Story highlights Despite being surrounded by water, access to formal clean water is low in Lagos.

Akinbode Oluwafemi is the Deputy Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of The Earth Nigeria

Akinbode Oluwafemi is the Deputy Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of The Earth Nigeria, a Nigerian NGO that tackles environmental human rights issues in Nigeria. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

Lagos (CNN) Lagos is a city surrounded by water, yet there is none to drink.

Access to formal clean water is abysmally low, with the majority of Lagos residents relying on the informal sector comprised of wells, boreholes, rivers and rain water.

In 2016 daily demand in the state stood at 724 Million gallons while production was 317 million gallons , leaving a gap of 407 million gallons. Worse still, some of the water never reaches households due to perennial fracture from dilapidated transmission pipes and old trunk lines.

As water is essential to both physical and economic well-being the lack of it causes numerous problems.

In Lagos it is a major public health threat because of the interconnectedness of water access to sanitation and public health.