GWCL starts water rationing across the country

The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has begun rationing water in most parts of the country as a result of the dry season, environmental degradation and pollution of water bodies by illegal miners.

Those activities, the company said, had derailed its efforts at extracting enough water for treatment, accounting for the inadequate supply of water to consumers.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra last Friday, the Head of Communications at the GWCL, Mr Stanley Martey, said with the exception of the Eastern and the Ashanti regions, all the regions had been affected by the rationing, with the Western Region being the worst affected.

“We are only able to utilise about 40 per cent of the capacity of the treatment plant in the Western Region because the water level in the River Pra, one of the sources of water supply, is very low,” he said.

Other parts

In the case of the Northern Region, Mr Martey said, the Nawuni and the Yendi rivers were almost drying up, hence the inability of the GWCL to extract enough water for production, adding: “We are also rationing water in the Tamale metropolis.”

“In Wa, the Black Volta is heavily polluted and the water levels are also low. However, we are not rationing in Wa, since the population is not too big and the treatment plant is able to supply enough to serve the population,” he added.

On the situation in the Brong Ahafo Region, he explained that the level of water in the Tano River had also gone down, affecting the supply of water in the Sunyani municipality.

“The Central and the Greater Accra regions are not seriously affected, as we are managing the situation. For instance,  water is only rationed in Tema, Teshie and Nungua, a situation resulting from the shutdown of the treatment plant supplying water to those areas,” he said.

Advice

Mr Martey debunked suggestions by a section of the public that the water crisis in parts of the country was the result of the malfunctioning of some treatment plants of the GWCL.

Rather, he emphasised that the situation was due to the heavily polluted river bodies from which the company extracted water  for treatment.

“That is the reason we advise that we manage our water resources and avoid the indiscriminate use of water to help manage the situation before the next rains,” he said.

He also urged the public to help the company resolve the situation by “shutting all taps when not in use, cease indiscriminate watering of lawns with treated water, moderate the use of treated water for car washing and repair all leakages in homes”.

Statement

In a statement issued, the GWCL advised the public to report immediately all burst pipes and leakages to the nearest GWCL district offices, customer service centres, fault offices and via the GWCL customer application.

“Report all persons engaged in illegal connections, by-passes and all malpractices against GWCL,” it said.

It assured the public that it was doing its utmost best to solve the water situation in the country and advised the public to pay their bills promptly.