IN its bid at eliminating 85 percent of water borne diseases from the North West, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, is organising a two-day training on how to use digital on the spot assessment to detect table water that is unsafe for consumption.

The training, which has attracted SON staff from the North West is being held at the Kaduna State office, where the mobile digital kit that can be used for on-the-spot assessment was unveiled.

In his welcome address, Osita Aboloma, director general of SON, said that the training would give SON inspectors an added advantage on site to carry out on-the-spot assessment of water and proffer objective advice to water producers for corrective action on quality of drinking water.

“This is aimed at ensuring that quality of drinking water meets the minimum requirement of the standard NIS 306:2008 and are fit for consumption.

“Also today’s activities are strategic towards getting more drinking water certified to MANCAP certification scheme in order to meet with the increasing demand of table water producers in the country,” Aboloma, who was represented by Dauda Yakubu, regional coordinator, said.

He advised the general public to only patronize certified water complying with Nigeria Industrial Standard, NIS, for drinking water.

“It has been reported that water borne diseases account for 80 per cent of human infectious diseases associated with poor quality drinking water. Therefore, adhering to standards and regulation on drinking water will guarantee consumer a safe and healthy living,” he added.

In an interview with newsmen after the opening session, SON Jibril Mohammed, Kebbi State coordinator, described the training as timely and educative.

He assured that with what he had learnt, residents of Kebbi are sure of drinking only water of better quality henceforth.

For Danlami E. Datti, Kaduna State coordinator, the training would give SON more result as a result of its instant analysis, which would also translate to better Health for Nigerians.

Okon Issac Effiong of Alege Scientific Ltd, ASL, explained that the kit, Acquatic 400, could be used on site to analyse different parameters of water.

“We have a reagent that we insert into the machine and it tells us if the water has any properties that are unhealthy,” he explained.

When asked if the photometer can be affordable to the common man and table water packagers, Gabriel Alege, CEO of ASL, said that it was affordable.

He, however, explained that what should concern Nigerians the most should be their health and not how much should be spent on acquiring good health.

The two-day training will be ending on Wednesday, April 26, with tests to ensure that the participants have learnt how to use the photometer accurately, which will be conducted individually for each state.

—  Apr 25, 2017 @ 16:40 GMT