Aqua Vitens bemoan indiscriminate sinking of boreholes in Wa

WA, Feb. 21, GNA - Aqua Vitens Rand Limited at Wa in the Upper West region, has expressed concern about the indiscriminate constructions of boreholes by individuals in the Wa Municipality without technical advice. The company said if this was not checked it could one day create health problems for people, who consume water from such boreholes. This issue came up at a news briefing at Wa on Friday during, which Aqua Vitens company officials threw light on the rationing of water in Wa town as a result of the low level of underground water during the dry season.

They observed that some of the boreholes were constructed close to cemeteries and public places of convenience and urged the Wa Municipal Assembly and the Environmental Protection Agency to check this problem. Speaking on the water situation in the town, Mr Ahmed Tahiru Sulemana, Regional Operations Manager of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited said rationing of water in the town begun at the beginning of February this year. He said only 16 mechanized boreholes were currently pumping ground water daily for the consumption of its 1,890 customers in the town. Mr Sulemana said the rationing would continue until May this year when the rains are expected to begin.

The Municipality, he stated, was e xpanding very fast and the company currently provide water to only about 32 per cent of the population of Wa. The rest of the population, he noted, got their water from privately constructed boreholes and other sources. "However, the safety of these private boreholes cannot be guaranteed as some of them are very shallow as no technical advice was sought before sinking them and their water is not chemically treated before consumption," Mr Sulemana explained.

He added that until the Municipality was supplied with a surface water reservoir and its treatment plant, the current situation of rationing water would remain.

Mr Sulemana also told customers to bear with them whenever there was power outage because the company used three-phased capacity machines to pump water in the Municipality which required electricity. "When any of these phases goes off due to power outage the machines cease pumping water and the longer this happens the water cannot flow", he explained.