Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah inaugurated a 120 million litres per day water scheme in Enugu on Saturday.

He said at the inauguration at the 9th-Mile Corner area of the state capital that the scheme and its reticulation ended 20 years of water scarcity in Enugu.

He said by the inauguration, the government had increased capacity at the scheme from 70 million litres per day by an additional 80 million litres per day, bringing capacity to 150 million. 

“By the time new layouts are connected to the pipeline network, consumption will be about 100 million litres daily,” Mr Mbah started. “As it stands now, we can comfortably deliver 120 million litres of water daily.”

He added that production would increase to 200 million litres per day at the 9^th-Mile Corner water scheme in a few months.

Mr Mbah said the government had also built 96 water galleries across Enugu to make supply accessible and affordable at home and in public areas.

“Families connected to the pipeline network will get water in their homes, while those yet to be connected can go to the water galleries to fetch water.

“We have put in place measures to ensure we have constant electricity and the water will be cheaper compared to supply by tanker drivers. There is no way the water would be free of cost.

“Those in the business of water supply using tankers will have to remodel their businesses and focus on construction sites,’’ Mr Mbah said.

He urged residents to report anyone attempting to steal or vandalise water infrastructure so they could be brought to book.

Mr Mbah also said the water scheme was built using internally generated revenue.

He said the government would train relevant workforce to maintain and sustain the project.

The governor added that new pumps would be installed at the Oji River Water Scheme in a few weeks to also deliver 50 million litres of water per day to the area.

(NAN)