Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have resorted to drinking boiled water following the increased price of sachet water.

In separate interviews on Wednesday in Abuja, the residents said they could not cope with the recent increase in the cost of sachet water.

A unit price of sachet water, aka ‘pure water’, was recently hiked by more than 100 per cent and now sells at N50.

Rachel Joshua, a civil servant and a resident of Garki, said a bag of sachet water now costs N600 in her area, as against N300 it was sold for a few weeks ago.

She said, “Water is a necessity, even if it is to be sold, it should not be this expensive. I’m even tired of buying it because I cannot cope with the cost. In the past few days, 

“I just boil my drinking water and allow it to cool and then put in bottles and freeze. It has saved me much and it is worth it.”

However, Peter Bawah, a resident of Kubwa, said since water is a major necessity, buying sachet water is unavoidable despite the price increase.

“I still buy sachet water, although in small quantities, considering the fact that at N50, it is now out of reach of the common man,” said Mr Bawah.

He said boiling water would have been a better option, but the gas price had also increased, making it impossible.

“I have resorted to drinking water directly from the tap since I cannot afford the hygienic means of boiling water before drinking. I now drink borehole water because if I have to boil my drinking water, I have to use my cooking gas, and that is also expensive.

“I am trying to use my cooking gas with caution so it can last longer. I just drink the water like that,” Mr Bawah said.

Debora Ali, also a resident of Garki, told NAN that life had not been easy for her family since the increased cost of sachet water.

“We no longer buy sachet water since there are other ways to get potable water. Some of these sachet water is not even clean. Anyone can buy a sealing machine and pour anything in it and sell,” said Ms Ali.

“Although bottled water is now more expensive with the realisation that tap water can possibly be sold as pure water, some of us had to switch to bottled water,” Ms Ali said.

Similarly, Amarachi Eke, a resident of Nyanya, said that she used to buy 10 bags of sachet water every week for N1,700 for her household, But now the same amount of bags sell for N5,000.

“It has not been easy at all. We had to cut down the number of bags to five, which is N2,500 in my area, and we managed it for the week. I have introduced boiling water in large portions to my wards to store in containers for drinking.

“This is because we cannot continue to cut the amount of water we drink because we cannot afford it,” Ms Eke explained.

However, Bella Oyin, another resident and a trader who deals in sachet water, said she got her supply of sachet water from distributors at N550 per bag and, sometimes, at N400 per bag.

She explained that the difference depended on the company that produced the water and probably the cost of production for printing, packaging and logistics.

Ms Oyin also said the cost of buying ice blocks to cool the water before the sale was another reason for the increase in the price of sachet water.

She, however, said she sometimes sold a sachet for N50 each and other times, two, for N50 and may have to stop selling it if the price kept going high.

“A lot of people cannot afford it again, especially those with large families. They don’t buy like before again because they cannot afford it like when it was cheaper,” Ms Oyin stated.

(NAN)