The Ghana Water Company Limited, (GWCL) has expressed worry over illegal mining activities, sand winning and pollution of river bodies as disturbing factors for producing quality and safe water.
According to GWCL, these activities cause high turbidity and increase treatment and production costs.
This came to light during a media briefing and exhibition programme organized on the theme, “Accounting to our Customers”.
GWCL also used the occasion to launch an Operational Guidance on “Safety Plant” for a roll-out in all GWCL operational regions.
Addressing the press, Ing. Dr Clliford Abdullah, the Managing Director for Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) hinted that, in the face of numerous challenges, the company have been able to achieve a lot.
Dr Abdullah mentioned that GWCL over the years has been a driving force in the water utility sector in Africa, and strives amidst a myriad of challenges through determination and a sense of purpose to fulfil its national mandate to the citizenry.
Among these challenges, he stated include Illegal mining activities, sand winning and pollution of river bodies causing high turbidity and increasing treatment and production costs.
Another challenge has to do with frequent power outages leading to disruption in water supply and damages to equipment and machinery at some water production centres.
Also, the vandalization of transmission pipelines and distribution mains by road contractors and road users resulted in pipe bursts and leakages.
Furthermore, he mentioned water thefts of all forms, giving examples of illegal connections & meter by-passes that contribute to unaccounted for water hence reducing sales and revenues.
He further talked about building on pipelines and the encroachment on utility reservations by some communities as additional challenges facing the company.
Ing. Dr Abdullah however said, in the face of the above challenges, the company have been able to achieve some accomplishments that need to be acknowledged.
“We have replaced and installed pumps of various types in most of our headworks to increase production to meet the demands of our customers.
Bulk and commercial meters are being replaced to enhance accurate reading and billing. We have achieved 99% compliance to the 6 key operational water quality parameters namely: pH, colour, alkalinity, turbidity, residual chlorine and bacteriological analysis”.
He disclosed that in other to meet the continuous demand for water and resonate with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)6 of ensuring water access for all by 2030, GWCL is expanding several water treatment plants and constructing new ones.
“GWCL is extending the distribution mains in all the regions to increase water supply,” he stated
GWCL has also introduced Asset inventory and leakage mapping systems (digitization of leakage reporting and management system) which will improve pipe replacement programmes, thereby reducing observed leakages/bursts within the various communities. It is worthy to note that 10,000km of the network has been mapped onto GIS.
In moving forward, Dr Abdullah revealed that GWCL would embark on continuous community engagements to sensitize its cherished customers on all issues about water.
“There will be a constant collaboration between the GWCL and other institutions and organizations such as the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to provide timely information to customers in the event of power cuts leading to interruptions in the water supply. Water Resources Commission (WRC) to discuss issues with water resources and all external stakeholders to enhance the existing rapport we have”.
GWCL has a staff strength of 5,280 nationwide and has enjoyed a peaceful working environment, devoid of industrial unrest from 2017 to date.
Currently, GWCL has over 860,000 customers constituting private and government customers.
Total water revenue for the year 2017 was GH¢887.1 million and increased to GH¢1.2 billion in 2021 representing a 36.3% rise over the 2017 figure.
The total collection for 2017 and 2021 were GH¢669.5 million and GH¢902.2 million respectively, representing 34.8% increase above the collections realized in 2017.
GWCL has also introduced the Customer App to enhance customer interactions.
