By Musa Haruna
Sachet water, popularly called “pure water”, vendors in Enugu metropolis are making brisk business with the prevailing hot weather in the city, Daybreak reports.
Some of the vendors said in an interview with Daybreak in Enugu on Tuesday that cold pure water business had become very lucrative in the city.
They said that the business was booming with the increase in patronage due to the scorching heat.
They further said that the development had brought an increase in their profit at the end of each day’s sales.
Daybreak reports that the hawkers, comprising mainly school children and women, are always seen in every motor park, major streets, roads and mechanic workshops soliciting patronage.
Mrs Joy Onuh, a mother, who hawks at the ever-busy Old Park, Enugu, said that she had been making a lot of sales since the hot weather set in.
Onuh said that she was making between N1,800 and N2,000 sales daily at the park.
“I like the business now because I have been able to pay my child’s hospital bill and buy textbooks for her school.
“In fact, the business is profitable now,” she said, adding that she was making about N140 profit per bag of 20 sachets.
Miss Nkech Agu, a student, said that she went into the business because of its high demand in the city.
Agu said that the business helped her to foot her transport fare to school daily, adding that before the boom drops, she would have saved enough money to pay her school fee.
Another hawker at Agbani Road, Mrs Ukamaka Nwoye, said that she was selling an average of 70 bags per day, since the hot weather set in.
She said that a sachet sells for N10, while a bag of ordinary water goes for N60, adding that a bag of cold water sells for N90.
Some residents who spoke on the development said that the heat from the hot weather made demand for cold sachet water high.
A teacher, Mrs Hope Egwu, said that before the hot season, her family hardly finished a bag of sachet water daily.
She, however, said that with the heat, her family now consumed about two bags daily.
A carpenter, Mr Silas Umeh, said that he usually finished almost one bag of 20 sachets before the close of work daily to avoid dehydration due to the heat.
