Housing Ministry to address Ho water challenges

The government will construct a new water treatment plant at Kpeve in the Volta Region, as a long-term solution to mitigate the water crisis in the area, the Ho Municipality and surrounding areas, the Minister of Works,  Housing and Water Resources, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, has stated.

He said upon completion, the project would be able to pump 58,000 cubic metres of water per day (12.76 million gallons) for both domestic and commercial use.

Mr Adjei added that about 36 kilometres (km) of transmission pipeline as well as storage reservoirs, including 160km of distribution pipelines of varying sizes would also be constructed at an estimated cost of $149 million to increase water production to meet water demand for the area up to the year 2040.

The Housing Minister was answering questions on the water crisis in the region on the floor of Parliament in Accra last Monday.

The minister said that the Ghana Water Limited (GWL), through his outfit, was currently engaging some investors who had expressed interest in developing the project with funding from donor partners, among others.

Mr Adjei indicated that as a short-term mitigation strategy to address the challenge, one of the pumps had been repaired and reinstated, which had restored water supply to the affected areas.

He added that a standby pump was installed last month, with arrangement underway to get a second standby pump to be installed by the end of the month to ensure reliability in service.

“GWL has initiated procurement processes for three new pumps using its internally generated funds to replace the existing pumps by the end of June 2025,” Mr Adjei said.  

Background

Ho and its catchment areas have been experiencing water crisis towards the end of last year, and it has become very necessary for an immediate intervention to mitigate the challenge.

The areas in question currently receive water supply from the Kpeve Water Treatment Plant (WTP) which has an installed capacity of 18,000 cubic metres per day (four million gallons of water per day).

The WTP originally had three low-lift pumps installed in 1993, with one on duty and two on stand-by. One of the aged pump sets was replaced in 2016, after it became defective and was beyond repair.

However, on December 19 last year, the shaft of the pump on duty broke down and was immediately dispatched to the GWL Central Workshop for repairs.

In spite of the challenge, water production was sustained using the standby pumps in accordance with GWL’s operational procedure; and, in January this year, the standby pumps on duty also broke down which affected water supply to Ho and its surrounding communities.  

Population growth

Mr Adjei told Parliament that in addition to the operational challenges, the significant rise in population growth and rapid urbanisation had contributed to the widening of water supply (production)–demand (consumption) gap, leading to water rationing within the GWL supply areas in Ho and its surrounding communities.

Other areas

The minister also stressed that Spintex Road and its surroundings which received their supply from the Nungua Sea Water Desalination Plant and the Kpong Water Treatment Plant were also facing similar challenges.

Mr Adjei said the worst affected areas received water from the Seawater Desalination Plant operated by Befesa Desalination Development Ghana (BDDG).

“On February 21, 2025, the Operator of the Nungua Sea Water Desalination Plant informed GWL that due to a technical problem encountered with respect to the final delivery pumps at their treatment plant, the output of the Desalination Plant has been reduced to half the maximum capacity of the plant,” he explained.

The minister added that the current production was about 6.6 million gallons of water per day, which had affected Spintex and its surrounding areas.

Mr Adjei said the operator had currently procured spare parts to replace the defective parts of the pumps, and “is presently awaiting clearance by GRA Customs Division at Kotoka Airport to take delivery of these spare parts to enable the execution of the repair works. The repair works are expected to be completed within five days after clearance”.

He said other areas across the country, including, “Adabraka and Asylum Down; Barekese, Ohwim, Amanfrom; Adaklu; Ashaiman and Kpone; Bubuashie and Dansoman; Offinso and Cape Coast and Elmina” facing similar challenges in water supply would have the problem addressed soon.