Most sachet water contaminated

Sunyani, (B/A) March 27, GNA- Mr. Yaw Addae-Mensah, Brong Ahafo Regional Chief Manager of the Ghana Water Company Limited has revealed that most of the sachets water being produced in the region are highly contaminated according to laboratory examination carried out by the company sometime ago.

Disclosing this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, Mr. Addae-Mensah noted that although some of the water itself might be contaminated, its processing, the equipment used and the environment where the water is produced could negatively affect its potability. He said some of the water is bagged directly from hand-dug wells which, is not treated with residual disinfectant, a process carried out to get rid of bacteria in water, adding that most of the producers are not even aware of such processes.

The Chief Manager said, although his company at first hand checks on the water to be produced on request by a producer to determine its potability, the Ghana Food and Drugs Board (GFDB) has the sole responsibility to issue certificate, inspect the environment where the water is being produced, the equipment being used and the process involved, which, he said are necessary for the production of safe water. Mr. Addae-Mensah therefore suggested the periodic inspection of areas where these sachets water is produced and constant laboratory test by officials of GFDB to determine its safety for consumption. He, on the other hand described water treated and distributed by his company as highly safe for consumption and meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) requirement, adding that apart from disinfecting the water at the head-quarters to eliminate bacteria, residual disinfectant is also added to the treated water to prevent post contamination during distribution.

Mr. Addae-Mensah added that after distribution, samples are also collected from different areas of distributions points to conduct further test to see whether it has enough residual disinfectant. He assured residents that his company carries out hourly checks on the treated water being distributed to determine its safety and appealed to consumers to use water wisely because it is treated at a great cost. The Chief Manager added that his outfit will soon add hand-outs on how to manage water to consumer bills to sensitize them on how to manage water because water is finite.