Ghanaians Required Attitudinal Change Towards The Environment To Safeguard Potable Water Resources

Waste water from home into stream at Agozokrom

National attitudinal Change towards the environment is Required to safeguard Potable water Source – GWCL 

By thefourlens.com

Sunyani, Wednesday, Sept. 07, 2022

We owe it as a responsibility of every individual Ghanaian to ensure all water bodies and environmental resources are well protected for our own survival.

Looming Water Scarcity threat

There is the need for supply of more water as the population keeps growing rapidly, but, reckless destruction of the environment due to human activities is causing extinction of many water bodies and heavily polluting the few remaining ones.

During an environmental tour by thefourlens.com on ‘water bodies safety’, the extent of Open Defecation and indiscriminate garbage disposed directly into the streams and gutters linking the water bodies was an eye-saw.

It is a threat to human health and survival if a stringent approach is not adopted to deal with it.

These deliberate and inhuman activities were also heavily destroying the soil, vegetation and affecting crops yields.

The unchecked human activities including indiscriminate felling of trees, illegal mining and unwholesome chemical farming were greatly and continuously causing pollution of minor streams and other water sources.

Many communities are experiencing extinction of water bodies because of the severe impact of reckless environmental activities such as felling of trees meant to prevent rapid evacuation. 

Ghana therefore requires national attitudinal change towards the entire environment to help safeguard potable water sources and prevent the unhealthy human practices destroying the natural habitat of fish species and other aquatic animals.

Speaking to thefourlens.com in an interview, Dr. Samuel Ason, the Bono Regional Chief Manager of Ghana Water Company Limit (GWCL) bemoaned that open defecation, indiscriminate solid and liquid waste disposal are heavily polluting water bodies in the country, making the cost of treatment for consumption more expensive.

He said “the company is incurring more than double the cost of treating water bodies for consumption as a result of continuing heightening human practices”.

“Water is life, nobody can live without water”. “The next essential commodity for man survival after air is water”, 

Dr. Ason therefore admonished the populace to have a change of attitude towards the environment and water bodies for sustainable life now and future.

He stated the water resources were not for this current generation alone, but the generations unborn, therefore urged the citizenry to do the right thing to help protect water bodies by desisting from throwing garbage into gutters and other activities harmful to man.

“When we pollute our water bodies, it becomes more expensive to treat for consumption, the cost doubles and therefore becomes extremely high”, he emphasized.

Dr. Ason explained the heavier water bodies are polluted or destroyed, the more chemicals needed for treatment to make it consumable, therefore every garbage must be disposed of in a proper way.

He urged the law enforcement agencies and the Municipal and District Assemblies to ensure application of their by-laws to bring perpetrators of such unlawful activities to book.

thefourlens.com

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