Water treatment plant for Teshie

Back (lead) April 10, 2008

Story: Charles Benoni Okine

A water desalination plant to transform sea water into potable water to augment water supply in Accra will be constructed at Teshie-Nungua by November this year.
The project, which will be implemented on a pilot scheme by a foreign company, Aqualyng Ghana Limited, under the supervision of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), will produce 4.4 million gallons of water a day.
The Chief Manager in charge of Public Relations at the GWCL, Mr Michael Agyemang, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the project would be on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis as part of efforts to find a lasting solution to the perennial water problem in Accra.
He said the site for the project was being prepared, adding that the technical details had already been reviewed by GWCL to suit the Ghanaian terrain.
The project comes at a time when the water situation in many parts of urban Accra has become challenging as a result of the phenomenal growth in the population.
“The project will serve areas that fall within the water supply end of the distribution network of both the Weija and Kpong treatment plants,” Mr Agyemang said.
Presently, water supply from the two plants is about 80 million gallons a day, as against demand for about 140 million gallons.
Mr Agyemang said the people of Teshie-Nungua and its environs, including La, had suffered a lot in the past because the water supplied from the two treatment plants did not get to them.
He said Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL), acting on behalf of the GWCL, had acquired water tankers that supplied water to the people in the area.
He said the AVRL had also mounted more than 20 water tanks at vantage points to supply water in those areas.
He pointed out the government, and for that matter the GWCL, had been concerned about the situation and was doing a lot to meet the challenges.
Mr Agyemang said other projects were underway in many parts of the country and expressed the hope that when they were completed, the current water crisis would abate.