The Wattccon Sodium Hypochlorite Chemical Plant ongoing in Kaduna for treatment of water and waste products will be ready for commissioning in Kaduna in 2017, the plant’s Managing Director, Alhaji Aliyu Maigari Mamman, has said.
According to Aliyu Maigari Mamman, the 40,000 litres sodium hypochlorite per day capacity plant can treat all the water to be consumed in three Nigerian cities of Kaduna, Kano and Abuja in a day.
He said it would save Nigeria over $25 million from import substitution annually, while it will also produce 120,000 litres of household bleach daily for homes and industrial uses.
Addressing the American Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Stuart Syminton, who was on a visit to inspect the plant in Kaduna recently, the Wattccon Plant MD said that the plant would have been ready for production already if not for the delay they had in procuring foreign exchange to open their last line of credit to the American bank that guaranteed credit facility for the project which was put at about $9.5 million.
“The factory was conceived 10 years ago. It has reached about 95 per cent completion. We had four to five months delay in forex approval to open our last line of credit. The process will take three to four months to be ready. Once the approval is gotten in the next 60 days, we will commission the plant in March or latest April 2017.
“The plant was designed to replace importation of chlorine disinfectant chemical for treatment of water and waste water. The plant is also designed to produce 40,000 litres of sodium hypochlorite daily, enough to treat water for three to four cities in this country. We can also manufacture 120,000 litres of household bleach of which 10 per cent to 20 per cent would go to households.
“The plant will produce the form of chlorine needed to kill viruses and bacterials in water treatment. It uses one of the best environment friendly technologies the world over. The only other plant that uses the same technology in Africa is in South Africa. The product would help to provide clean water for over 180 million Nigerians and over 150 million other Africans.”
Explaining the essence of building and situating such a plant in Nigeria, Mamman said that Nigeria has been spending $25 million annually in importing the disinfectant from Europe and China despite the hazards of transporting such a volatile material, noting that once the plant commences operation, Nigeria will not need to waste such huge foreign exchange when what they need is here in Kaduna.
“We are barely able to meet about 10% to 15% of demands for water treatment chemicals especially sodium hypochlorite. We cannot be importing it because of the hazards and because we are a production minded company. So we decided to build the plant that would boost water treatment sector in the country by providing critical component of water treatment.”
The American Ambassador, who commended Wattccon for its innovation and thoughtfulness in partnering General Electric on the technology of the plant, said the plant would go a long way in boosting water production in Nigeria and cementing Nigerian-American partnership.
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