Activate Nungua Water Desalination Plant to end Water Crisis –MP urges Govt
MEMBER OF Parliament for Krowor constituency, Hon Naa Momo Lartey has called on the government through the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to take steps to activate the operation of the Nungua Water Desalination Plant to reduce the growing threat of water crisis in the area.
According to her, over six communities within the constituency are currently facing acute water shortage and she believed the operationalization of the Desalination plant would help minimize the problem.
Hon Momo made the call after she dragged the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources to parliament on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, over the operational status of the plant.
“Mr Speaker, I rise to ask the Minister for Water Resources about the operational status of the Water Desalination plant at Nungua in the wake of acute water shortage in parts of the constituency: Okpoigonno, Batsonaa, Nkpoe Owekoonaa, Addogonno. Nii Larweh, and Sookpoti,” she questioned the sector Minister.
She said the shutdown of the Desalination plant has led to severe water shortages for the people of Nungua and its environs, emphasizing that, “At the coastline of Krowor there is a water desalination plant and the challenge has been the cost of operating the plant.”
In response, the sector Minister Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah said, in 2011, the Government of Ghana awarded a contract to Befesa Desalination Development Ghana for the establishment of the seawater treatment plant to produce clean water, which will be channelled into the pipelines of GWCL.
Messrs Befesa Limited, an engineering firm, she said was contracted by the government to build the desalination plant, operate to defray its cost, and hand it over to the GWCL after 25 years.
However, in October 2019, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) shut down the plant on grounds of a lack of chemicals to treat the water.
“Mr Speaker, in 2019, after the completion of the four hundred and fifty metres (450m) HDPE pipeline to uptake the total volume of treated water from the plant, the GWCL requested for the full complement of the contracted capacity of the desalination plant of sixty thousand cubic metres per day (60,000m³/day.
“Out of the total contracted capacity of twenty million, nine hundred and ninety thousand cubic metres per year (20.99 million m’/year) in 2019, the plant was able to supply eight million, three hundred thousand cubic metres per year (8.3 million m’/year) representing 41% supply efficiency. In 2020, out of the total contracted capacity of twenty-one million cubic metres per year (21 million m’/year), the plant was able to supply twelve million, one hundred thousand cubic metres per year (12.1 million m’/year) representing 59% supply efficiency.”
She further told parliament that, out of the total contracted capacity of twenty million, nine hundred and ninety thousand cubic metres per year (20.99 million m’/year), the plant was able to supply sixteen million, seven hundred thousand cubic metres per year (16.7 million m’/year) representing 80% supply efficiency.
The shortfalls in volume supplied, Madam Abena Dapaah said were mainly a result of; Breakdown of the raw water transmission pipeline as a result of Poor Sea Water quality (i.e. High Temperature and Total, Suspended Solids). GWCL network high pressures Ultra-filtration challenges, Frequent fouling of Reverse Osmosis (RO) racks Breakdown of self-cleaning filters Low tide Internal and external power challenges.
“Mr Speaker, for the first 6 months of this year i.e., from 1st January 2022 to 30th June 2022, out of the expected total contracted capacity of ten million, eight hundred thousand cubic metres per year (10.8 million m’/year), the Desalination Plant has supplied seven million, two hundred and seventy thousand cubic metres per year (7.27 million m³/year) of treated water to the GWCL network representing. sixty-seven per cent (67%) supply efficiency for the period,” she added.
The Minister further explained that the shortfall was attributed to a breakdown of some of the Reverse Osmosis (RO) filter membrane racks directly accounting for the decline in the expected output of the plant as reported by the Plant Operator.
Nonetheless, she said the amount of water supplied from the Desalination Plant has seen some improvement for the first half of this year albeit still short of the contracted daily supply of sixty thousand cubic metres per day (60,000m³/day).
“For the month of June, the maximum daily water supply was fifty-five thousand, four hundred and eighteen cubic metres per day (55,418m³/day) as compared to the month of May with a maximum daily supply of forty-five thousand, one hundred and fifty-two cubic metres (45,152m³/day),” she added.
She however assured of a government effort to have the plant operationalised, saying, “the plant is however working assiduously on fixing the RO membranes to ensure full production which will improve water supply to Teshie and its environs.”
But Hon Momo dismissed the government’s reasons for the plant shut down due to its cost of operation factor saying that, it is completely baseless as it is the responsibility of the government of the day to ensure the people have access to portable drinking water.
“Mr Speaker, it is a technology that turns seawater into potable water for home usage. When it comes to life, nothing is ever costly and that plant should be put to use for the benefit of the people living within Krowor and its environs.”
In her considered view, the government should rather come up with solutions confronting the operation of the plant since it is a novelty in Ghana.
“This issue is not up for debate, if there are challenges in operating the plant, the state and stakeholders have to come together and ensure that the facility is well utilized since it is one of its kind”, she added.
Source: expressnewsghana.com
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