The Lagos Water Corporation pipes water to only a small part of the city. Most homes get theirs from a borehole on the property, from a tanker, or from a well, pumped up into an overhead tank and fed down to the taps. Whatever the source, do not drink water from the tap without treating it.
Where your water comes from
- A borehole is the commonest source in a rented flat or house. A pump lifts groundwater into an overhead tank.
- A tanker fills the tank where there is no borehole, or when it fails.
- The mains, where they reach, are often intermittent, and the water can pick up contamination in old pipes on the way.
The pump needs power. No electricity, no generator, no water - which is why the water and the electricity are one question when you rent.
Boreholes
Borehole water is only as good as the borehole. A shallow one, or one close to a soakaway or septic tank, can draw in sewage. Near the lagoon and the coast - Lekki, Victoria Island, Ajah - the water is often salty or heavy with iron, which stains sinks and clothes orange and smells of metal.
- Have the water tested at a laboratory when you move in.
- Treat it. A typical home system filters out sediment and iron; drinking water needs a further step, such as reverse osmosis or ultraviolet, or boiling.
- Ask whether the borehole is licensed. The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission requires a permit for drilling and abstracting groundwater, and has sealed sites drilled without one.
Tankers
Buy from a supplier you know, ask where the water comes from, and look at the tanker. A tanker that carried something else last week is a risk.
The overhead tank
Whatever fills it, the tank is where water goes bad. Keep it covered, and have it emptied and cleaned regularly - and after any flood.
Drinking water
- Sachet water - “pure water” - is sold everywhere and drunk by most of the city. Quality varies by producer. Buy a brand you recognise, check for a NAFDAC number, and reject a sachet that is leaking, cloudy or badly sealed.
- Bottled water is safer, and the large refillable dispenser bottles are the cheapest way to keep a household supplied.
- Boiling works, if you have the gas or the power to do it.
Ice and juice from street vendors are usually made with untreated water.
In the rainy season
Floods carry sewage into wells, boreholes and broken pipes, and cholera outbreaks in Lagos come in the rains. In the wet months, be strictest about treating water you would normally trust.