We must end 48% water loss

About a week ago, the Managing Director of Ghana Water  Limited (GWL), Dr Clifford Braimah, disclosed that the GWL loses almost half (48 per cent) of the water it processes in all 90 urban water systems, translating into GH¢1.89 billion a year.

He said the losses were due to leakages along the distribution lines, some of which stretched as far as 50 kilometres, as a result of raptured or burst pipes.

He added that while most of the burst pipes were the ones reported by consumers when they occurred, there were also unseen leakages underground (background leaks) which could go on for years without detection, and thus serve as a drain on GWL’s revenue generation and also result in water not reaching a lot of people. 

This revelation at the launch of a Leakage Detection Field at the Ghana Water Institute at Weija in Accra is both startling and explains why most people in the country remain unserved when it comes to potable water from the pipes of GWL in spite of the investments that have been made over the years.

Water is life and it is a basic right to be enjoyed by all humans. Even flora, fauna and all other living organisms cannot do without water, no wonder it is the liquid of life.

Therefore, the moment water becomes so expensive that it cannot be afforded by people, it means we are playing with the life of such people. Sad to say though that we are inching closer to making potable water unaffordable to all.

Some city and peri-urban dwellers now have to rely heavily on tanker services for their water needs, even though they cannot vouch for the wholesomeness of the water supplied, while the price of bottled and sachet water have increased steadily over time, with producers citing high production cost as reason for the upward adjustment in prices.  

The country’s main water company, GWL, thus needs everyone’s support to make the liquid of life accessible to all throughout the year.

Apart from promptly reporting burst pipes in communities to the GWL, we urge everyonel to also report developers and home owners who illegally tap water from GWL lines or those who damage lines during construction, so we can save what is left of our water.

In spite of these challenges and other constraints, GWL still manages to supply water to a lot of residents and we doff our hat to the company, and laud its latest attempt at providing optimal services to consumers on account of the launch of the Leakage Detection Field. 

According to GWL, the Leakage Detection Field will ensure accurate measurement and help to identify areas within its networks where water loss occurs.

The Leak Detection Field at the GWL, a partnership between the governments of Ghana and Denmark (City of Aarhus), will serve as the training ground to equip relevant personnel of the utility company to identify the sound of leaks, geolocate them and fix them.

This is indeed good news, for as the GWL MD said, the detection field would reduce pressures in the network, enable the utility to get the much-needed funds to maintain and expand its water networks and also get Ghana closer to achieving Sustainable Development Goal Six.

The Daily Graphic cannot agree more with the assertion of the GWL MD, Dr Braimah, that “If we can reduce the loss of water, we can improve the water service to the ones that do not have regular water in the pipes. Low water loss also means reduced energy consumption for Ghana water.” 

Be that as it may, if we are to emulate the Danish utility, Aarhus Vand, which has been able to ensure water loss as low as 4.6 per cent in the city of Aarhus, then we must make optimum use of the Leakage Detection Field.

Our trained technicians and maintenance gangs must be quick to respond to leakages when they are identified in order to cut down losses.