Water Companies Misleading Public?

Roadside vendors call it "Pure Water" others call it mineral water. Some have named it natural mineral water while others prefer the name "bottled water". Some come in non-biodegradable sachets, while the upmarket brands are in bottles.

What ever it is called, or which ever way it is packaged, it is a well-patronised source of drinking water by Ghanaians because it is perceived as hygienic. Some of the producers even claim that their products come from spring or pure natural water sources.

However, the operations of the companies dealing in "mineral water" production point to the fact that these companies may be totally misleading the public and their claim that they use spring water for their products is a blatant falsehood.

Speaking to ADM at a one-day workshop for journalists on Water Rights and Policy, the Legal Advisor to the Water Resource Commission (WRC), Mr. Maxwell Opoku-Agyeman said the commission conducted a full scale investigation into the sources of water of the companies and the investigations revealed that "mineral water companies do not use spring water".

He said the commission's investigations revealed that the companies are using value added water, in other words potable water produced by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and are making huge sums of money out of it under the guise of using spring water.

Mr. Opoku-Agyeman told ADM that there was nothing the commission could do about the issue because it does not fall under the WRC's purview.

The WRC Act mandates companies to obtain permits from the WRC before they can abstract or divert natural water.

This is an issue for the Ghana Consumers Association (GCA), the Foods and Drugs Board (FDB) and the Advertisers Association of Ghana (AAG) to tackle.

A Social Economist with WRC, Mr. Benjamin Amponsah said water resources in the country are under threat because the volume of rainwater is reducing yearly due to bad human practices that affect the environment negatively.

He called for the appropriate use of water and an intensification of the education on judicious use of water. "We can even think of adding water education in the academic curriculum," he emphasised.

He said the WRC has come up with a Building Code, which is yet to go to the Ministry of Works and Housing and then to Cabinet for approval, which would require real estate developers to develop a rainwater harvesting mechanism for major constructions. He said this is aimed at reducing the burden on natural water resources.

Mr. Amponsah said a Groundwater Management and Drillers Licence is at its draft stage. When adopted, it would set standards for organisations, which are engaged in borehole drilling. He said the licence would mandate all bodies involved in bore hole drilling to register with the WRC and to provide information on the depth and location of the project to access its environmental effect.

He told ADM that even though the commission did not have anything to do with value added water business, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had its own guidelines.