GOVT URGED TO PROMOTE RAINWATER HARVESTING (PAGE 54, MAR 31, 2011)

THE government has been urged to formulate and implement a deliberate policy to promote rainwater harvesting in the country.
Duraqua Company Limited, a construction company that has been building rainwater tanks, made the call during a short ceremony to mark this year’s World Water Day celebrations.
According to the General Manager of the company, Mr Baku Patrick, each year huge quantities of water go waste due to the failure of Ghanaians to harvest the water for future use.
He said by adopting various rainwater harvesting technologies, individuals, families and institutions could collect and store huge amounts of rainwater during the raining season for use, particularly in the dry season.
Mr Patrick explained that it was a huge task for government to attempt to resolve the country’s water challenges by providing pipe borne and rural water facilities.
“It is prudent to promote other methods which the people themselves could adopt to help alleviate their suffering,” he noted.
Duraqua company has in collaboration with some funding partners and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) constructed numerous rainwater harvesting tanks for schools, clinics and households.
Figures made available to the Daily Graphic indicates that the company has constructed over 80 rainwater tanks in various parts of the Northern Region.
In Wanbong in the Yendi municipality, the company constructed four rainwater harvesting tanks for three households and a school, under the sponsorship and authorisation of the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC).
In Kpenchila, a farming community in the East Gonja district, Duraqua Company constructed two 30,000 litre rainwater tanks for the inhabitants, with funding from a roofing company in Atlanta Georgia in the United States of America, Reliable Roofing Company.
Mr Patrick explained that the company had taken so much interest in rainwater harvesting because “as for the rain, we know it comes each season and the water flows freely at no cost to humans.”
He said the sinking of boreholes in many communities in the region had a low yielding rate due to the low water table.
Mr Patrick debunked claims that rainwater tanks cannot store much water, explaining that the tanks are constructed in line with the demand.
“We usually construct 11,000-litre tanks for households and 30,000 or 45,000-litre tanks for community use,” he indicated.