In need of borehole, tilapia, bottled water? Try CSIR
How often do we not hear of people and companies that have Atempted and failed several times trying to drill boreholes either for domestic consumption or for commercial exploitation such as production of bottled and sachet (“pure”) water? Some others succeed in drilling the boreholes but the water they drill ends up being too salty, or may contain too much iron that stains laundry or metallic containers, kitchen and toilet sinks
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If you are one such victim, I have good news for you. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)’s Water Research Institute (WRI) has in its possession, a two-dimensional (2D) Resistivity Imaging surveying equipment for detecting fractures (cracks) in rocks for possible presence of water storage underground. The equipment is capable of detecting fractures up to 200 metres deep into the earth, exploring for water.
Using this equipment, there is no trial and error.In addition to determining how deep the equipment can go to
Did anyone know that the WRI is the only official state institution that tests and certifies all commercially produced water in the country for any company that wants to go into commercial exploitation of water - sachet or bottled water?
Sir Cool water
Yet, with such impeccable credentials and with all the scientific knowledge, the CSIR scientists have failed to bring to the public’s attention, the presence of “SIR COOL” bottled water on the Ghanaian market. ‘Sir Cool’, a product of CSIR, is sourced from the natural spring-waters of Nankesim in the Eastern Region.
Conceived as one of the projects to turn research into internally generated funds, the CSIR factory has, over the past two years, been producing some 2,400 ‘Sir Cool’ sachets and 120 cartons of bottled, high quality drinking water a day. The project grosses for CSIR about GHc80,000.00 a month.
Not bad, except that the sky could be the limit for an organisation which should, all things being equal, be commanding the biggest market for “pure water” in Ghana. I can imagine what advertising noise a private company would have made to position its products as “unchallengeably the Numero Uno in Ghana”! I can
see ‘Sir Cool’ as the preferred bottled and sachet water for hospitals, hotels and multi-national companies some of whom import water because they don’t trustthe quality churned out by the many firms which, with so much profit, are able to invest in catchy advertisements!
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Akosombo strain Tilapia
Still on CSIR-WRI: Have you ever heard of a type of tilapia called “The Akosombo Strain”? That fish was obtained from the breeding and selection programme of ‘Oreochromis niloticus’ (Nile tilapia) through research by scientists of WRI. It is recognised by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Fish Centre as one of the original parents of the ‘‘GIFT’ fish being used in Asia.
That breed of tilapia got its name, ‘Akosombo Strain’, because the research project that produced the strain was undertaken in Akosombo, Ghana, where WRI has its main aquaculture and development research facility. The techniques being developed at the centre, since 2006, are intended to enhance mass production of faster growing tilapia and catfish fingerlings for fish farmers to, among other objectives, reduce Ghana’s dependence on fish imports.
MalariaAnd now to almighty malaria!
Another activity of the Water Research Institute is to research into water-related diseases, such as onchocerciasis, guinea worm and malaria.
Regarding malaria and mosquito control, the role of vector management is considered very essential. Numerous campaigns to combat the vector mosquitoes over
the years have been based on spraying of chemical insecticides. This strategy has proved quite satisfactory, leading to the control of various mosquito-borne epidemics, especially in the early 20th century.
However, diverse challenges such as development of physiological resistance in the vectors (i.e. mosquitoes), environmental pollution, harmful effects on beneficial non-target animals and hazardous effect on humans has been observed over the years as a result of the use of the chemical. This is what has given rise to the use of natural products such as plant and micro-organism (bio-insecticide) as an urgent alternative approach.
Scientists at CSIR- WRI have isolated bacteria species from the environment that have been found to selectively kill mosquito larvae in water through feeding. These bacteria species are environmentally friendly and non-toxic to man. The CSIR-WRI is enhancing the technology to target mosquito larvae in water. Some success is being achieved.