Reduce activities polluting raw water sources for sustainable water use – GWCL
Mr John Eric Kwofie, the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Chief Manager of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has appealed to the public to reduce activities that polluted raw water sources.
The Regional Chief Manager said such sanitation activities impacted negatively on GWCL’s performance since the polluted water sources affected the Company’s operations.
He, therefore, urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to exercise their authorities, adding that individuals who engaged in such acts must also desist from that to ensure continuous availability of sustainable water sources for future generations to also benefit.
Mr Kwofie made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani as part of the Company’s commemoration of the 2023 World Water Day celebration, which was on the theme, “Accelerating Change to Solve Water and Sanitation Crises.”
He contended the Company had not done badly in its effort to supply water to its consumers and appealed to consumers to promptly pay their bills to enable the Company to raise adequate funds to develop its systems to increase coverage in the regions.
Mr Kwofie said, as of February 2023, consumers owed arrears of GH¢12,463,351, saying
GH¢9,599,033 was arrears owed by domestic users and GH¢2,864,318 by government agencies, institutions, and departments in the three regions.
He said the GWCL customer population stood at 29,543 in the three regions, saying the Sunyani Municipality, which had the most customers of 15,064 required 6 million gallons daily, but the current production was about 1.25 million gallons a day.
He said new projects had been initiated to expand production capacity to meet the demand of consumers for current and future needs.
He said work had commenced for the construction of a plant capacity of about 12.2 million gallons a day, saying, the project after its completion would address the shortfalls and give supply for the next 20 years and beyond.
Mr Kwofie indicated at Wenchi, a project with a capacity of about 2.8 million gallons a day had started with 20 per cent of the work done, assuring that by next year September 2024, work would have been completed for the people to enjoy portable water supply.
He said areas such as Berekum required extension works, while a project was earmarked to start in Techiman to ensure proper distribution systems in the area and develop new systems at Goaso through the Community Water and Sanitation Agency.
Madam Janet Atebiya, the Water Quality Manager for the three regions also said the quality of water produced by the GWCL could not be compromised because the Company complied with Ghana and the World Health Organisations standards.
She explained the water produced passed through treatment processes and tested at many stages of the treatment to ensure its safety for consumer usage.
As part of the commemoration, the GWCL planted 200 tree seedlings along the banks of the Tano river and its catchment areas, while a cleanup exercise was done at the Company’s production site and district offices across the three regions.
Source: GNA