Water supply challenges in rural Ghana

Bongo faces a serious problem with its underground water supply. This paper examined the factors accounting for the poor water situation in the Bongo District. Bongo is in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Data was collected from the Water and Sanitation Committees and District Water and Sanitation Teams in all the communities under the District. Most of the boreholes were contaminated with high fluoride contents making it unsafe to drink with levels going up to 4 mg/L. The fluoride situation is worst so much that people have to compromise by still using these contaminated water sources including those that have been capped due to extremely high fluoride contents. The study reviewed that only 32% of the population in the Bongo District have access to potable drinking water and safe sanitation facilities. Access to water and sanitation is very inadequate in the district.

Access to WATSAN is very inadequate in the district mostly due to high fluoride. Majority of wet boreholes are capped with fluoride levels ranging from 1.7 to 4.0 mg/L. This seriously has lowered the percentage of the population having access to safe drinking water. Only 32% of the total population in the Bongo District have access to potable drinking water and improved sanitation. Distance and water consumption in litres per day are the main factors that give a true picture of the accessibility to potable water. About 69% of the total population in the District are not served with adequate toilet facilities and resort to the ‘free range’ method. There is a wide gap between demand and supply of sanitation facilities.