water supply and sanitation in ghana water supply and sanitation in ghana the drinking water supply and sanitation sector in ghana faces a number of challenges, including very limited access to sanitation, intermittent supply, high water losses, low water pressure, and pollution. since 1994, the sector has been gradually reformed through the creation of an autonomous regulatory agency, introduction of private sector participation, decentralization of the rural supply to 138 districts and increased community participation in the management of rural water systems. water supply and sanitation in ghanadatawater coverage (broad definition)78% (2015)sanitation coverage (broad definition)14% (2015) (share of collected wastewater treated: about 10% in accra)continuity of supply25% in accraaverage urban water use (l/person/day)n/aaverage urban water and sanitation tariff (us$/m3)ghs3.01/m3 (us$0.76/m3)share of household meteringn/aannual investment in wssus$0.7 per capitashare of external financingabout 90% development assistanceinstitutionsdecentralization to municipalitiesin rural areas: decentralization to districts, since 1994national water and sanitation companyyes: ghana water company limited (gwcl)water and sanitation regulatorin urban areas: public utilities regulatory commission (purc)responsibility for policy settingministry of sanitation and water resourcessector lawvariousno. of urban service providers1: gwclno. of rural service providersmore than 400 community-managed piped systems an international company has managed all urban water systems since 2006 under a 5-year management contract which expired after achieving only some of its objectives. the reforms also aim at increasing cost recovery and a modernization of the urban utility ghana water company limited (gwcl). another problem which partly arose from the recent reforms is the existence of a multitude of institutions with overlapping responsibilities. the national water policy (nwp), launched at the beginning of 2008, seeks to introduce a comprehensive sector policy. access the water supply and sanitation infrastructure is insufficient, especially in rural areas. there are substantial discrepancies between access data from various sources, partially because of different definitions being used by different institutions that are providing access data. according to the joint monitoring program for water supply and sanitation of unicef and who, access to water and sanitation is as follows: urban(51% of the population) rural(49% of the population) total water 'at least basic' definition 88% 66% 78% house connections 33% 3% 18% sanitation 'at least basic' definition 19% 9% 14% sewerage ? ? ? according to the united nations 2015 mdg report, the target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water has been attained in ghana. the share of non-functional supply systems in ghana is estimated at almost one third, with many others operating substantially below designed capacity. moreover, domestic water supply competes with a rising demand for water by the expanding industry and agriculture sectors. about 88% of the urban population in ghana have access to at least basic drinking water. disparities exist between urban and rural safe drinking water access. according to the ghana multiple indicator cluster survey of 2011, urban dwellers are more likely to have access to safe drinking water than the rural dwellers at 91% and 69%, respectively. consequently, dependency on unsafe water sources is higher in rural areas. the turbidites of most local surface waters in rural areas are greater than 200 ntus (nephelometric turbidity units) and contain high microbial and fecal contamination, putting children and the rest of the population at high risk for water-related diseases. compared to the rest of ghana, the three northern regions of ghana are particularly deprived of clean drinking water, with one in ten children dying before their fifth birthday due to some water-related illnesses. in the main northern region of ghana alone, 32% of the 2.5 million residents lack access to improved water sources and must often resort to contaminated drinking-water. regarding sanitation, only 14% of the total population of ghana are using an improved sanitation facility as of 2010. improved drinking water source unimproved drinking water source household connection rivers or ponds borehole bucket protected dug well unprotected well protected spring unprotected spring public standpipe vendor-provided water tanker truck water bottled (and sachet) water this table presents the classifications of improved and unimproved water sources in ghana since the end of the millennium development goals, according to the who and unicef. as of the end of 2015, improved water sources included household water pipes, boreholes, protected dug wells and springs, and public standpipes. service quality continuity of supply according to one estimate, one quarter of the residents in accra receive a continuous water supply. approximately 30% are provided water for 12 hours each day, five days a week. another 35% are supplied for two days each week. the remaining 10% who mainly live on the outskirts of the capital are completely without access to piped water. according to another source, the situation is even worse: in february 2008 some communities within the accra-tema metropolis were served either once in a week, once in a fortnight or once in a month. the continuity of water supply in rural areas and the northern region of ghana are less frequent. particularly in rural areas, locals are forced to fetch their own water from a variety of water sources depending on location: tube wells or boreholes – a deep hole that has been driven, bored or drilled to reach ground water. the water is delivered by tube through a pump that is powered by a human, and the well is protected by a platform to prevent run-offs or bird droppings into the water. protected dug well – well protected from runoff water by a well lining or casing raised above ground level. rainwater collection – rain that is collected or harvested from surfaces and stored in a container for use. water tank truck – water is trucked into a community and sold from the truck. unprotected dug wells or springs – a well not protected from runoff or bird droppings. cart with small tank/drum – water is sold by a provider who transports water into a community. transportation is done by donkey carts or motoking. surface water sources – rivers, dams, lakes, ponds, etc. all of them are really likely to be polluted, which will be dangerous for the people who drink from there. these are the most dangerous sources of water for the population in ghana, since they may have so many bacteria and toxic product in them that the people will get infections and diseases, some of which could even kill ly. water contamination drinking water quality the fecal-oral disease route transmission. the lack of clean drinking water and sanitation systems is a severe public health concern in ghana, contributing to 70% of diseases in ghana. widespread use of plastic drinking water sachets due to lack of available potable water has also led to increased plastic pollution, often polluting water bodies, choking stormwater drains and causing death of livestock. the country's gold mining industry has polluted 60% of ghana's waters. due to unclean water and improper sanitation, ghana has 1,000 children under five years old dying each year from diarrhea, caused by polluted water. the water that they get from ponds, lakes or rivers is of bad quality. consequently, households without access to clean water are forced to use less reliable and hygienic sources, and often pay more. contaminated drinking water, along with poor sanitation, are linked to transmission of water-related diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis a, typhoid and polio. due to drinking contaminated water, diarrheal disease is the third most commonly reported illness at health centers across ghana. 25% of all deaths in children under the age of five are attributed to diarrhea. in addition to lack of sanitation infrastructure, some cultural beliefs and views encourage open defecation. of the total population in ghana, 23% use open defecation as their sanitation facility. as many as 72% of people in the northern region open defecate, making it the region with the highest prevalence of open defecation in ghana the majority of waterborne illnesses are enteric diseases (i.e. intestinal diseases) transmitted through the fecal-oral route. in the transmission pathways of disease through water contamination, human feces from public defecation end up in water sewages and non-recycling latrines, which is then collected in the local surface waters by rainfall and ingested by local inhabitants through direct exposure, absorption and ingestion. surface waters are the main drinking-water source for the communities of northern region, ghana. effects on education the main traditional sources of water in many parts of rural ghana are small ponds and unprotected wells, both of which are really easily polluted, causing diseases to the people who drink it (oxfam). more than 50% of the rural population in ghana also rely on unsafe water resources from vendors (ghana clean water project). this brings many diseases. the water contains parasites and a high microbial content, as well as dangerous minerals. many people, mostly children, suffer from many diseases caused by this water, and some of them may even be deadly. not only does this water affect people's health, it also affects education. for example, in some places in ghana, children, mostly girls, are denied their right to go to school because their schools don't have private sanitation facilities. instead, they are expected to spend the whole day fetching water. this affects their education and makes it harder for the country to develop faster. if the people had more clean water resources and sanitation the girls wouldn't be denied their right to go to school, therefore, they would have an education and would increase the number of educated people in ghana. all things considered, the water issues that ghana is dealing with doesn't only affect the population with disease, but it also affects with the education. this does not happen too often, but it happens in some parts of ghana, usually rural areas. wastewater treatment further information: wastewater treatment it is estimated that in 2000 the urban areas of ghana generated about 763,698 m3 of wastewater each day, resulting in approximately 280 million m3 over the entire year. regional capitals count for another 180 million m3. only a small share of the generated urban wastewater is collected, and an even smaller share is being treated. inadequate management of urban, industrial and agricultural wastewater often means that the drinking-water of millions of people is either dangerously contaminated or chemically polluted. in the capital city accra, the share of wastewater collected is approximately 10%. moreover, less than 25% of the 46 industrial and municipal treatment plants in ghana were functional according to an inventory undertaken by the ghana environmental protection agency in 2001. treatment plants for municipal wastewater are operated by local governments, and most of them are stabilization ponds. a biological treatment plant has been built in the late 1990s at accra's korle lagoon. however, it only handles about 8% of accra's wastewater. water resources ghana is well endowed with water resources. the volta river system basin, consisting of the oti, daka, pru, sene and afram rivers as well as the white and black volta rivers, covers 70% of the country area. another 22% of ghana is covered by the southwestern river system watershed comprising the bia, tano, ankobra and pra rivers. the coastal river system watershed, comprising the ochi-nawuka, ochi amissah, ayensu, densu and tordzie rivers, covers the remaining 8% of ghana. furthermore, groundwater is available in mesozoic and cenozoic sedimentary rocks and in sedimentary formations underlying the volta basin. the volta lake, with a surface of 8,500 km², is one of the world's largest artificial lakes. in all, the total actual renewable water resources are estimated to be 53.2 billion m³ per year. panorama and landscape view of lake volta in volta basin and eastern region of ghana. lake volta by artificial surface area is the largest reservoir, lake, and artificial lake on earth. lake volta drains into the gulf of guinea on the atlantic ocean. volta river has three main tributaries—the black volta, white volta and red volta. water use in 2000, total water withdrawal was 982 million m³, of which two-thirds were used for agricultural purposes. another 10% was withdrawn for industry, leaving 24% or 235 million m³ for domestic use. furthermore, 37,843 km³ are used for hydroelectricity generation at the akosombo dam each year. history and recent developments archaeological work in the house ruins of begho (12th–19th century) have revealed the existence of cisterns which were on average, two meters deep. in 1817, thomas edward bowdich documented upon the