The water shortage in parts of Accra and Kumasi is likely to worsen as a result of the current load-shedding schedule, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has warned.
According to the water company, the erratic power supply has affected water treatment processes and their facilities.
The Director of Public Relations at the GWCL confirmed the situation to Citi News, and said: “We have an arrangement with ECG where most of our treatment plants have dedicated lines, but as a result of the worsening power crisis, especially in the last couple of weeks we have been having problems at our treatments plants because of power outages. When the light goes off, we can’t even pump out water,” he explained.
[contextly_sidebar id=”lYRcX30djeGenP8kiaM5ONkymnT6OwGd”]He attributed recent water shortages in the capital, Accra Kumasi and other parts of the country to the issues with the treatment plants.
The ECG announced that it would review the load-shedding timetable it released in September, stating that it will shut down power supply to specific areas for 24 hours instead of the original 12 hours.
Michael Agyemang added that the company could not depend on its generator sets to power its plants due to the high cost of fuel which which would significantly raise the cost of production.
“If we are to depend on our generators, the cost of production will be too high and we can’t pass it to the consumers.”
The load-shedding situation was prompted by labour unrest in Nigeria, which halted the supply of natural gas to Ghana through the West African Gas Pipeline for a period in September, although the supply has resumed after the strike was called off.
The Volta River Authourity also announced that it would cut back on power generation in October as a result of the low water levels of the Akosombo dam.
The Asogli thermal plant was shut down while the T2 and T3 thermal plants are also out of operation.
The power crisis is, however, expected to improve with news that the country expects to start processing gas at the Atuabo gas facility for the production of power at Aboadze in the month of November 2014.
Ghana is also expected to add some 60 more megawatts to the national grid from the Aboadze TAPCo steam component.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana