Water and climate change: The role of Polytank in Ghana

World Water Day is here, and the world will once again focus its attention on the importance of water in safeguarding human security and maintaining the health of our eco-systems.

Policy makers and experts in water, sanitation and climate change will gather at the various national, regional and global levels to observe this year’s World Water Day under the theme: “Water and Climate Change.” This year’s theme will explore the relationship between water and climate change and how each affects the other in the world.

Globally, it is estimated that more than 700 million people do not have access to basic drinking water service; with the majority of people in Sub-Saharan Africa mostly affected. In Ghana, statistics indicate that there is a lot of inequality in the water distribution system with some segments of the public still deprived of sustainable access to water.

According to officials of the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) people in urban areas are 98 percent likely to have access to safe water as compared to 50 percent of those in the Northern Region.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 6 mandates all countries to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all its citizens. For Ghana to achieve its SDG6, there is the need for stakeholders to help address and bridge the gap of unequal water distribution in order to ensure that Ghanaians everywhere have access to sustainable water.

Water storage can be one of the key solutions to help ensure that every Ghanaian has access to constant clean water supply. Having water in store will help to avert some socio-economic challenges that arise during water crises.

Polytank’s Role

Polytank is a trailblazer and the leader in the production of plastic water storage tanks and packaging products in Ghana. For over 25 years, Polytank has demonstrated its leadership as a change marker in water solutions not only in Ghana but in the West African sub region.

Established in 1992, Polytank was the panacea to Ghana’s water shortage crises and has since become the trusted name among households when it comes to regular water storage and supply for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes in the country. With tanks that have storage capacity between 200 to 30,000 litres, Polytank has provided water storage solutions that suit every Ghanaian.

Expanding access to sustainable clean water supply

Improvement in access to potable water supply in Ghana is the cardinal principle around which Polytank’s operations have revolved. Our brand has been committed to ensuring that clean water is brought to the doorstep of every Ghanaian irrespective of their location. We have ensured this by building a very wide, strong and timely channel of distribution over the years.

Currently, Polytank is the only water storage brand that has over two hundred sales outlets across the country, making sure that its products are readily available even in the farthest district of the country. Building a very strong dealership network has helped to improve access to water in both urban and rural communities in Ghana. This is because consumers do not need to travel long distances to purchase storage tanks which can sometimes discourage them. This has also gone a long-way to help reduce preventable water and sanitation-related diseases in the country.

Nearly seven to eight out of 10 households have a Polytank for water storage. Per the assumption above, Polytank’s commitment of helping Ghanaians to have access to clean and sustainable water supply is being achieved on a daily basis in homes, businesses and the community at large.

Investments in infrastructural developments

Another area Polytank is helping to improve access to water in Ghana is the introduction of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies that helps to produce water storage products that are affordable and suits the pockets of all classes of the economy.

As an industrial leader, Polytank was the first to introduce the Blow Moulding Technology for producing water storage tanks in Ghana in 2016. This technology helps to save costs on labour and energy to the benefit of the consumer. By so doing, Polytank has been able to produce water tanks that are less expensive and meet the needs of the Ghanaian who is in need of clean water.

Apart from skills and technology transfer, Polytank has also expanded its operations by building a factory in the Ashanti Region to bring its products closer to consumers in the Middle and Northern belt of the country without delays or shortages.

Corporate Responsibility

As a socially responsible brand, Polytank prides itself in improving access to potable water to marginalized groups and institutions through its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.

Being the lead producer of durable water storage tanks in Ghana, Polytank believes that access to clean water for all humans is a right. The role of clean water in ensuring good health, proper sanitation and improved livelihoods is a daily reality.

Annually Polytanks spends more than a GH¢100,000 in tank donations to government and educational institutions, international NGOs, rural communities among others.

Beneficiaries of our benevolence have included the Ghana Prisons Service, the Ghana Fire Service, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation and the Wesley Girls Senior High School.

Others are the Kwahu Hwidiem, Dampong and Asuboa communities in the Eastern and Ashanti Regions as well as the Operation Smile Medical Missions in Ghana. More than 10,000 Ghanaians have so far benefited from Polytank’s policy of helping improve access to water.

Protecting the Environment

Polytank believes that its activities have a huge and lasting impact on the health of the environment. Apart from implementing good manufacturing practices that reduce energy consumption and minimize waste, Polytank is also helping to prevent environmental pollution.

Plastic pollution in lakes and rivers has become a common phenomenon because of uncontrolled dumping of plastics into fresh water. In order to help reduce plastic waste in the environment, Polytank, through the Mohinani Group’s Waste Management and Recycling initiative (Corporate Social Responsibility) is helping to prevent plastic littering through recycling for school children. The brand believes that children are the future and it is imperative that they get involved in shaping their own future.

The beneficiary school children are educated to become eco heroes or ambassadors for a cleaner, healthier and greener environment. Through various environmental seminars the pupils are given orientation on waste collection and segregation by providing them with dustbins. The schools with the huge amount waste are rewarded after a period of three months.

Since its inception four years ago, over 20,000 school pupils in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions have participated in the programme with about 30 tonnes of recyclables (plastics and papers) collected in their various schools and communities. The Group has also invested more than 20,000 US dollars in the initiative since its inception.

As the world celebrates World Water Day today, it is the responsibility of all stakeholders in the water sector to double their efforts in removing obstacles that hinder access to sustainable water and its management for all Ghanaians in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 6.

There is also the need for a sustainable and customized approach that can be easily be adopted and implemented by manufacturers to help protect our fresh water resources from human pollution especially plastics. Polytank is committed to this and is showing the way.