The Country Director for Safe Water Network (SWN), Ghana, Charles Nimako, has assured that water from its treatment stations across the country is safe for consumption in the face of the decreasing water quality nationwide.
He said the main source of their raw water is underground and the Volta Lake, which is not polluted.
“Safe Water Network can confidently say our water is safe for consumption because we don’t treat surface water. We go underground,” he emphasised.
“It is only in the Volta Region along the Volta Lake where we provide water sourcing it from the Volta Lake. Luckily for us, the Volta Lake is still untouched.”
Mr Nimako made this declaration on the sidelines of the 16th edition of the ‘Beyond The Pipe Forum’ in Accra yesterday.
On the theme “From Ideas to Pilots: Preparing Safe Water Enterprises for Investment”, the forum brought together stakeholders in the water and sanitation space to discuss how to enhance efficiency in the provision of quality water in their operational areas.
According to Mr Nimako, providing clean and safe water to its over two million customers in more than 600 rural communities remains its topmost priority.
He said that apart from internal mechanisms to test the quality of their water, the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) had also tested and given them the clean bill of health on all occasions.
Ghana’s water quality index in recent years has declined in the wake of illegal mining, which has polluted major river bodies in the country, raising fears that they could be laced with dangerous chemicals like lead and mercury, among others.
The illegal mining menace, Mr Nimako said, had compromised the quality of water bodies and that steps must be taken to end it.
On the theme, he said it was time stakeholders shifted from thinking to doing in order to serve their customers better.
The Chief Executive of SWN Global, Chris Williams, said SWN Ghana should consider exploring institutional water provision to expand their reach.
He said the government had good policies, and there would be a need to engage it in a win-win collaboration.
SWN is a non-governmental organisation which provides affordable water to rural underserved communities.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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