GWCL restores water supply to eastern Accra, Tema

Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has started treatment and pumping of water from the Kpong Treatment Plant to the Tema Booster Station after repair works were completed on some weaker portions of the transmission pipeline.

The supply of treated water started in the late hours of Thursday, January 11, 2024.

The Kpong Treatment Plant was shut down last Wednesday for the two-day repair works on the 42-inch and 21-inch transmission pipeline, affecting the supply of water to the eastern part of Accra and Tema to about two million people.

A similar shutdown and repair works of the Kpong Treatment Plant was done in September last year, interrupting water supply.

Repair works

The Chief Manager in Charge of Public Relations and Communications of the GWCL, Stanley Martey, told the Daily Graphic that water supply was yet to improve since the transmission pipelines had dried up over the period.

“We are hoping that the system should be able to stabilise today,” he said during yesterday’s interview.

He urged customers who were still experiencing intermittent flow of water to report to the company’s district offices or use the GWL customer app for complaints.

Other works

Mr Martey said the shutdown of the treatment plant afforded the company the opportunity to work on three other areas.

Those, he said, involved removing aquatic weeds which were sometimes stuck in the transmission pipelines, undertaking maintenance works on the treatment plant, and replacing some valves at the Dodowa Booster Station.

He mentioned that aquatic weeds were growing at a fast rate due to increased aquaculture on the Volta Lake, which had enriched the soil.

“The spillage of the Akosombo Dam washed most of the weeds to where the company extracts water from.

“As a result, we were not able to get enough water for treatment, and that is why in the last few days there was not much water in the system,” he said.

Mr Martey said it became crucial to shut down on January 10 and 11 to enable divers to manually remove the weeds from the pipeline.

Dry season

In view of the dry season, the Communications Manager pointed out that the company faced challenges with extraction of water since some river bodies had dried up.

He said high temperatures also had an impact on the pipelines, resulting in more bursts which caused them to shut down.

“What this means is that people, particularly those living farther away from the source will find it difficult to get water,” he explained.

He, therefore, urged people to use water judiciously, store water, and stop using waterhoses for their lawns, cars and gardens.

He appealed to the public to pay their bills at their district offices and also use their GWL Customer App for easy payment of bills.

Meanwhile, Mr Martey cited the construction of some water supply projects in Keta, Sekondi-Takoradi, Wenchi, Sunyani, Damongo, Yendi and Tamale to improve the water situation and help the country to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal Six of the United Nations by 2030.

Background

In April 2021, the GWCL announced that the main 42-inch transmission pipeline was weak and broke down frequently, leading to loss of water and revenue.

The company stated that it was financing the works from its own resources, including engineers and expertise, adding that the pipelines were moulded and crafted at the GWCL workshop in Tema.