Lagos Shuts Down 30 ‘Pure’ Water Factories Over Substandard Practices

The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO) on Tuesday shut down 30 water factories over substandard practices.

The factories were sealed for various violations such as unhygienic production environment, failure to comply with regulatory provisions, and operating without adhering to good manufacturing practices.

This was disclosed on Wednesday in a statement by the Government titled, ‘LASWARCO seals 30 water factories over substandard practices.’

According to the statement, the operation took place on Tuesday and the Executive Secretary of LASWARCO, Funke Adepoju, said that the closure was carried out to protect Lagosians from consumption of unhygienic water.

“In as much as we have the mandate to ensure that operators remain in business, we also cannot fold our arms and allow infractions to fester without being addressed. The primary regulatory mandate of the Commission is to ensure that operators in the water abstraction, production, and distribution industry comply with best manufacturing procedures to safeguard the health of the people,” the statement quoted Adepoju as saying.

The Executive Secretary went further to give details on the enforcement as she said, “The enforcement team of LASWARCO visited some water production factories in the State with on-site testing kits and the result confirmed that most of them are operating far below safety parameters”.

“As the regulatory body empowered by Section 313 (h) of the Lagos State Environmental Management Protection Law, 2017, to regulate the activities of those engaged in the provision, consumption, treatment, packaging, sales, and supply of bottled drinking water contained in bottles or polythene bags, our principal interest is to ensure acceptable standards”, the Executive Secretary added.