The Agordome Water Treatment Plant in the southern Volta Region has been temporarily closed by Ghana Water Limited (GWL) because of a decline in the plant’s raw water quality.
Over 700,000 residents of Sogakope, Sokpoe, Tefle, Dabala, Anloga, Keta, and the neighbouring areas are served by the facility.
“The turbidity has seriously disrupted our operations at the plant,” stated Emmanuel A. Johnson, GWC’s Volta Regional Chief Manager.
Mr. Johnson told the Daily Graphic in Ho that the problem usually happened during the rainy season and that the plant was not built to handle extremely muddy raw water.
Mr. Johnson stated that the plant was devoid of essential treatment elements like clarifiers, a sedimentation tank, and a coagulant dosing system.
He reported that as of October 15, the treated water’s turbidity was 29.4 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU), significantly higher than Ghana’s, while the raw water’s was 39.4 NTU.
5NTU is the Standards Authority’s regulation limit for drinkable water.
He added that the plant was shut down at 11:00 on October 15 due to the impaired water quality and would not be reopened until the raw water quality returned to acceptable levels.
The regional chief manager of GWL promised that the issue was being actively watched and that as soon as the plant’s water quality improved, normal delivery would resume.
According to him, there have been talks with authorities about using tankers to deliver water to vital facilities like hospitals and schools as a temporary fix.
“We do not want to go to that area now,” Mr. Johnson answered evasively when asked what other options would be available to water users if the scenario continued.
I don’t want to talk about that. Things will get better.
While touring some of the impacted towns, the Daily Graphic noticed that some people were using tricycles to transport water from home to home in Sogakope and the surrounding districts.
One of the health workers at Sogakope stated, “But it is the same dirty water they fetch from the river to sell to the households.”
Residents and politicians are urging long-term investments in water system upgrades, better maintenance, and other water sources in order to find a long-term solution to this persistent problem.
The factory is especially at risk during the rainy season, when the quality of the raw water drastically declines.
Source: newsthemegh.com