Water Safety

Water Safety Framework

Safe water under the national community water and sanitation concept is described as water which meets standards prescribed by GSA for domestic use. It is understood that based on available clinical knowledge on health impacts related to water quality parameters currently identified under GSA standards, provision is made for permissible limits that ensure public health safety.
Under the NCWSP, a high proportion of communities are supplied from ground water sources, accounting for more than 95% extraction through boreholes and hand dug wells fitted with hand pumps or mechanized piped systems. This preference result from the availability of groundwater compared with other water sources and the high cost implications associated with purification of surface water sources. Large water schemes based on surface water sources require slow sand and rapid sand filtration systems. Choices of purification mechanisms are based often on the quality of source and cost.
Although groundwater extractions is often preferred for the community water supplies, the occurrence of high levels of minerals, including metallic compounds has been identified as an emerging challenge limiting the extent to which resource can be utilized. Drilling records have revealed on the average, 30% of wells drilled for domestic water supply in Ghana contain manganese, iron, arsenic, fluoride, hardness, low and high pH and some other parameters outside the GSA permissible limits. About 40% of drilled wells with these water quality challenges risk being abandoned by user communities.
One of the measures taken by CWSA to ensure that the water safety objective of the NCWSP is achieved is to develop a WSF, which provides broad guidelines on issues related to provision of safe water, and monitoring within the CWSA sub-sector in accordance with water safety targets set by the GSA for domestic water supply.

Objectives of the water safety framework are as follows;

Objectives of the water safety framework are as follows;

a)Establish targets for phsico-chemical and microbial quality of water supply
b) Establish modalities for Water quality testing, monitoring and assessment needed to ensure the safety of drinking water supply.
c) Develop Public Health protection mechanism through water system monitoring, risk assessment and management surveillance, health and hygiene education and promotion
d) Determine the level of investment required for ensuring water safety

The major components of the WSF are;

The major components of the WSF are;

The major components of the WSF are;

1) Water Quality Testing
2) Water Safety Risk Assessment
3) Water Safety Risk Management
4) Environmental and Social Surveillance
5) Development of Water Safety Plans for Water Systems
6) Capacity Building for Stakeholders

The standards are set out for water quality parameters, methods for measuring and monitoring referred to the WSF is that approved by the GSA. However in order to achieve consistency in wide risk management approach during monitoring within the CWS sub-sector, acceptable water safety targets are defined to cover GSA standards, with reference to World Health Organization (WHO) Drinking Quality Guidelines.
Research within the water sector is needed to provide water treatment options for small communities. Technologies such as those applied in the design of the Mwacafe plant for iron and reduction are needed to be scaled up to provide solution for parameters such as arsenic, fluoride, hardness and others that may emerge in the future.

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