The Western Region Communications Manager of the Ghana Water Company Limited says it has become an annual ritual to ration water in the region at the beginning of every year.
“I believe residents of Sekondi-Takoradi are very much aware of this annual ritual that we undertake every year from December to the first quarter of the ensuing year where we have to ration water,” Nana Yaw Barima Barnie told 3news.com while announcing a water rationing programme for the metropolis.
He indicated that “whenever we enter the dry season the water level in our dam at Inchaban drastically reduces and once the water level has reduced it means your capacity to abstract more water for treatment also goes down. In simple terms, it means that when the level drops, the amount you produce automatically goes down. So, the only thing you can do under the circumstance is to ration water”.
Nana Barnie added that Ghana Water Company is facing the same challenge at the Daboase Treatment Plant.
“When you go to Daboase, there, there is no dam but just a river that we abstract. If you go there right now you will realize that there is also a significant drop in the water level. So there too our production capacity has reduced.”
He said the significant reduction in water levels at the two production points has made the rationing inevitable.
“Now if you don’t ration the water we currently produce, what is going to happen is that only those who live in low-lying areas will get water while those living far away will continuously be without water. So, because there is little to pass around, we ration so that there is a certain level of equity in the distribution of the water.”
Nana Barnie explained that the “water rationing for 2020 delayed. We actually started in the third week of January. This is because in 2019 we had some good rains. But normally we start in December into the first quarter of the following year”.
Current water production
Nana Yaw Barima Barnie revealed that the 6 million gallons of water a day treatment plant at Daboase is currently able to treat and produce 3.1 million gallons of water a day.
He added the 3.1 million figure will drop further since the river level at their intake point keeps dropping by the day.
For Inchaban, which is able to do 3 million gallons of water a day during the rainy season, it is currently producing 1.5 million gallons of water a day.
When is rationing ending?
Nana Yaw Barima Barnie said his outfit cannot tell when the rationing will end.
“We are unable to give a date or period when the rationing is ending because we cannot tell when the rains will start coming. The rationing will continue as long as the water level in the dam at Inchaban and the river level at Daboase reduces.
“But once the rains start and the water levels at the two production points increase then our capacity will go up and so we can produce more and thereby end the rationing.”
By Eric Yaw Adjei|3news.com|Ghana