New pumps to resolve western Accra water challenge — GWCL

The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has indicated that water supply to the western part of Accra will return to the normal  state by the end of October.

 This follows the company's procurement of four new pumps and four new motors for the Weija Water Treatment Plant.

Speaking to the media last Thursday,  a board member of GWCL, Dr Hadisu Alhassan, mentioned that residents of Achimota, Tesano, Dansoman, Kaneshie, Korle Bu, Kasoa, Weija and Accra Central would no longer experience water rationing after the new pumps and motors had been installed by the end of October.

“The installation of the new equipment is expected to end the water rationing in the affected areas. This will ensure that water supply to the western part of Accra returns to normal levels by the end of October," he said.

Cause

Dr Alhassan further revealed that the water shortage was caused by the breakdown of one of the pumps at the Weija Water Treatment Plant. He explained that this resulted in a shortfall of approximately four million gallons of water per day, representing a 20 per cent shortage in normal water supply.

He also mentioned that the station was currently operating with three pumps, with one on standby. With one pump down, the remaining two pumps are forced to operate at full capacity to meet demand.

"The current pumps were installed in 2002. Now they've got to a stage that we need to replace them," he added. 

Funding

Dr Alhassan revealed that the company had used internally generated funds to procure the four pumps, the four motors and other components.

 "We are committed to ensuring that our customers have access to clean and safe water, and we will continue to invest in our infrastructure to meet their needs," he indicated.

He then urged customers to pay their water bills promptly to help the company maintain its infrastructure and provide reliable water supply.

"We rely on our customers to pay their bills on time. This is because, the revenue we generate is used to improve our services, maintenance and ensuring that we can continue to meet the growing demand for water," he indicated.

Maintenance

The Chief Manager of the Accra Tema Metropolitan Assembly (ATMA) production, Charles Tulashie, gave an assurance of proper maintenance of the new equipment upon installation to ensure maximum utilisation and benefit.

" We are using this opportunity to assure our customers that our maintenance team will do a solid work after the installation of the new pumps to ensure that the supply situation is normalised by the end of October," he said.