
delivered to
individual owners
as a service. This,
however, was
found to be not as
reliable, and was not depended on majorly by residents of this local
government. Private companies, however, “picked up the hammer” and
decided to provide this water at cost to interested homeowners. This
occurs inside well maintained and cleaned water delivery trucks, which
deliver these directly to households at prescribed times.
An example of this is VGC Water [6], which charges about ₦13,000
within VGC Estate Lagos and ₦15,000 outside the estate but within
Eleko and VI in Lagos State, for delivery of a 10,000 litre volume of
water to residents.
This option is employed by some homeowners. Disadvantages though
include additional storage equipment requirements as well as extra
treatment / purification before consumption. This may include boiling,
filtration, or use of water purifiers.
Proposed Solutions to Drinking
Water Challenges
An in-depth / comprehensive discussion on potential solutions to the
challenges facing difficult drinking water supply in households is
beyond the scope of this paper.
However, generally, it is accepted that governmental intervention could
alleviate some of the hardships associated with drinking water supply.
Some recommendations are:
1. An improved, reliable, water supply / distribution system, one that
is well regulated by governmental agencies and can adequately
serve the needs of residents of the locality.
2. Regulations and control on permissions surrounding waste
disposal, effluent discharge and other influences on the water
supply surrounding the local government.
3. Regulations on pricing and availability of safe drinking water,
along with quality control, even by private organisations.
 Conclusion
Humans continue to need drinking water. Their needs include drinking
water that is safe and trustworthy, as well as can be relied on to be
available whenever required, which is at all times.
A higher financial strength is no guarantee that a locality will have
perfect living conditions. Eti Osa Local government is an indicator that
even in relative affluence, challenges can exist in acquisition of even
the most basic of needs, that is, drinking water.
However, it also reveals that when push comes to shove, there are
procedures and innovations that could spring up to provide these
necessities where possible. These include processing/packaging
industries, water treatment and water delivery systems. These have
helped to lift, and reduce, if not eliminate the burden imposed on
residents of this locality due to their natural lack of safe drinking water.
These systems however, come with their own challenges such as high
cost, constant monitoring of safety requirements to ensure that they
continue to match up to standards, and the need to sometimes acquire
additional equipment, for storage, or even for transmission of this
water safely through the home.
Furthermore, it shows that studies are required to ensure that, before
and during the establishment of a residence in this locale, there can be
sufficient safe drinking water to serve the needs of the residents of this
structure, or sufficient financial strength to acquire these resources.
 References
1. Eti Osa topographic map, elevation, terrain. Retrieved from
https://en-ie.topographic-map.com/map-mttf3/Eti-Osa/
2. Lekki Water Crisis | Jenneoby. Retrieved from
https://jenneoby.com/2021/06/08/lekki-water-crisis/
3. Cost of Living in Lagos. Retrieved from
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Lagos
4. Accessed from
https://mepb.lagosstate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2017/01/L
ITERACY-SURVEY-2011.pdf
5. Water Purification - VGC Water. Retrieved from
https://vgcwater.com/2016/08/10/water_purification/
6. Water Supply (Water Tanker) - VGC Water. Retrieved from
https://vgcwater.com/service/water-supply-water-tanker/