Communications director at the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Stanley Martey, has assured Ghanaians that his outfit is committed to producing safe and potable water for consumption.
According to him, the Company has subscribed to the international water safety plant which offers risk assessment and due to this, it’s expected of his outift to manage water efficiently from “abstraction stage” to the final consumer. He further revealed that the Public Utility Regulatory Commission has also given GWCL the same standards which they are supposed to work by to ensure saftey of water.
Mr Martey stated that with all these in place, the GWCL is expected to ensure that water at any stage before consumption is safe and that is exactly what its agenda is.
“So, we do all these things and want to assure the general public and Ghanaians as a whole that water that flows through our pipelines meets the best standards. So, apart from the water safety plants that takes care of the water from our abstraction stage to the consumers, we also use the World Health Organization standard and that of the Ghana Standards Authority’s standard for drinking water.
“Now, we as a company also have a target when it comes to quality and our targets are higher than the standards of Ghana Standards Authority and that of the WHO. So, you have all the assurance that the water that flows through our pipelines meet the best of standards, and you can consume without any challenge.”
Stanley Martey
Highlighting on the processes involved in ensuring wholesome water, Mr Martey explained that the Company tests the water at every stage to ensure that there’s no contamination and anomaly in terms of the analysis of the water. He noted that the staff, checks the raw water on hourly basis and subsequently tests to ensure its “parameters” are okay and wouldn’t hamper the treatment process.
Additionally, he indicated that the GWCL has recorders which keeps track of data of the hourly testing of water treatment within communities, even as it engages in post-chlorination.
“So, our water quality assurance department drives through our community on daily basis, samples water, do the analysis to ascertain whether the water still meets the quality that we expect. We do post-chlorination as well to take care of some contaminants that may have seeped through the line into our homes. Then, when the water gets into our homes, the onus now lies on we the consumers to manage the water very well in terms of storage, so that at least the water will be safe.”
Stanley Martey
GWCL to collaborate with stakeholders to ensure distribution of potable water
Commenting on the collaboration with communities to ensure potable water is evenly distributed, especially to underserved areas, the communications manager of GWCL revealed that his outfit is working round the clock to ensure all these areas are served. He explained that in some communities, the company is selling bulk water to residents with the help of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency.
Mr Martey explained that this is to aid in the distribution of water specifically to areas that fall under rural categorization. He noted that this is done so that the Agency in turn can distribute the water to the communities and then collect the necessary revenue.
“Our doors are always opened for any discussion at all concerning provision of water to the people of Ghana. I must say we are already in touch with most communities to see how best we can support each other, and the ultimate objective is for everybody to have access to water. So, we are doing a lot in that vein. So, there’s a lot going on and we are still exploring, all in the vein to meet the SDG goals by 2030 – that is access to water by all.”
Stanley Martey
Mr Martey emphasized that the GWCL is opened to anything that can support the provision of water to Ghanaians, and most importantly, serving them with good, quality water. This, he explained, is because the Company can’t just supply them with water that is not of good quality.
“So, as a company, we are doing everything we can to ensure the right things are being done so that the people of Ghana can have adequate and potable water to consume.”
Stanley Martey
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