WaterMicronWord-Ghana faces water crisis within 20 years

ACCRA, Ghana - Nov. 20, 2017 - PRLog -- 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.

Robert Rainman from WaterMicronWorld,Ltd said;

The solution is to extract water from a new source, one that is plentiful, renewable and accessible to most people around the world. WaterMicronWorld is committed to provide pure drinking water around the world to all those people that need it most and to provide critical emergency pure drinking water to first responders, relief agencies and government institutions.

"Every Drop Counts"

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