The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) will soon introduce water ATMs for deprived communities in Accra.
This initiative will enable people to buy water from the GWCL at cheaper rates.
It is also to make up for the company’s inability to provide potable water to some communities because of poor settlement planning.
[contextly_sidebar id=”VMCsMuu8SGVsASxo0aNAQ2eFPwfBu839″]This system when introduced will allow people in communities like Nima, Teshie Maami pay a token to buy from the water machine.
The Public Relations Officer for the GWCL, Stanley Martey in an interview with Citi News explained the new concept saying, “with the water ATM, you will just buy a card or a token and the token will have the approved tariffs of the PURC.”
“With this, you will be able to get more water from the use of the token than buying the water with coins from another vendor,” he explained.
He continued saying, “with the current PURC tariff is such that a 1,000 liters of water which is equivalent to 220 gallons of water which in the lay man terms will be 8 drums of water, it’s just about GHC 1.53 pesewas so if you buy GHC 2 of a token or GHC 2 on your water ATM card, you will have access to 10 drums of water and it’s just GHC 2.”
“Compare this to buying a bucket of water for 5 pesewas from another vendor,” he noted.
This innovative way of supplying water to deprived areas is currently being implemented in Kenya.
The Kenyan government in June this year introduced an ATM-style water dispenser for the people of Mathare, a slum area in the country’s capital, Nairobi.
The residents swipe the smart cards, topped up at a kiosk or through a mobile phone, at the dispenser and water starts flowing from the tap.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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