Residents of Western Region to battle with water rationing till April - GWCL hints

Customers of the Ghana Water Company in most parts of the Western Region must brace up for a further extension of the ongoing water rationing.

For decades, the region experiences acute water shortage during the dry season which drastically affects daily water production.

Averagely the company produces about 4.5 million gallons of water a day during peak seasons but is now producing as low as 2.3 million gallons per day which fall short of meeting the demand of consumers in the region.

To improve production, however, the company has begun dredging its raw water intake point at Daboase to draw more raw water for treatment and onward distribution.

Speaking to the media after a tour to Daboase Intake Point the capital town of Wassa East District on Wednesday, January 5, 2020, the Western Regional Production Manager, Eng. Vincent Opoku Ware Donkor attributed the situation to the activities of galamsey in the area and the dry season as a natural factor.

He disclosed that they had bought an excavator to dredge some water bodies in the area so that could get a free flow of water to be supplied to their customers.

He said the capacity for their plant at Daboase was 27,000 cubic metres and said it supposed to produce 22,000 gallons daily.

He added that the demand for water in the Western Region has dropped drastically and had forced the company to increase the price for water per gallon.

He, therefore, was optimistic that they would be able to achieve their target from April going when the rainy season started.

This notwithstanding, the company says it is producing water at a high cost due to high turbidity owing to the activities of illegal mining on the Prah river.

The level of water at the intake point averagely is at 4.59 meters but sadly this has dropped to 1 meter which means the company has 3.59 meters level of water.