Population Of Accra Outgrows Water Supply Capacity
The Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has indicated that the population of Accra, the Ghanaian capital, has outgrown the capacity of its fresh water supply.
During an interview on Ghana’s Citi Breakfast Show, Dr. Clifford Braimah highlighted the challenges GWCL faces in the constant supply of water to residents in the Greater Accra Region, saying: “Production of water supply to Accra is 150 million gallons per day, or 682,000 cubic meters per day.”
The excessive demand on the water supply has been felt by residents in various parts of Accra, including Adenta, Kasoa, Weija, and Apaapa in La, who have voiced concerns about the irregular supply. This situation, the residents claim, has adversely impacted their daily lives, forcing some to resort to purchasing water from tankers at exorbitant prices.
Dr. Braimah blamed the shortfall in water supply partly on outdated infrastructure, as well as an unplanned problem encountered at the Kpong and Weija Water Treatment Plants.
“The recent problem was an unplanned issue at Kpong [Treatment Plant] and that of Weija [Water Treatment Plant]. There are very old pumps that have been trying to manage, and they normally break down at Weija. At Kpong, after the flooding due to the Akosombo dam spillage, there was a weed blockage. Everything is normalised now, and the challenge has been resolved,” the GWCL Director said.
But Dr. Braimah also criticised tampering with the pipelines by some customers, lack of capital, and overpopulation as challenges the water company faces.
He said: “Together with the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), we should be able to move to the government and say that there must be some level of injection of capital. We will have to make a proper case that the gap will be closed. If they leave it to us, some people will not pay their tariffs, some will get people who will do illegal connections. Once they do the illegal connections, they don’t take into consideration our hydraulic system. These are the challenges we are faced with.”
The Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited re-affirmed that Accra’s population growth had outpaced the ability of the company to deliver sufficient water to the capital’s residents and that urgent investment was required to improve infrastructure and increase capacity.
At the time of writing, the population of Accra sits at approximately 2.721 million, a 63 per cent increase since 2000. The population of Ghana is currently 34.777 million and expected to rise to 52 million by 2050.
Submitted by Friends of Retha
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