Experts Advocate Use of Natural Substances for Treatment of Water

Experts in water management have advocated the use of natural substances for the treatment of unprotected water sources to improve healthy living.
Dr Petra Nnamani of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), made the call during the "Demonstration and Domestication of Moringa Oleifera Seeds (MOSP)" as new botanical water treatment mechanism in Enugu.
Nnamani, while carrying out the demonstration, described moringa seed as the point-of-use treatmet of water for unprotected water sources in South East.
According to her, the method is unique and can purify water at the point of consumption or use.
She said, "the application of moringa seeds as botanical water treatment reduces turbidity of highly turbid water, adjusts the acidity of the water to acceptable standard range.
"The efficient anti-bacterial activity of moringa seeds is good in terms of addressing water borne diseases and drastically reduces the amount of heavy metals such as calcium, lead, manganese, iron and arsenic."
The water expert said moringa, as water purifier, was a natural factor that had no systhentic chemical such as chlorine or sodium hydrochloride solution, hence it had no residual odour after treatment.

The don also said that moringa seed had health benefits, noting that "moringa seed acts as antioxidant and circulatory stimulant, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, anti tumor and ageing."
On his part, the Enugu State Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr Mike Nwachukwu, described the application of moringa seeds in the purification of water as a new dimension.
He said the new dimension was part of efforts by the state government to provide potable water for the citizenry, adding that the botanical method sought to remedy the quality of water at the point of use.
"Obviously, this demonstration is expected to broaden our approach on how best to achieve improved accessibility of potable water to our people.
"It is also expected to impact on the economy of the state as many more farmers and investors may scale-up production of moringa plant to maximise benefit," he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the moringa workshop was facilitated by Stars in Global Health, Project II Transition to Scale and funded by Grand Challenges Canada/ University of Nigeria, Nsukka in collaboration with Enugu State Ministry of Water Resources.
The workshop attracted major stakeholders in water resources management from the South East geopolitical zone and beyond.
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