Teshie desalinated water healthy; I drink it, too – Martey

The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has refuted claims that the quality of water pumped into homes from the Teshie-Nungua Desalination Water Project, is bad.

“We have parameters; we have standards for drinking water. There is the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard and that of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA). There is supposed to be a range of parameters, so, if all the parameters fall within that range then it is safe for consumption. If it goes beyond or below the range then the water cannot be pumped into the system at all,” the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of GWCL, Mr Stanley Martey, said on Wednesday, 19 September 2018, adding that as a resident of Teshie himself, he drinks that same water.

Mr Martey, who was a guest on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show, told host, Moro Awudu, that the standard for “GSA is far higher that the WHO and we are able to meet that of the Ghana Standards Authority”.

He explained that: “The water quality [from the Teshie-Nungua Desalination Water Project] is checked on an hourly basis, and we have data to that effect; there is no way we will pump water into the system that has gone beyond the standards”.

Some residents of Teshie-Nungua, a suburb of Accra, have made several appeals to the government to improve the quality of water pumped into their homes from the Desalination Water Project.

They say the water is too salty for consumption, a departure from the potable water they expected from the plant.

The Teshie-Nungua Desalination Water Project was inaugurated in 2015 to convert seawater into potable water for the residents of Teshie-Nungua and surrounding towns.

But inhabitants of the area say the saltiness of the water makes it useless for domestic and commercial purposes.

Some persons living within Teshie have complained of diarrhoea after drinking the final product, while others have said they experienced itchiness after every shower.

Some people also complained that the water was too hard for washing, thus, compelling them to spend more buying water than previously.

The residents have, therefore, called on the government, particularly the president, to come to their aid and supply them with the necessary resources, so, they can have access to potable water.

However, Mr Martey insists the water “is within the level that you can consume without any health hazards”.