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The management of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is working to resolve the water supply challenges at the hospital, the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Rev Dr Albert Botchway, has said. He said the hospital experienced water supply challenges in the past few weeks and at the beginning of this week as a result of the shutdown of some pipelines by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). �After the lines had been opened, the water was still not flowing due to blockage by sand and weed in some of the pipelines,� he explained. Rev Dr Botchway gave an assurance that while repair works were ongoing to ensure that water flowed for clinical usage, the systems had been adjusted to ensure that water flowed at the hospital. To complement water supply from the mains, he said, the hospital was also getting about 20 tanks of water from suppliers, including the National Security, the Ghana National Fire Service and private suppliers, daily for clinical work. Rev Dr Botchway gave the assurance when the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda, visited the Surgical Ward of the hospital to ascertain the water supply situation at the hospital as reported in the media. During the tour, the Daily Graphic observed that water was running at the Surgical Ward, while other departments relied on water supply from tanks. Graphic story The Daily Graphic reported yesterday that an acute water shortage had hit three wards of the KBTH for the past two weeks, forcing patients and nurses to shuttle between the affected wards and the Maternity Ward to meet their water needs. Although the hospital authorities maintained that private water suppliers were providing water for the facility, evidence at the Surgical Ward, as well as the Orthopaedic and Accident wards, suggested the contrary. Following the story, Alhaji Dauda visited the hospital to check the water supply situation there. Shutdown of pipelines The Korle Bu CEO explained that the hospital engineers were currently working hard to repair the faulty pipelines. He said the pipelines were also being upgraded to ensure efficiency in the supply of water to the hospital for clinical usage. He added that the pipelines had, since the establishment of the hospital 90 years ago, not been changed, hence the need to do so to avoid some of those challenges. He said the hospital could not consider boreholes because of its proximity to the sea which would make the water salty and very expensive to treat. Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing To ensure a long-term solution to the acute water shortage at the hospital, Alhaji Dauda said the ministry would ensure that the old pipelines were replaced after estimation by a team from the GWCL had examined the situation. He added that the hospital would also, in the long term, have its own pipelines connected to the main water stations. Furthermore, he said Greater Accra faced a water deficit of 57 million gallons hence the water shortage in some areas of the region. He said the completion of the Kpong Intake Rehabilitation project would improve efficiency by producing 3.3 million gallons a day to increase water supply to the Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area.