[ 2016-05-16 ]

Tap water contains toxins — CSIR report
A research conducted by the Water Research
Institute (WRI) of the Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR) has established that
Ghana’s water treatment systems are incapable of
removing algae toxins.

Briefing the Daily Graphic on the report, the
Director of the institute, Dr. Joseph Addo Ampofo
explained that Ghana had the conventional type of
water treatment system that was unable to remove
the algae toxins.

He said most of the sources of fresh water drawn
to the treatment plants were high in algae growth.


He, therefore, called for an immediate review of
the country’s water purification systems to
ensure that the toxins were removed, adding that
algae were harmful to human health.

Dr. Ampofo said the algae infestation was the
result of human activities such as illegal mining
(galamsey), farming along river banks and bathing
in the rivers.

He urged all stakeholders, including the Water
Resources Commission and the public, to do their
part in protecting water sources from algae
growth. He said the less the algae growth, the
less the toxins to be removed.

He said although the current water purification
mechanism used by the Ghana Water Company Limited
(GWCL) met World Health Organisation (WHO)
guidelines, the guidelines were accepted at a time
that Ghana did not have problems with algae growth
in water sources.

He explained that the GWCL only tested the
treated water for bacteria, not toxins from algae,
and that was why the company said its water was
potable.

“If you look at the water in the Weija Dam, for
instance, gradually the water is increasing in
blue-green algae. With such water, if you want to
treat it for drinking, you must also take into
consideration the removal of the algae because
algae toxins can cause kidney, liver, nervous
system and heart problems.

“Because we do not have that technology for our
water treatment now, it means if there is a lot of
algae in the water from the treatment point,
consumers will be drinking these toxins and that
is the danger we are facing now,” he said.

Incomplete cleaning

Dr. Ampofo further revealed that the use of
chlorine and alum in the current water treatment
system only succeeded in destroying bacteria that
might be present in the water source, but not the
toxins produced by algae.

“We did the research before 2010 and at that
time the level of algae in Ghana’s main water
sources had not come up to dangerous levels, but
now that we have a lot of waste being dumped into
water bodies, we need to find out the level,
because by now it has exceeded the acceptable
level of algae toxins in drinking water,” he
said.

He attributed the increase in cancer cases among
the youth to the situation.
He said the WRI had informed the GWCL about the
need to review the current water treatment
process, although that was yet to be done.

He recommended the use of very fine filters by
the GWCL to remove harmful algae toxins if the
means of procuring appropriate chemicals were not
available.

Ghana Water Company

In response, the Communications Director of the
GWCL, Mr. Stanley Martey, challenged the report.

According to him, the research was outdated
because it was conducted in 2008, noting that the
situation, if it was actually so at the time the
report was made, had possibly changed because the
various treatment plants had undergone technical
improvement since 2008.

He expressed worry over the refusal of the CSIR
to furnish the company with a copy of the report
unless the GWCL paid for it.

He reiterated the fact that the water produced by
the GWCL nationwide was potable, adding that
routine checks were done daily on an hourly basis
to ensure that the public was served with potable
water.

Mr. Martey said the GWCL was ready to implement
the recommendations in the said report after the
company had reviewed it to determine the
authenticity of the findings.

Source - Daily Graphic

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