Dr. Clifford Abdullah Braimah, Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), has called on customers to report any GWCL staff engaged in illegal activities.
These actions include staff attempting to clear a meter of charges while taking a percentage of unpaid bills, under the pretense of helping customers save money.
Dr. Braimah emphasized the importance of customers reporting such misconduct during a press briefing held in Accra.
He warned that those caught assisting staff in these illegal activities would also face prosecution.
Such unlawful actions, he noted, have a significant financial impact on the company and the nation, ultimately affecting the water systems and supply.
To enhance efficient water distribution and reduce non-revenue water (NRW), the GWCL has procured and installed over 400 water meters, including magnetic and ultrasonic clamp-on meters, across 90 water systems.
Furthermore, approximately 60,000 Smart Meters for drive-by Automatic Meters and Fixed Network Readings have been installed in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) region, transforming the districts into Smart Districts.
The company is also replacing all faulty meters across all regions and is engaged in a water loss reduction performance-based contracting.
Dr. Braimah shared that the GWCL recorded a NRW of 46 percent during the first half of 2023, identical to the same period in the previous year.
The company's total water production for the first half of 2023 amounted to 164,652,659.67 cubic meters.
He went on to highlight the two major components contributing to water loss. Physical losses, resulting from leaks and issues within the distribution network, accounted for 53 percent of the total water loss, equivalent to 40,404,868.45 cubic meters.
Commercial losses, attributed to issues such as water theft and billing inaccuracies, comprised 47 percent of the total water loss, totaling 35,830,732.39 cubic meters.
Dr. Braimah acknowledged that while these statistics present challenges, they also offer opportunities for improvement, emphasizing the company's commitment to refining its water management strategies.
Another pressing challenge facing the company, Dr. Braimah noted, is the detrimental impact of alluvial mining (Galamsey), posing a significant threat to the nation's water sources due to pollution, siltation, and degradation of critical water bodies.
Dr. Freda Prempeh, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, underlined the critical importance of water to all sectors of the economy and called on the public to protect all water bodies, citing issues such as turbidity, sand, and stone particles damaging pumps, the cost of production, and the quality and safety of water provided to communities.
The fight against illegal activities, including water theft and billing inaccuracies, continues to be a priority for GWCL, and customers are encouraged to report any wrongdoing to support water supply integrity in the country.
