The history of sachet water production in Nigeria dates back to 1994 when DIL Pure Water was introduced into the market by Deagbo Industries Limited based in Ibadan, Oyo state. Before then, chilled water was hawked in bread nylon bags and returnable bottles, which captured a fair share of the market relative to Swan Table Water, Nigeria’s pilot brand of bottled water launched in 1981. Because of market competition, many water vendors soon settled for disposable polyethylene sachets, which cost less to produce and appeared to be more hygienic and convenient than nylon bags and returnable bottles. Aside from meeting the public’s need for potable drinking water, sachet water popularly known as ‘pure water’ also began to serve as a veritable solution to households’ other clean water demands in Nigerian cities.
Due to the poor performance of government waterworks because of widespread pipe leakages, contamination of piped water and general operational inefficiencies, pure water assumed an innovative status and was endorsed by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in 2000. Owing to its affordability, in time, the industry grew exponentially. The annual turnover of the industry has been estimated in excess of 20 billion Naira. In 2017, NAFDAC reported that Nigerians consumed 10 million sachets of pure water daily.
However, empty water sachets are considerably contributing to environmental pollution. For the most part, they end up in landfills, drainage systems, or water bodies. A 2014 review of urban flood risk management efforts in Lagos identified pure water sachet, among other drain clogging materials, as a major causal factor of flooding in the metropolis. Though there are some laudable initiatives to recycle plastic waste, the volume of waste produced outweighs the capacity to efficiently manage the problem. Although there is no available record of pure water sachets collected, judging by the fact that collectors are usually paid per kilogram, it is likely that many of them would opt to collect heavier items like glass bottles, PET bottles, plastic chairs and kegs, aluminum cans, or cartons, rather than lightweight items like pure water sachets with little economic incentive.
Amidst the proliferation of sachet water factories in Nigeria, there also have been numerous concerns about the hygienic conditions under which water is packaged, distributed and sold. A 2009 study to ascertain the bacteriological quality of packaged water revealed that about 40 percent of the samples obtained from distributors from across the country had contaminants that posed a potential threat to public health.
As long as the inadequacy of public water supply, which created the demand for packaged water in the first place in urban, semi-urban and rural areas of Nigeria, persists, and no effective reward scheme is created, the damage from pure water sachet waste will continue to mount.