GWCL shuts down Tema station for repair works
Water supply to parts of Tema will be interrupted for 48 hours from today to Friday, to enable the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to install new equipment, including new heavy-duty pumps at its Tema Booster Station.
Barring any technical and unforeseen circumstances, normal water supply is expected to resume on Friday, December 9, 2022.
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Areas expected to be affected included all communities in Tema, Industrial Area, Baatsonaa, Coca-Cola, Kasapreko, Lashibi, Klagoon and Sakumono.
Others are Ashaiman, Adjei-Kojo, Borteyeman, Santoe, Trassaco, Afresco Estate, Manet Court and Regimanuel Estates.
The rest are O’Reily Senior High School, Airport Hills, Martey Tsuru and surrounding communities.
Commenting on a statement the company had earlier released to announce the shutdown, the Head, Public Relations and Communications of GWCL, Stanley Martey, said the management of GWCL had as a result of the shutdown rented water tankers to supply water to essential service providers such as hospitals and schools to forestall any eventuality.
He explained that it had engaged the hospitals and schools as to what point in time they could call the tankers to supply them the water and advised those facilities not to wait till they had exhausted all their water before they placed the call.
He said although this special service did not cover individual households, the assembly members or opinion leaders in distressed communities could call the GWCL so that through their vendors, they could supply them water at a centralised location in those communities.
He encouraged consumers in the affected areas to store some water while water was now flowing.
“The management of GWCL wishes to inform the public that arrangement has been made to ensure that engineers working on the project will work around the clock, thus will not leave the project site until the work is fully completed and assures the public that supply will resume immediately the mission is accomplished,” it said.
Mr Martey said although the project was in the interest of its customers, the management of GWCL apologised for the inconvenience the shutdown would cause the consuming public.
Why the new pumps
Mr Martey explained that the GWCL had been improving the water supply to most communities in the country and management of the company was using its limited internally generated funds to procure new pumps and other equipment to replace old, dilapidated and faulty ones to improve on water supply.
He said last year, the company spent about GH¢80million from its own internally generated funds (IGF) to purchase these pieces of equipment to replace the old ones.
He explained that the exercise, which was ongoing across the country, had so far been done in areas, including Accra and Sekyere Herman in the Central Region.
The Tema Booster Station, where water from the Kpong Treatment Plant was stored and further treated before distribution to the communities in that eastern part of Accra, was the latest on its list, he said.
He said the new pumps that would be installed at the Tema Booster Station would be replacing the 40-year-old pumps and they were expected to improve the volumes of water distributed in that enclave and to boost pressure.