The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has stated that it may be forced to shut down its water treatment plant at Dalun in the Kumbungu District i
The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has stated that it may be forced to shut down its water treatment plant at Dalun in the Kumbungu District in the Northern Region if sand winning activities in the river bed at its raw water intake point at Nawuni and around the White Volta continues.
According to the GWCL, it cannot draw enough raw water from the White Volta at its Nawuni raw water intake point for treatment as the machines have been collecting a lot of silt due to sand winning activities in the river bed.
The sand winners have also reportedly diverted the course of the river channels.
“We do not get enough raw water to treat at our Dalun treatment plant for consumption since the White Volta which serves as the source of raw water has heavily been polluted as a result of sand winning activities in the river bed and close to the river banks”, the Northern Regional Production Manager of the GWCL, Mr. Nicholas Okyere said when he took journalists on an inspection tour.
During the tour along the banks of the White Volta, the journalists witnessed the massive devastation sand winning activities had caused to the environment and also polluted the White Volta.
The visit was also used to interact with chiefs, opinion and community leaders, the sand winners.
The Dalun treatment plant supplies potable water for consumption in the Tamale Metropolis, Savelugu, Tolon, Kumbungu and its environs.
But, according to Mr Okyere, the GWCL was currently rationing water in the Tamale metropolis and other catchment areas due to the sand winning activities.
“We have to throw away 30 per cent of the water we get for treatment due to pollution of the White Volta as a result of the sanding winning activities and if care is not taken we may be forced to shut down,” he emphasised.
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