Nana Yaw Barima-Barnie, Western Regional Communication Manager of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has urged residents in the Sekondi-Takoradi and its environs to store more water to be used for at least three days during this period of the dry season.
He also urged the residents to do well to conserve water, and not to waste water in the process of washing vehicles and if possible use borehole water sources to save treated water.
He further 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.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, Nana Barimah-Barnie said water has now become a scarce commodity in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis and for that matter, people should use it judiciously.
He explained that the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis (STMA) and the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipality (EKMA) of the Western Region for the past one month have been experiencing acute water shortage, hence the caution.
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 to 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 tirelessly to provide and share the little water available to salvage the situation.
Meanwhile, some of the residents who spoke to the GNA said it can take about two weeks or even a month before the tap will flow which was just for a short period of time.
According to them, the only source of water for them at the moment was well water which can only be used for limited activities such as chores, washing and bathing and cannot be used for either drinking or cooking which was a big problem for them now.
However, they pleaded with the Ghana Water Company to at least come out with a schedule so as to enable them to know when to expect the water and prepare adequately to store enough for the next available time.
