Following findings from the 2021 census that indicated widespread dependence on underground water by households in the Upper East Region, residents have been advised to prioritize basic water treatment in their homes before consumption.
Aboegyi John-Vianney, a Physician Assistant serving in the Kassena-Nankana District, has raised significant concerns about the quality and safety of water from underground sources due to human activities.
While underscoring the vital role of water in the human body, Mr. John-Vianney explained that contaminated water has dire consequences for consumers.
Speaking to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show recently, the Physician Assistant said in environments where open defecation is prevalent, there is a heightened risk of pathogens entering water sources through animal activities, such as pigs feeding on feces and subsequently contaminating water.
“We can also have drinking water coming from rivers or lakes. But these kinds of water are usually prone to diseases. Especially where both humans and animals are drinking from the same lake or drinking from the same stream. It can pose a lot of challenges. We can justify that especially in environments where there is so much open defecation. Pigs can go and pick the feces with their mouth and go to the water sources and dip their mouth into the water, contaminate the water and then humans go back and fetch the water and then bring it back home to drink.”
To mitigate these risks, Mr. Aboegyi recommended purification methods such as boiling these kinds of water for at least ten minutes. He highlighted this method as an effective means to make water safe for consumption. Additionally, he suggested an alternative purification method involving sunlight exposure, where water stored in transparent containers is kept under the sun for at least a day, which reduces microbial contamination, although it may not eliminate all pathogens.
The health expert emphasized the health consequences of consuming contaminated water, citing diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid fever, which are commonly associated with waterborne pathogens. These illnesses, he cautioned, can pose significant public health challenges, especially in communities where access to clean water is compromised.
He urged individuals who might encounter ill health suspected to be symptoms of diarrhea, cholera, or typhoid fever to seek medical attention for testing and treatment.
The majority of households in the Upper East Region rely on boreholes/tube wells for drinking water, according to the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC).
The 2021 PHC identifies 16 sources of drinking water, categorized into two groups: improved sources of water and unimproved sources of water.
Improved sources of water include public taps, boreholes, protected springs, pipe-borne water inside dwellings, rainwater, protected wells, sachet water, bottled water, pipe-borne water outside dwellings but on compounds, and pipe-borne water outside dwellings but in neighbors’ houses/compounds.
Unimproved sources of water include rivers/streams, unprotected wells, unprotected springs, tanker-supplied water, dugouts/ponds/lakes/dams/canals, and others.
According to the data, 254,237 households rely on improved sources of water for drinking, while 9,281 households rely on unimproved sources.
Of the households that rely on improved sources of water for drinking, 177,790 households use boreholes/tube wells.
See full table here.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Bolgatanga|
