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The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has entreated citizens to drink tap water since it is safe.

At a media launch of World Water Day celebration, slated for March 22, 2019, in Accra last week, the company stated that GWCL-treated water from the taps is more wholesome compared to sachet water, water from unprotected well, as well as surface water, among others.
The Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) is crystal clear about water for all by 2030, which means “leaving no one behind”. 

Director of WaterAid, Mr Abdul-Nashiru Mohammed appealed to citizens to impress on government to make water accessible.
“There is absolutely nothing in our constitution that talks about right to water. 

“Until we have it as part of our human rights enshrined under chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution, we would only be telling stories since no one can compel government to provide water,” he added.

Madam Adwoa Paintsil, Director of the Environmental Quality Department of the Water Resources Commission, has advised the public to desist from indiscriminate disposal of solid and liquid waste.

She said challenges with water quality in relation to rivers were worrying due to the improper disposal of liquid and solid waste.
“So when it rains, it carries all waste substances into the river. Some farming practices, especially with the application of fertilisers, dissolved pesticides and agrochemicals destroy water bodies when washed into water bodies,” she said.

Madam Paintsil stated at a media launch of the celebration of the ‘World Water Day 2019’, on the theme ‘Leaving No One Behind’, in Accra.
She called on concerned institutions, including the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and other Non-governmental organisations to sensitise the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies on better ways of waste disposal and the need to discourage others from indiscriminately discarding waste.

The contamination of water used in homes, she said, was usually not from the source, but how water was handled and stored by individuals in their homes.

“Sometimes the contamination comes from the households and not the sources of the water. Our storing buckets and collectors we use to fetch the water could be unclean,” she said.

She advised the public not to purchase lands close to water bodies as it could put their lives and property in danger.