CHIJIOKE IREMEKA writes not just on the plight of Lagos residents living in close proximity to a Lagos State Accredited Septage Discharge Point in Ajeromi Jetty, in the Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area, but that most fresh fish and smoked fish that find their way into Lagos homes are processed using water laced with faecal wastes discharged into the body of water surrounding the area
Daily, water resources and the immediate environment are adversely affected by pollution from wastewater discharged by unregulated and unmonitored waste operators.
As urban and industrial development balloons, it has a corresponding impact on the quantity of wastewater and sludge generated, and for a place like Lagos, the major challenge has been improper disposal of wastewater, which poses a threat to public health.
This has been the plight of residents and business owners who have for years, endured the pungent smell from wastewater discharged non-stop into water bodies by operators of the Lagos State Accredited Septage Discharge Point, in Ajeromi Jetty, in the Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area.
The mindboggling fact about the wastewater facility is that it is located in an area known as Tolu School Complex, which is surrounded by several schools, and from there faecal waste is discharged into the Tincan Island water, beside a jetty run by a major transport company.
During PUNCH Healthwise’s visits, it was discovered that operators of the facility were the ones evicted from Maza-Maza, in the Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area, years back by the authorities for allegedly contaminating the environment.
Though this facility is fenced and gated, its perimeter fence has been transformed into a settlement and are occupied by artisans and families living in makeshift ‘homes’.
Den of Lagos fresh, smoked fish
Shockingly, our correspondent discovered that a large amount of smoked fish, most of which find their way into several homes were being processed around the wastewater discharge point and by residents of the makeshift ‘homes’.
From a vantage point, our correspondent watched as teenagers with trays of smoked and fresh fish perched on their heads, made their way out to hawk their merchandise.
The place, which was a beehive of activities, also had several food vendors plying their trade, despite the obvious dangers posed by the smelly, murky water contaminated by fecal matter.
Noticing our correspondent’s disapproving look, a boat craftsman, who introduced himself as Ade Korede, said, “We are used to this place. I don’t eat here because they sometimes use this water to wash plates but not to cook.
On if they are not disturbed by the stench coming out from the water, the father of one said, “The operators normally use chemicals to dilute the faeces. In most cases, the smell is not too much. The only thing that will make us to know that they are releasing the waste is when the water starts to change colour.
“You will notice small changes in the colour of the water. It doesn’t smell like that because they use chemicals to reduce the smell. But what I do not know is if the chemical makes the faeces less harmful because I don’t work with them. You can see where I do my business. I also don’t know the name of the chemical they use.”
Open defecation thrives
While touring the settlements behind the wastewater facility, no functional toilet was found but quite a number of suspended wooden toilets lined a particular section. It was noticed that those living and conducting businesses there, urinate and defecate directly into the same water.
Whilst still there, our correspondent saw a woman emerge from one of the makeshift rooms with a plastic container and emptied its content, which turned out to be faeces, into the water.
When asked if it was a normal practice to dispose of faeces here, a fried fish vendor, Basheeda Akinolu said, “When there is no space for a proper toilet, people will defecate inside plastic containers and pour into the water.”
A teacher at the Reservation Senior Secondary School, one of the many located inside the Tolu School Complex, Mrs.Victoria Ezeh, told our correspondent that she stopped buying smoked fish and freshwater fish when she saw what was going on in the area.
“There is no doubt that people have been exposed to all manner of waterborne diseases, including cholera that is ravaging the country now. The fish caught in the water must have fed on faeces treated with dangerous chemicals and you know the implication.
“Typhoid fever is everywhere and people will be wondering where it is coming from. I pass that water every day, and I can tell you that it is heavily contaminated,” she said.
A commercial motorcyclist, Benjamin Alakija, who claimed to always help the fish sellers to transport their wares, said, “Fishermen normally come here at night and by morning, will sell the fish caught to the food vendors and other traders who sell at boundary market in Ajegunle, Suru Alaba, Mile 2 and other places.
“If you want to buy fish, you can come early in the morning when the fishermen are still around. But by this time, you can’t get anything again.”
Meanwhile, a trader in the area, Mrs. Odia Bridget, said they have come to accept the wastewater facility as part of their cross, noting that there is nothing that they can do because it is a state-owned facility.
We remit daily to Lagos State – operators
Amid the stench pervading the environment, our correspondent, who disguised as a potential client, met with one of the managers, who introduced himself as Segun.
After stating his mission and describing the location of his house where the septic trucks will come for evacuation, our correspondent asked the manager if the faecal wastes are treated before being emptied into the water bodies around.
He nonchalantly replied that the faeces are not emptied in their raw state.
He said, “We treat them with chemicals. When we collect the sewage and bring it to this point, we use chemicals to dilute the smell and treat it before releasing it into the lagoon. Look at the plant there (pointing at the sewage deposit point), it is where we offload the waste. It is the discharge point and is a reservoir that collects all the waste.
“It is built in such a way that the movement will be in a zigzag form. It goes from the first point and then moves around in a zigzag pattern to enter the second tank through a gutter. From the second tank, the wastewater is pumped into the last tank. This section is what septic tanks and soak away are to a water system of toilets. It is from that soak-away that we pump out the treated wastewater.
“You can see the white rubber tank on top of the third plant, it contains chemicals used for treatment before they are released into the Lagoon through an underground pipe.
“There is no smell. You can’t perceive the smell, unlike those days when we don’t treat it with chemicals. The only time you can perceive the odour is when the vacuum trucks are discharging the untreated faeces into the collection point.”
Responding to the allegation that faeces are sometimes discharged directly into the water without treatment, Segun said, “We can’t possibly be doing that because the Lagos State Government will come after us. This is a government facility. It is built and provided with the equipment to work with. We were also given a big generating set, so we can’t possibly do that. In fact, some of the drivers go to clients’ houses to treat and douse odour with the same chemical once they finish evacuating the waste.”
Experts react
Speaking on the need for the protection of humans and the environment to forestall possible water-borne disease outbreaks, a Public Health Nurse at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State, Mrs. Joy Ibegbunam, said faecal waste in water used by people can cause an outbreak of diseases like cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio, adding that disposing of domestic waste in the body of water should be discouraged.
She noted that faecal waste is rich in disease-causing pathogens, which are preventable health risks if only the relevant agencies would discourage the discharge of faecal waste in the water bodies.
Ibegbunam said, “When the water is polluted, the aquatic lives are polluted too because they feed on the polluted water and substrates. It will affect the masses when they also feed on contaminated sea foods like fish and crabs harvested from the water. These seafoods can pick up heavy metals and other substances that are harmful to health and even cause infertility in men.
“We need to understand this. We need to know the damage we are doing to ourselves. Diarrhoea is a widely known disease caused by contaminated food and water. In other words, we should find the best way to dispose of our faecal waste because discharging them into the water bodies is not the best way to go.”
An environmental activist and the Chairman of the Lekki State Urban Forest and Animal Shelter Initiative, Desmond Majekodunmi, said the disposal of faecal waste into water bodies is wrong, adding that the action is a prerequisite for disease outbreak and environmental degradation.
“As a matter of fact, it’s a crime against nature and mankind. That practice could lead to the spread of disease pathogens which can cause infection. In any case, it is even a waste of resources on its part because if faecal waste is well managed and processed, it can be converted to biomass and used for cooking,” he said.
Speaking on the chemical used by the operators to douse the smell or make the sludge less infectious, he said, “We can’t keep over-chemicalising our environment. These chemicals are not good for our lives and aquatic lives. Chemicals used in agriculture for weed control to pesticides kill all the earth’s organisms including those that are helpful to nature and man.
“This is hazardous to the water and the environment. Over time, we have been doing this. We are polluting the water. We think because the ocean is big and massive it would not affect it. But the problem we are creating doesn’t happen in a day.
“It is already happening gradually but the impact is not being felt now. One day, the impact will come if we don’t turn a new leaf, especially with the high volume of faecal waste going into our water bodies. It’s a lot.”
A Microbiologist and the Managing Director of Colerns Nigeria Limited, Mr. Obiora Chukwunulu said faecal waste is a good source of microbes, especially pathogens that spread diseases like diarrhoea.
“Diarrhoeal diseases, including cholera, kill millions of people each year, and the majority of them are children under the age of five, mostly in developing countries. The diarrhoeal diseases are caused by contaminated water, inadequate water supply, poor sanitation and hygiene,” he said.
He noted that a large proportion of these are caused by exposure to microbially infected water and food, noting that diarrhoea in infants and young children can lead to malnutrition and reduced immune resistance, thereby increasing the likelihood of prolonged and recurrent diarrhoea.
“Pollution exposure experienced by children during critical periods of development is associated with height loss in adulthood. The diseases directly related to water and sanitation, combined with malnutrition, also lead to other causes of death, such as measles and pneumonia.”
Speaking further, he said, “Domestic sewage is the primary source of disease-causing microorganisms and putrescible organic substances. As organics are decomposed naturally in the sewage by bacteria and other microorganisms, the dissolved oxygen content of the water is depleted.
“This endangers the quality of lakes and streams, where high levels of oxygen are required for fish and other aquatic organisms to survive. Nevertheless, sewage-treatment processes reduce the levels of pathogens and organics in wastewater, but they do not eliminate them completely.”
The World Health Organisation said globally, at least, 2 billion people use water that is contaminated with faeces and microbial contamination as drinking water sources, noting that contamination with faeces poses the greatest risk to drinking water safety.
The global health body stated that the solution would be to seek an alternative use of faecal waste and alternative ways of making it less toxic as it is being done in the United Kingdom and the United States.
