As Ghana joined the international community
to mark World Water Day yesterday, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and
its stakeholders have warned of a possible scarcity of potable water nationwide
in the near future if the pollution of water bodies is not addressed
Painting a
picture of a possible bleak future, the GWCL explained that although all the
treatment plants in Ghana drew raw water from the various water bodies, the
spate of water pollution was approaching alarming levels.
According to
the company, currently some of the water bodies had been polluted beyond
treatment and the GWCL feared that soon Ghana would not be able to produce
drinking water.
“Water crisis
looms,” it said.
It attributed
the development to human activities such as illegal mining (galamsey) and
improper agricultural activities along water bodies.
Other
contributory factors, it said, were pollution caused by crude oil dumping, the
discharge of untreated urban domestic waste and contamination of other
industrial processes.
Currently, the
country has achieved 77 per cent potable water coverage, meaning that 77
people out of every 100 sampled have access to potable water, but it has been
warned that soon many more people will lose access to potable water.
Wake-up call
In an
interview, the Head of Communications of the GWCL, Mr Stanley Martey, said the
recent water shortages in some parts of the country and the attendant stress
due to the long spell of dryness across the country should be a wake-up call to
all stakeholders.
The
government is doing its bit by investing in and facilitating donor investment
in several water treatment plants, among other projects, to ensure the
provision of potable water for all by 2025, he said.
In spite of the
interventions, he said, the GWCL and its stakeholders feared that the national
vision to make water available to all by 2025 would face challenges due to the
effects of human activities on water bodies which were the main sources of
fresh water for the local treatment plants.
He said the
water situation was becoming terrible and could lead to a very serious crisis
if conscious efforts were not made by all stakeholders, including members of
the public, immediately to forestall any calamity.
For instance,
he explained, previously at Daboase, the company was using 30 bags of alum to
produce 6mgd but now the 3.5mgd used 75 bags of alum.
Mr Martey said
the GWCL was facing a similar problem with the Weija treatment plant as a
result of human activities, including fishing, farming, washing and cattle
rearing along the banks of the dam.
At a ceremony
to mark the day in Ghana, the Director of the Water Research Institute (WRI),
Dr Osman Ansah-Asare, said waste water disposal had a significant impact on
the quality and cost of drinking water produced, as well as its availability.
Making a
contribution, the UN Resident Coordinator in Ghana, Ms Christine Evans-Klock,
said in Ghana three out of every five people drank water contaminated by
faeces, risking diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera.
Diarrhoea causes
the death of over 3,600 children in Ghana every year and cholera outbreaks
occur too frequently in our cities, she said.
The Central
Regional Production Manager of the GWCL, Mr John Eric Kwofie, who made the call
at the regional celebration of World Water Day at the Baifikrom Headworks in
Mankessim, called on the commission to speed up the implementation of the
buffer zone policy to check all illegal activities along the country's water
bodies.
Mr Kwoffie said
the myriad of problems facing the company included farming along water bodies,
discharge of waste into water bodies and illegal mining.
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