Takoradi, Dec. 30, GNA— Residents in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis and adjourning Districts and Municipalities have asked the Ghana Water Company (GWCL) to come out with a water rationing schedule to guide their activities.
The residents said the timetable would enable them to know when to expect water and prepare adequately to store enough for the next rationing day.
The Metropolis has been experiencing an erratic water supply for some time now, compelling the GWCL to begin rationing to meet the increasing demand.
Some of the residents, who spoke with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said it could take about two weeks or even a month for them to see water flow through their taps just for a short period.
According to them, they now rely on well water, which could only be used for limited activities such as washing and bathing and could not be used for either drinking or cooking.
When contacted, Nana Yaw Barima-Barnie, Western Regional Communication Manager of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), admitted the challenge in the Metropolis and urged customers to conserve water.
He asked residents not to waste treated water in washing vehicles but instead use borehole water.
He urged the public to desist from connecting pipe hoses to the taps to water lawns and wash vehicles, which in the process waste a lot of water and also add to their consumption, culminating in high bills.
He attributed the water shortage to the low level of water in the Inchaban Dam and the Daboase river, which are the main sources of raw water for the treatment plant due to the dry season.
“Usually during the dry season, the raw water source goes down because it does not rain and there is no fresh water into the river basin at Daboase, which is processed at the Dam site at Inchaban, so day-by-day the levels go down, hence the scarcity around this time of the year.”
When asked how long it would take to see water flowing through the taps, the Communication Manager said, “not until there is water in the river basin” and appealed to residents to remain calm as the company worked to provide and share the little water available to salvage the situation.
GNA