Toyyibat Qasim
The Lagos State Water Corporation serves only 1.03 per cent of the state’s estimated 20 million residents, while its actual daily water production stands at just three per cent of its installed capacity, an official has disclosed.
The revelation has raised fresh concerns about access to potable water in Nigeria’s commercial capital, where thousands of households depend on water vendors, private boreholes and community-supported facilities to meet their daily needs.
The Deputy Director of Corporate Affairs and Brand Management of the Lagos Water Corporation, Rasaq Anifowoshe, disclosed the figures in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos while responding to questions about the corporation’s coverage and expansion plans.
According to him, the corporation’s water network currently serves 34,424 registered households, representing an estimated 206,444 residents based on an average household size of six persons.
The figure translates to approximately 1.03 per cent of Lagos State’s estimated population of 20 million.
Anifowoshe also disclosed that the corporation had an installed production capacity of approximately 210 million gallons per day, compared with the state’s estimated daily water demand of 540 million gallons.
However, a review of its 2025 production records showed that the corporation produced approximately 2,633.22 million gallons throughout the year, translating to an average of 7.21 million gallons daily.
He said the actual daily production represented only three per cent of the corporation’s installed capacity.
The figures highlight a substantial gap between the state’s water demand, the corporation’s production capacity and the volume of water actually produced for public consumption.
Residents bear the cost
The shortfall has left many Lagos residents spending substantial sums on alternative water sources, with some households paying tens of thousands of naira monthly despite living in a state with an extensive network of water infrastructure.
Residents interviewed by NAN across Iponri, Oworonshoki, Costain, Apapa Road and Ebute Metta recounted their experiences with unreliable public supply, abandoned facilities, broken pipelines and inadequate water pressure.
At Iponri Housing Estate, Adebayo Solomon said his household spent approximately N1,500 daily on water supplied by vendors, amounting to N45,000 monthly.
If sustained throughout the year, he said the expenditure would reach about N547,500.
Solomon explained that electricity shortages sometimes disrupted water availability, forcing his household to manage stored supplies or pay higher prices for alternative sources.
He said he would welcome a connection to the Lagos Water Corporation’s network if it guaranteed regular supply and reduced his household’s dependence on vendors.
Another resident of the estate, Abdulkareem Ibrahim, said he depended on public boreholes provided by philanthropists because his community received no water from the corporation.
Ibrahim said he fetched water in the morning or after returning from work at night, adding that electricity interruptions sometimes disrupted the boreholes and forced residents to purchase water from vendors.
Although the community-supported facilities had helped him avoid regular water expenses, he said residents remained dependent on the goodwill of their benefactors.
In Oworonshoki, Amanda Ogbodo said she spent between N2,200 and N3,600 weekly on vendor-delivered borehole water, translating to between N8,800 and N14,400 over four weeks.
She disclosed that water supply from the corporation had become more consistent in parts of her neighbourhood over the preceding four months, particularly from Friday afternoons until Saturday.
However, residents living on higher ground continued to experience poor supply because of inadequate water pressure.
Ogbodo recalled that her business premises previously received public water, with eight or nine users contributing N10,000 monthly towards the service.
She said the supply stopped for about four years after a pipeline broke, adding that although water returned intermittently in 2025, it had only recently become more consistent.
She appealed to the government to repair the network and restore regular supply to the community.
Broken pipes, abandoned facilities
The situation is similarly troubling in other parts of the state, where residents say failed public facilities have forced them to rely on private water sources for years.
At Costain, Eniola Adewale said a truckload of water cost between N1,200 and N1,500, with vendors sometimes doubling their prices during shortages.
She explained that her household relied on mobile vendors because the public water facility was distant and supplied water irregularly.
Adewale also expressed concerns about the quality of vendor-supplied water, saying she preferred sachet water for cooking because she did not know the source of the water delivered to her home.
Eunice David, a food vendor on Thomas Street, Costain, said she spent considerable sums monthly pumping water for household use because a public facility that previously served the community had been non-functional for some time.
She appealed to the government to intervene and restore affordable, reliable public water supply.
On Opeoluwa Street, Apapa Road, Garuba Alasan said the public water facility serving his area had been non-functional for approximately 20 years.
Alasan, who said he had lived in the area for about 30 years, disclosed that he had relied on private water sources for the past two decades.
At Vaughan Street, Costain, Anthony Olamide, a point-of-sale operator, said residents had an existing Lagos Water Corporation connection but that supply depended largely on electricity.
According to him, residents contributed N1,000 monthly towards the water service, helping to reduce their spending on alternative sources whenever public water was available.
However, power outages frequently interrupted the supply, forcing households to buy water from vendors.
At Olaogun Street, Abule-Nla Junction, Ebute Metta, Esther Emokpaire said her household spent between N1,000 and N1,500 per truckload of vendor-supplied water, usually purchasing water every two days.
She said prices fluctuated depending on availability, adding that although vendors claimed the water was clean and treated, her household had not independently verified its quality.
Emokpaire also recounted an incident in which members of her household developed skin rashes after bathing with water purchased from vendors.
The residents’ accounts underscore the financial burden of unreliable public water supply, as well as concerns about the quality, affordability and accessibility of alternative sources.
Budget spending raises questions
Amid the persistent challenges, the Lagos State Government’s second-quarter 2026 budget implementation report showed that 36.2 per cent of the approved annual budget for improving 15 existing mini and micro waterworks had been spent as of June 30.
The report also recorded expenditure equivalent to four per cent of the approved annual budget for the Adiyan Phase II Waterworks project.
However, the expenditure figures do not establish the physical completion status of the projects or indicate how much additional water they currently supply to residents.
The figures therefore leave questions about the extent to which the investments have translated into improved water production, expanded distribution networks and reliable household connections.
LWC unveils expansion plans
Responding to concerns about the limited coverage, Anifowoshe identified ageing distribution pipelines, rising demand driven by population growth and rapid urbanisation, and the need to rehabilitate and expand existing infrastructure as major constraints affecting the corporation’s operations.
He said the corporation was planning to rehabilitate and upgrade its micro and mini water treatment plants, a move expected to expand access to potable water significantly.
According to him, the intervention would make water accessible to more than 5.6 million households upon full rehabilitation.
The corporation also plans to extend its distribution network to reach more residents and improve access to public water supply.
Other proposed interventions include the rehabilitation of Ojokoro Mini Waterworks and the construction of Lagos Island Micro Waterworks.
Anifowoshe further disclosed plans to digitise the distribution network to enable digital monitoring and remote management of underground pipelines and other water infrastructure.
He said the initiative would help reduce water losses and non-revenue water.
The corporation is also planning to construct the Igbonla 100-million-gallon-per-day water treatment plant to boost supply along the Lekki-Epe corridor.
According to Anifowoshe, the project is expected to increase production capacity and help meet growing water demand in the corridor.
However, the scale of the challenges highlighted by the corporation’s own production figures suggests that expanding installed capacity alone may not be sufficient without addressing the infrastructure and operational problems limiting actual output.
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