The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) have expressed alarm over private developments encroaching on the Kpeve Treatment Plant, raising concerns about potential threats to water supply and infrastructure.
A team on an outreach programme uncovered some developments on the buffer zone of the headworks, which have a high propensity to cause environmental destruction to the dam at the intake point if allowed to stand.
The development in the buffer zone exacerbates the challenges bedeviling the company, including the frequent breakdown of its pumping machine—the only remaining one out of three originally installed at the headworks in 1993.
The existing challenge is depriving Ho and its adjoining environs of water resources, and the destruction of the intake point could have far-reaching consequences for the large clientele in the value chain, jeopardizing service delivery.
BSK City, the private developer, who is said to own part of the land, including the buffer zone, has undertaken some grading activity on the hill by the banks of the Plant’s intake and ended up filling part of the intake with removed topsoil from the hill.
In response to the environmental impact, Francis Lamptey, Volta Regional Chief Manager of the GWCL, disclosed to the Ghana News Agency that the immediate effect of the developer’s actions is a reduction in the volume of water at the intake.
He said that whenever it rained, the lack of vegetative cover would cause runoff from the bare soil, leading to massive siltation at the intake and elevating turbidity beyond treatability.
“When this happens, the Treatment Plant will have to shut down as it is not equipped with a coagulant dosing system, clarifiers, or sedimentation tanks to treat highly turbid water,” he explained.
Mr. Lamptey warned that any development for resort purposes or human settlement near the intake could result in pollution, as waste from the resort or settlements could be released directly into the intake, leading to dire consequences.
He stated that the company was requesting the National and Regional Security Councils to prohibit the private developer from engaging in further adverse activities and to compel the developer to plant grass to cover the already graded area to prevent siltation and elevated turbidity from runoff during rainfall.
GWCL has formally notified other stakeholders, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Water Resources Commission, the Regional House of Chiefs, and the South Dayi Assembly, about the development.
Mr. Lamptey revealed that the company detected the development when a team of officials from the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in Accra and the Volta Region visited the GWCL office on January 21, 2025, to discuss the water situation in Ho, particularly challenges with the intake pumps at the Plant.
As part of PURC’s fact-finding mission, they visited the Kpeve Treatment Plant and discovered the activities of the developer.
Meanwhile, GNA’s efforts to obtain explanations from the private developer have yielded no results, as phone calls and text messages to the contact of the CEO of BSK City have remained unanswered.
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