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The Ghana Water Company Limited’s (GWCL) efforts to work around the dire pollution brought on by illegal mining, is making its operations inefficient and\u00a0less cost-effective.<\/p>\n
Very few of GWCL’s 90 systems for treating water for consumption have been spared by illegal mining, also known as\u00a0galamsey, as its dire consequences spread across the country and beyond its borders.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”sjmWBwwiHjaU4fUo2Zr7gj00PUBNNeM2″]The GWCL\u2019s Public Relations Officer, Stanley Martey, bemoaned the strain on the equipment at treatment plants which have to contend with the by-products of mining-related activities that pollute rivers serving treatment plants.<\/p>\n
He said their treatment plants spend more time offline as they have to undergo maintenance\u00a0at least every 48 hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur pumps are not made to extract mud for treatment\u2026 the mud is water with sand and small stones so the moment they get into the pumps, they trigger it. It breaks the ball rates.\u00a0For us to manage it very well it means we have had to service these pumps at least once every week instead of the usual once in a month or once in two months, so that we can at least manage the lifespan of these pumps.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to shut down for 24 to 48 hours to enable us service these pumps so it affects our down times and affects the volumes of water we treat in a day and in a week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Martey also revealed that about half of the volume water pumped for treatment is lost because it is all sand and stones.<\/p>\n
He explained that, \u201cbecause it is muddy and very turbid, we have to lose about 40 t0 50 percent of the water before we can get at least some form of good water to enable\u00a0us\u00a0treat the water for the consumption of the people. We extract about 100 percent volume and lose between 40 and 50 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n
“If you are wasting energy in extracting water and spending more energy pumping to the people, it doesn\u2019t make it cost efficient,\u201d he stressed further.<\/p>\n