By Jay Water Advisory
Ask most Nigerians where their water comes from and the answer is rarely “the tap.” It is the borehole or hand-dug well in the compound or down the street, or the sachet water from a vendor whose supply comes from a borehole two streets away. In Nigeria, groundwater is not a backup plan; it is the primary plan.
Only 14% of Nigeria’s population receives regular water supply through piped sources. The rest depends on a patchwork of groundwater sources shaped by income, geography, and infrastructure availability.
How Nigeria Actually Gets Its Water
Water access in Nigeria falls into three broadly distinct tiers.
At the top, a minority of communities, estates, universities, and large organisations operate centralised treated water systems. Even within this tier, some still supplement with privately drilled boreholes due to inadequacies or system failures, and not all in this category treat their wastewater before discharge.
The majority of urban, peri-urban, and many rural Nigerians rely on self-supplied groundwater. It could be a privately commissioned borehole or hand-dug well, either their own or a neighbour’s. This dependence is particularly pronounced in urban and peri-urban communities where municipal water supply systems are often inadequate or entirely absent. In 2018, 60% of Nigeria’s population depended on groundwater as their primary drinking water source — 73% in rural areas and 45% in urban areas.
At the most vulnerable end, many rural communities depend directly on rivers, streams, and seasonal surface water. This is the most contaminated source of all, carrying the heaviest burden of waterborne disease. Government and NGO programmes are working to improve borehole access in these areas, but surface water dependence remains a daily reality for millions.
What Is Actually in the Water
Groundwater from deep, well-constructed boreholes in stable geology is generally of good natural quality. The problem is the conditions under which most Nigerian boreholes operate — shallow depths, unregulated siting, no treatment, and proximity to latrines and dumpsites — which create contamination long before water reaches any household.
Microbial contamination is the most widespread threat. Studies from of borehole water in Owerri Municipal found total coliform counts in all borehole samples exceeding WHO’s zero-tolerance standard. In Ibadan, 75.6% of household wells were sited less than 25 metres from soakaway pits, which is below the WHO-recommended 30-metre minimum separation. This is not an anomaly; it is the physical reality of compound living across Nigerian cities.
Heavy metals in water equally pose serious long-term risks such as kidney failure, cancer or death in severe cases. Non-permissible levels of lead, nickel, and cadmium were found in borehole and well water in Iwaya, Makoko, and Ilaje in Lagos. Unlike bacteria, heavy metals cannot be boiled away; they accumulate silently in the body over the years, with health consequences appearing long after the source has been forgotten.
Not All Boreholes Are Equal
A properly constructed, deep mechanised borehole with an intact casing, a sealed wellhead, and correct siting offers meaningful protection. A shallow hand-dug well with a damaged casing next to a soakaway pit offers very little — regardless of how clear the water looks.
What You Can Do
Know your source. Find out how deep your borehole is, whether the casing is intact, and how far it sits from your soakaway pit. Shallow, poorly sealed boreholes near soakaway pits are the highest-risk scenario.
Treat before you drink. Even clear, odourless borehole water can carry microbial contamination. Boil water used for drinking and cooking. For chemical contamination concerns, activated carbon filtration with reverse osmosis offers more comprehensive protection.
Test periodically. A basic microbial and physicochemical test at the start of each rainy season — when contamination risk peaks — gives you actual data rather than assumptions. A water test strip can be handy to determine certain physicochemical properties of the water, but it has to be taken to the lab to determine the microbial properties of the water.
Maintain separation distances. When drilling, insist on at least 30 metres between any new borehole and sanitation or waste facilities.
Nigeria is not short of groundwater. But availability and safety are two entirely different questions. Although groundwater is available at all locations in Nigeria, aquifers are becoming empty due to increased extraction, especially in urban areas. The quantity problem is real. The quality problem, which is largely invisible and poorly monitored, also deserves equal urgency.
The borehole in your compound may be the most reliable water source you have access to. That is precisely why knowing whether it is actually safe is not an academic question. It is a daily one.
Jay water advisory 