Residents in several parts of the Greater Accra Region will continue to experience irregular water supply due to production and distribution challenges, the Ghana Water Limited (GWL) has announced.
According to the Communications Manager of GWL, Stanley Martey, the situation has been caused by the shutdown of the Teshie desalination plant and major leakages along key transmission pipelines serving the capital.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Mr Martey explained that legal and maintenance issues involving the owners of the Teshie desalination plant have kept the facility out of operation since October.
“We had an issue with the owners of the desalination plant in Teshie, which involves legal and maintenance matters that we are still working on,” he said.
He noted that the shutdown has disrupted water supply to Teshie, Nungua, Spintex and surrounding communities, forcing GWL to redistribute the limited water available to serve other parts of Greater Accra.
“The plant that supplies Teshie, Nungua, Spintex and adjoining communities is not operating, but we cannot stop supplying those areas,” he explained.
Mr Martey said the company has been compelled to ration water among several communities, leading to reduced supply in some areas.
“We have to find ways to supply Teshie, Nungua, Ashaiman, Gbetsile, Zenu, Kpone, Prampram, Katamanso and surrounding communities. The available water volumes have reduced,” he stated.
As a result, he disclosed that residents in Teshie and Nungua currently receive water only twice a week.
“Teshie and Nungua residents now receive water only two times a week because we have to share the available supply with other communities,” he said.
Mr Martey further revealed that inspections carried out on the transmission pipelines from Kpone to Tema uncovered extensive leakages, significantly reducing the amount of water reaching consumers.
According to him, although water is pumped through three major pipelines measuring 43, 24 and 21 inches, only between 40 and 60 per cent reaches the intended communities.
“We realised that only about 40 to 60 per cent of the water pumped from Kpone to Tema gets to consumers, which means many communities are not receiving enough water,” he said.
He explained that engineers identified several weak sections and vacuum leaks along the pipelines, many of which had remained undetected because they were located in bushy areas.
Mr Martey also alleged that some farmers had illegally punctured the pipelines to divert water for irrigation, further worsening water losses and affecting supply to consumers.
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