There are some issues, or may I say hazards, which are season-controlled and tend to be perpetrated to such an alarming proportion as to precipitate a crisis situation. I recall the incidence of bush fires which become rampant from the period November to February each year leading to the destruction of food crops, valuable property and even loss of some precious human lives in some extreme cases.

Co-inciding with the dry season is the ritual of acute water scarcity in several parts of the country with dire consequences for the citizenry. This is often attributed to the low level of water in the Volta and Densu rivers resultant from the scarcity of rainfall in their catchments areas. Consequently, the in-take points for the Weija Dam and the Kpong Treatment Plant also fall accordingly to the chagrin of water distillation for the large and ever increasing urban population.

For the greater part of the month of February, residents of Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area (ATMA) experienced acute shortages of water which culminated in a wild rush for scarce supplies of the “no-substitute commodity” of water. There were unauthorized street demonstrations by some agitating communities in parts of Ashiaman and Tema to vent their fury at the situation which some sources alleged assumed a political undertone.

In the wake of the confusion, the Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hon. Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, appeared at the meet – the – press series to respond to questions from the media on the water situation nation-wide with particular emphasis on the Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area (ATMA).

The Minister admitted an average shortfall of about 9 million gallons of water per day from a total demand of 85 million and supply of 76 million gallons per day from both the Weija and Kpong Treatment Plants providing treated water for residents of Accra West and East respectively.

The general contention, however, is that demand is over 150 million gallons per day which declares a deficit of nearly 74 million gallons of water even in the best of times.

The situation, the Minister explained, has been contained over the years by the adoption of a “rationing system” which alternates “reasonable” supply of water to residents at various areas to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of water.

Residents have compromised with this programming until the advent of the dry season when demand soared and virtually disrupted this arrangement.

Briefing the media on the immediate cause of the acute water shortage that hit ATMA, Hon. Alhaji Saddique Boniface intimated that between February 26 and March 1, a series of unforeseen circumstances befell the Kpong and Weija Treatment Plants which precipitated the crisis.

During the period, the Kpong transmission line was shut down for 18 hours to give way for maintenance and repair of a serious leakage, suffered low voltage and subsequent power interruption. The Weija Plant was also shut down for hours due to power interruption. These woes were aggravated by a major burst on Independence Avenue in the heart of the city of Accra.

The Minister lamented that “the combined effect of the unforeseen power outages at the two plants, Weija and Kpong, conspired to aggravate an already uncomfortable water supply situation in Accra”. However, he expressed the contention that the situation has stabilized and production normalized as at the media encounter on Tuesday March 11, 2008.

Improving Water Supplies to Accra:
The Minister has proposed short, medium and long-term measures to resolve the water problem throughout the country especially, the Accra-Tema Metropolis. The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has drilled a number of boreholes for mechanization and other high yielding boreholes at various densely populated areas in Accra to boost supply. In vulnerable areas, steps are under way to install jumbo water containers in areas to be served by tankers. Alhaji Boniface hinted an additional 15 million gallons per day Water Treatment Plant currently in progress at Weija. He added that this project is part of the Accra-East-West Interconnection Project to transfer water from Weija to parts of Accra-East through the Oponglo Reservoir.

Power supply cannot be underplayed in the assurance of availability and continuity in water supply. In this regard, the Ghana Water Company Limited is in touch with the Electricity Company of Ghana for dedicated power links to especially the Weija and Kpong Water Treatment Plants as well as to the Accra and Tema Booster Stations to curb power interruptions at these facilities.

The development of Megawatersheds in parts of Accra is another major long-term project to resolve the water problem. This involves deep drilling to tap water from beneath the earth. This is projected to inject about 20 million gallons daily into the Accra water system.

Referring to the recently launched National Water Policy, the Hon. Minister Alhaji Abubakar Boniface intimated that it provides the framework for the sustainable management of the nation’s water resources to give assurance of availability of potable water as well as other beneficial uses such as agriculture, fisheries, hydro-generation and to sustain biodiversity and the environment, among other viable sectors.

Media Interaction:
Media practitioners were, as usual, on their feet with probing questions concentrating on the five year contract of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited- a Dutch South African Company- contracted to operate the existing infrastructure for urban water services, maintenance of quality, billing and revenue collection on behalf of the Ghana Water Company Limited, illegal tapping of water, loss of water in transmission, pilfering of water treatment chemicals, harvesting of water at the Volta estuary, increased investments in the water sector; mechanisms for detecting burst pipelines, collution with revenue collectors, etc. among others.

A journalist opined that Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) is inefficient unless Ghana Water Company Limited expands supplies and that the contract involved five percent reduction in water loss which could be re-directed to reservoir as well as an advocacy for the abrogation of the contract.

In response, the Hon. Alhaji Boniface proposed time to be given the AVRL to execute their contract to expectation. He believed in the adoption of medium to long-term measures to resolve the problems of acute water shortages in the Accra-Tema Metropolis. He called on the media to examine the AVRL contract and assess viability for future uncertainties. On the other hand, the Minister speculated a mid-term review of the contract, if possible, as a way forward. The Minister also intimated that illegal tapping of water accounts for a loss of five millions gallons per day. He blamed the illegal dealers in water supplies as those responsible for blocking pressure needed for the water to flow.

In another reaction, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hon. Cecilia Abena Daapah, expressed the candid opinion that Ghana water is one of the purest by World Health Organization (WHO) standards. She advised the general public to desist from tampering with the pipelines, putting chemicals in the water to achieve various nefarious motives as well as put a stop to polluting the water bodies. Hon. Abena Daapah endorsed the move for increased investments in the water sector and regular maintenance of treatment plants to put the system right. She also advocated the provision of stand-bye generators at the treatment plants to forestall the frequent power interruptions.

On the question of pilfering of chemicals at the water treatment plants culminating on improper distillation of water before transmission, the Managing Director of the GWCL, Mr. Korby Kesseh, responded that the Kpong Treatment Plant is to be rehabilitated and expanded. He lauded the water quality as very pure, good and very soft requiring less chemicals for complete and thorough treatment.

There were contentions on the floor that GWCL water inspectors/revenue collectors connive with retailers and other consumers to dupe the state.

The Managing Director of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, Mr. Andrews Barber, also rose to respond to issues thrown to the court of his organization. He informed the curious press that AVRL would, in six months time, come out with data to provide benchmarks for the operations of the GWCL and that there has been an unprecedented increase in the review teams in the long history of the GWCL.

He also noted that AVRL research indicated that some 15,000 properties in Accra-West do not have the mechanism to pay for water usage owing to illegal connections. While calling on media practitioners to disabuse their minds from any suspicion of privatization, the AVRL Managing Director advocated a systematic institutional strengthening of the operational capacity of the Ghana Water Company Limited to meet expectations.

Way Foreward:
Water is one of the essential facilities needed for life sustenance. There is no substitute for water. The provision of potable water for large populations is a capital-intensive venture requiring huge long-term investments. This calls for sourcing loans from international financial institutions and bilateral donors. Population of the urban centres and associated communities are increasing systematically while the supply of water has increased about 1.5 percent over the years. There have been calls for documentaries and other advertisements on the wise use of water on our electronic media networks. There is, therefore, a need for awareness creation on the use of water to sustain livelihoods.

Water is an agent of sanitation. The diverse domestic uses coupled with its application in institutional latrines in the three northern regions attest to the indispensability of water for life sustenance.

The introduction of mechanized boreholes and the adoption of measures to harvest rainwater are prudent measures to lift the image of the Ghana Water Company Limited.

There is also the urgent need for co-operation between the Ghana Water Company Limited and Aqua Vitens Rand Limited to facilitate water delivery services. The Electricity Company of Ghana should also be drawn into the scene to bid farewell to power outages at the water treatment plants.