18th May, 2012
A fast growing social initiatives company, BGV Ltd, has asked government at all levels to adopt the new water treatment system called Meckow Aquapur as part of ways to provide safe drinking water for Nigerians.
Managing Director of BGV Ltd, Mrs Iyadunmi Gbadebo, gave the advice during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, recently.
Mrs Gbadebo said it is imperative for both the federal, state and local governments to adopt the new approach in water treatment system if they must meet the vision 2020 goal of providing safe drinking water for all Nigerians.
According to Mrs Gbadebo the Meckow Aquapur water treatment system which was designed and developed by Dr. Leighton James, a research scientist, is used for the treatment of non-saline water from surface sources such as ponds, lakes and reservoirs as well as ground sources like wells, boreholes and spring.
Highlighting the unique selling point of the device used in the water purification process, Mrs Gbadabo said: “Meckow Aquapor requires no electricity for its filtration process but instead uses gravitational force to push the water through the filtration system. It is capable of preventing and removing bacteria and parasites from water and produces a constant supply of safe drinking water for the community.
“The water filtration system is built with materials with a working life cycle of 25 years. It is easily transported, installed, and requires minimal training to operate. Its consumable items can be sourced locally.
“It produces clean drinking water at a rate of 1,000 litres per hour. This means that if the unit runs for only 12 hours a day, it will produce 12,000 litres daily, 84,000 litres weekly and slightly less than 4.4 million litres annually. This amount of water is enough to meet the need of a community of up to 1000 people.”
Ephasising the importance of clean water to every nation, she said: “The importance of clean water in this country cannot be overemphasised and this is a great challenge faced by Nigerians. To the lower class, options do not exist and to the middle class the reoccurring cost of getting clean, safe water is just unsustainable.
“Access to clean safe water should not be a luxury but a fundamental right,” she stated.
—Henry Ojelu