REHABILITATION OF TAMALE WATER SYSTEM UNDERWAY (DG, SEPT 9, 2011, PAGE 23)

THE Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has commenced the implementation of the Subsequent Year Investment Programme (SYIP), which seeks to overhaul some components of the water supply system in the Tamale metropolis. The SYIP, which would span a period of two years, is designed to improve the water supply system in the sprawling city in order to meet the increasing demand for potable water. Under the project, the contractor – China Jiangsi Corporation – would replace weak pipelines, extend services to low income communities and rehabilitate the existing distribution network. The Northern Regional Communications Officer of the GWCL, Nicholas Nii-Abbey told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the SYIP forms part of the Urban Water Supply Project being funded by the World Bank and other partners. He said one of the objectives of the project is to tighten the various loopholes in the distribution system to reduce the extent to which water goes waste or is tapped illegally. This is not the first time that the GWCL is making efforts to improve water supply to Tamale and its environs, since the establishment of the Dalun Water System (DWS) in 1972. In 1999, the DWS, which was initially having a production capacity approximating 2.8 million gallons, underwent several rehabilitation works, including the installation of additional low lift pumps, provision of new booster stations and the laying of new transmission and distribution pipelines. In 2008, another project was undertaken to expand the production capacity from 19,560 cubic metres, that is about 4.5 million gallons, to 44,560 cubic metres or 10 million gallons. Major works that were carried out under this project included the installation of three new low lift pumps, the construction of new water treatment works and reservoirs and the laying of new transmission lines from Dalun to Tamale. Currently, the GWCL has the capacity to produce about 45,000 cubic metres or about 10 million gallons of water per day to serve Tamale and its environs if its plants are to operate to its optimum capacity. However, the GWCL produces about 6.5 million gallons per day to serve the Tamale area, including Yendi, since the plant is being operated at about 70 per cent of its capacity. Meanwhile, the daily demand for water within the Tamale is estimated at a little over 40,000 cubic metres. According to Nii-Abbey, the current production levels meet the demand, but noted that about 50 per cent of the water produced is unaccounted for. “It is either people are illegally tapping the water without paying for it or that there are damages in the distribution system which has led to wastage or a combination of both,” he explained.