The Otammiri River in Owerri, the location of the Imo State Water Supply and Sewerage Corporation's (ISWSC) water treatment facility, has become a defecation hotspot because of the high incidence of human activity there.
The facility, which cost the state government billions of naira to build to serve the residents, is now surrounded by homes whose occupants are contaminating its water source, lamented the managing director, Celestine Ugoanyanwu, who made this known yesterday while showing reporters around the water plant.
He determined that the main source of the contamination was people who lived close to the Otammiri River throwing trash and chemicals there.
Ugoanyanwu said the activities of the residents were slowing down the progress of Governor Hope Uzodimma in reviving the treatment plant, which he noted had remained moribund since 2013 before its recent revival.
Urging the governor to evacuate those living near the water plant to curb the damage done by the pollution, the managing director warned against consuming water, especially from boreholes, explaining that “it is the cause of water borne diseases affecting some people.”
He hailed the government's modern equipment in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which he said would distribute treated water to 80 per cent of the state's population soon, including those in the rural areas.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Networking, Chantel Adanna, reiterated Governor Uzodimma’s promise to build a dam with the river, to pave the way for its power project.