Commercial sand winners with heavy equipment have set camps in South Tongu, North Tongu and Central Tongu districts and are digging sand on the bed of the Volta River.
Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), which has a treatment plant in the area and the Environmental Protecting Agency (EPA), differ over the effects of the sand winning activities on the quality of water supplied to communities down south and the environment.
The GWCL’s water intake point at Agordome only filters water before pumping to the Keta Municipal Area and South Tongu because of the “good quality of water” in that part of the river, Mr Philip Boateng, Regional Production Manager, GWCL told the Ghana News Agency.
Mr Anthony Gagblezu-Alomatu, Acting Chief Manager, GWCL, Volta Region, said the choice had to be made between sustainable potable water supply on the one hand or money from winning sand in the river on the other hand.
He was leading a team of officials to assess the effects of the sand winning on the operations of the Company in the area on Wednesday.
But Togbe Aklaku Ahorney, Volta Regional Director of the EPA, told the GNA that winning sand in the river was a better option than doing so on agricultural land.
He said the EPA was processing permits for sand winning in the river.
Noise pollution and growth of water hyacinth are evident at the Battor sand winning site when the GNA visited there on Wednesday.
The surface of the River at the sand winning site is oily, suggesting the possibility of oil spillage.
A middle-aged woman told the GNA that due to the activities of sand winners, there were no fishes in that part of the River.
On Monday, the GWCL head works at Agordome was shut down for two days due to the turbidity of the River.
Mr Boateng said the turbidity of the River went up to 46 NTU instead of the recommended less than 05 for which reason the head works could not produce water for the two districts.
