Water and Sanitation Sector Performance Report of Ghana, 2009 Edition

Ministry of Water Resources,
Works and Housing
Water and Sanitation Sector
Performance Report
2009
MWRWH

Ghana Water and Sanitation Sector Performance Report 2009
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Ministry of Water Resources,
Works and Housing
Water and Sanitation Sector
Performance Report
2009

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Production Team
Emmanuel Addai (WSMP) - Coordination, Collation, Analyses, Editing
Ben Yaw Ampomah (WRC) - Water Resources Management
George Boakye Yiadom (CWSA) - Rural/Small Town Water Supply and Sanitation
Michael Agyemang (GWCL) - Urban Water Supply
Enoch Ofosu (MWRWH) - Member
Rudolf Amenga Etego (Grassroots Africa) - Member

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Foreword
Hon. Alban Bagbin (MP)
Minister for Water Resources,
Works and Housing
The Government of Ghana is determined to work towards a Ghana that is
continuously better to live in. Through this commitment, the Government
is developing systems and structures that would enable Ghanaians to
experience progressively better living conditions in all sectors including
the provision of clean and safe water for all by 2025.
Over the years, lack of accurate data and information has hampered
effective policy making as well as the taking of effective decisions in the
area of water and sanitation. It has been a challenge to develop accurate
statistics on water and sanitation in the country. This challenge has
stemmed from not having standard definitions and indicators when
dealing with our water and sanitation programs.
This maiden edition of the water and sanitation performance report is
designed to lead the way in setting standards for better collection of
data, analysis of the data and the proper implementation of programs in
the sector. Data quality and availability will lay the foundation for
creating a common monitoring system that would help resolve the
existing problems.
The report makes it clear how the sector has underperformed due to lack
of sufficient funding resulting, partly, from the fact that approved
budgets have usually not been released to the relevant agencies for
implementation. This fact would be well noted by the government and
will inform our implementation of the “Better Ghana Agenda.”
It is my conviction that future editions of this report will deliver
comprehensive information that would include parameters such as
functionality, gender and vulnerability, hygiene and sanitation as well as
NGO participation in the delivery of water and sanitation facilities to the
people of Ghana.
I extend my sincere appreciation to the Water Directorate, our
Development Partners, NGOs, the Media and partners from the Private
Sector and individuals who have made this issue a success, for their
support and I hope that we can continue to count on their support to
realize universal access to potable water by the year 2025.
Hon. Alban Bagbin (MP)
Minister for Water Resources,
Works and Housing

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Introduction
Minta Aboagye
Director (Water) - MWRWH
This WASH sector report aims to assemble all sector information in
one document and make it available to government, development
partners, the media, the public, and all key decision-makers in the
sector. The intention is to publish the status of the sector annually
to help track achievements against set targets and support
effective decision-making and policy formulation.
The Water and Sanitation sector of Ghana has come a long way in
terms of institutional arrangement and policy environment
especially since the early 1990s.
The development of the National Community Water and
Sanitation Programme and the subsequent creation of the
Community Water and Sanitation Agency, the establishment of the
Water Resources Commission, the creation of a Water Directorate
and an Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate, as well as
the formation of the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation,
have all tremendously promoted and facilitated coordination in
the sector.
In addition to all these wonderful institutional arrangements,
coupled with the need for better aid as directed by the Paris
Declaration and Accra Agenda for Action, the Government of
Ghana has collaborated effectively with her development partners
to work towards a sectorwide approach, where there will be a
move away from the current project-driven and less coordinated
approach to working within a more coherent national plan to
minimize the incidences of improper allocation of scarce
resources.
One major obstacle to effective sector coordination, policy-making
and resource allocation is the difficulty in accessing sector
information and reliable data. This has come as a result of lack of a
central monitoring framework and system. As a result, various
sector agencies have devised their own internal monitoring
mechanisms to generate information that will best serve their
respective operational needs. Their monitoring indicators,
definitions and methodologies differ significantly from each other.

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As, for instance, it is not very difficult to obtain sub-sector information on service levels or coverage
data, it has always been difficult or even impossible to obtain a harmonized set of data or information
for a national level decision-making. Stakeholders in the WASH sector have therefore, in recent years,
been calling for harmonized systems and definitions for effective central monitoring. The drive toward a
SWAp provides a perfect answer to this important call. But for SWAp to work effectively in Ghana, there
is need for a tool such as this common sector report that will provide an at-a-glance overview of the
status of the sector in terms of targets and achievements, funding, resource distribution, gender and
vulnerability considerations, policy and strategy development among others.
Being the first edition against the background that the sector is yet to meet and agree on standardized
central indicators and M&E framework, the Editorial Committee decided to put together what already
exists from the various agencies to form the information base for this particular report. As expected,
some of the core indicators whose status many stakeholders would love to know had virtually no
records on them simply because it has not been the tradition to keep such records. For instance it was
difficult for the team to assemble data on functionality of systems, gender and vulnerability, NGO
contribution in terms of facility delivery, advocacy and sector funding. Information on District
Assemblies’ direct investment in the WASH sector is also missing as various attempts by some
institutions to research into sector investments have mostly suffered from scarcity of records at the
district level.
The production of this report, nonetheless, offers some hope; as subsequent editions are published and
information gaps exposed, all appropriate institutions will be challenged to improve on and
documentation. At the ministry level, the first major action is to fast track the development of the
national level M&E Framework in order to facilitate the production of this report and sector monitoring
as a whole.
As an overview, this report has been grouped under five main chapters. Chapter one provides some
sector background information and its history; chapter two provides information on institutional
arrangements and sector coordination updates. Chapter three provides information about sector
performance trends and performance in 2009. This chapter has been sub-divided into Water Resources
Management updates, Rural and Small Town Water Supply, Sanitation and hygiene updates and Urban
Water Supply updates. In chapter four, brief information on some key sector innovations that need
attention are provided, while chapter five provides conclusions and a few suggestions for improvement.
This first edition may not provide the harmonized information needs as expected, but is hoped that it
will open the way for a faster drive towards harmonization in the sector.
Minta. A. Aboagye
Director – Water Directorate
MWRWH

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Acknowledgements
The Ministry of water Resources, Works and Housing, on behalf of the Government of Ghana, wishes to
acknowledge the contribution of some institutions and individuals to the production of this first ever
Ghana Water and Sanitation Sector Report. But for their effort, the dream of a sector report may still
not have been realized.
The government acknowledges the role of the EU Water facility and UNICEF through the provision of
funds, both directly and indirectly for this project. Special mention also goes to the WASH Sector Group
for mooting the idea of a sector report as a requirement under the march towards a Sectorwide
Approach (SWAp). Again, the government wishes to commend the Community Water and Sanitation
Agency, Ghana Water Company Limited, and the Water Resources Commission for volunteering most of
the information that form the core of this report, as well as the Water and Sanitation Monitoring
Platform, for coordinating the compilation of information and the production of this report.
The following individuals also deserve special mention for their special contribution to this work: Alban
S. Bagbin, (Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing), Minta A. Aboagye, (Director, Water
Directorate), Yaw Asante Sarkodie, (Team Leader, WSMP), Emmanuel Addai, (Communication Specialist,
WSMP), Richard Adjei, (Data Analyst, WSMP), Lovia Adu-Agyeman, (Office Manager, WSMP), Enoch
Ofosu, (Water Resources Specialist, Water Directorate), Attah Arhin, (Project Manager, IWSPMF-WD),
Michael Agyeman, (Director of Public Relations, GWCL), Ben Ampomah, (Executive Secretary, WRC),
George Boakye Yiadom, (Investment Planner, CWSA), Rudolf Amenga Etego, (Grassroots Africa),
Kwabena Sarpong Manu, (MIME Consults), and Adjoa Munkua Dako, (PRO, WRC), Benedict Kubabom
(Director of Planning and Investments – CWSA), Asumaning Nyarko (GWCL) and Camynta Baezie
(Consultant, MWRWH).

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Table of Contents
Foreword.......................................................................................................................................................4
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................5
Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................................................7
Table of Contents..........................................................................................................................................8
List of Tables ...............................................................................................................................................10
List of Figures ..............................................................................................................................................11
List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................................12
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................14
1 Historical overview.................................................................................18
1.1 Decline in Operational Efficiency of GWSC.................................................................................19
1.2 Interventions by to Improve Efficiency.......................................................................................20
1.3 The Water Sector Restructuring Project.....................................................................................20
2 Institutional and policy framework ........................................................22
2.2 Sector Ministries .........................................................................................................................23
2.3 Sector Agencies and Departments..............................................................................................24
2.4 Sector coordination updates.......................................................................................................25
2.5 On-going sector learning and other projects..............................................................................27
2.6 Annual reviews and conferences................................................................................................31
3 Sector Performance ...............................................................................33
3.1 Sector performance against the MDG targets............................................................................34
3.2 Summary of performance against national targets....................................................................35
3.3 Water Resources Management ..................................................................................................37

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3.4 Rural Water Supply and Sanitation.............................................................................................45
3.5 Urban water supply.....................................................................................................................58
4 Recent major WASH Sector innovations.................................................64
4.2 The Ghana Water Forum ............................................................................................................65
4.3 Ghana Watsan Journalists Network (GWJN) ..............................................................................66
4.4 RCN Learning Alliances Platform.................................................................................................66
4.5 GWCL/AVRL Customer Services Call Centre ...............................................................................66
5 Conclusions and recommendations .......................................................67
Annexes .......................................................................................................72

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List of Tables
Table 1: Ghana’s MDG status 1990 and 2008.............................................................................................34
Table 3: Investment requirements from Strategic Investment Plans.........................................................37
Table 4: Water Quality Classification.........................................................................................................39
Table 5: Results of Water Quality Monitoring and Classification of Water Bodies from 2005- 2008........39
Table 6: Investment requirement for the SIP 2008 – 2015 (Ghana Cedis)................................................48
Table 7: CWSA facility delivery status as at 2009 .......................................................................................49
Table 8: CWSA capacity building status as at 2009.....................................................................................49
Table 9: Regional coverage trends 2006 to 2009 .......................................................................................51
Table 10: GWCL/AVRL performance 2003-2009.........................................................................................61

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Performance against 2015 targets...............................................................................................36
Figure 2: Total WASH budget against GDP .................................................................................................36
Figure 3: Licensed water users....................................................................................................................40
Figure 4: WRC Financing Trends .................................................................................................................44
Figure 5: WRC Internally Generated Funds.................................................................................................44
Figure 6: Rural water supply performance .................................................................................................46
Figure 7: Rural water coverage trends........................................................................................................47
Figure 8: Projected rural and small town water coverage by 2015............................................................47
Figure 9: Expected vs. projected coverage for rural water supply .............................................................48
Figure 10: Regional coverage - rural...........................................................................................................50
Figure 11: GoG financing trends - rural.......................................................................................................52
Figure 12: urban water supply performance..............................................................................................59
Figure 13: Urban water coverage trends....................................................................................................60
Figure 14: Regional coverage - urban .........................................................................................................60
Figure 15: GoG allocations and releases to GWCL......................................................................................63

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List of Abbreviations
AfDB - African Development Bank
AVRL - Aqua Vitens Rand Limited
CEOs - Chief Executive Officers
CIDA - Canadian International Development Agency
CLTS - Community-led Total Sanitation
CONIWAS Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation
CSO - Civil Society Organization
CWSA - Community Water and Sanitation Agency
DA - District Assembly
DANIDA- Danish International Development Agency
DfID - (UK) Department for International Development
DPs - Development Partners
EHSD - Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate
EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
ESA - External Support Agency
EU - European Union
GDP - Gross Domestic Product
GH¢ - Ghana Cedi
GoG - Government of Ghana
GSS - Ghana Statistical Service
GTZ - German Technical Cooperation
GWCL - Ghana Water Company Limited
GWF - Ghana Water Forum
GWJN - Ghana Watsan Journalists Network
GWSC - Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation
HSD - Hydrological Services Department
IWSPMF- Improvement of Water Sector Performance management Framework (Project)
JMP - WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme
JTC /IWRM Joint Technical Committee for Integrated Water Resources Management
LA - Learning Alliance
LI - legislative Instrument

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M&E - Monitoring and Evaluation
MDG - Millennium Development Goal
MLGRD - Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development
MMDA - Metropolitan/Municipal/District Assembly
MWRWH Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing
NCWSP - National Community Water and Sanitation Programme
NEPAD - New Partnership for Africa’s Development
NESSAP - National Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plan
NGO - Non Governmental Organization
NLLAP - National Level Learning Alliance Platform
PURC - Public Utility Regulatory Commission
RCN - Resource Centre Network
RWSP - Rural Water and Sanitation Project
SHEP - School Hygiene Education Programme
SIP - Sector Investment Plan
SWAp - Sectorwide Approach
TPP - Tripartite Partnership
UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund
VBA - Volta Basin Authority
VIP - Ventilated Improved Pit (latrine)
WASH - Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
WATSAN Water and Sanitation
WHO - World Health Organization
WQI - Water Quality Index
WRC - Water Resources Commission
WSDBs - Water and Sanitation Development Boards
WSMP - Water and Sanitation Monitoring Platform
WSRP - Water Sector Restructuring Programme
WVI - World Vision International

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Executive Summary
This is the first attempt in Ghana to produce a comprehensive Water and Sanitation Sector Performance
Report. The production of this first edition, as is common with many a first attempt in many endeavours,
has been quite challenging, while at the same time, it has helped to identify a couple of gaps that need
to be filled as a sector to help speed up the drive toward sectorwide monitoring and subsequent
reporting. As there are no harmonized sector indicators yet, this report is basically a compilation of
reports from the three main sector agencies: Water Resources Commission, Community Water and
Sanitation Agency and Ghana Water Company Limited. It must also be noted that the focus of this
report is on local targets as set by the WRC, CWSA and GWCL and not the UN MDG targets. It is hoped
that stakeholders will quickly come out with more ideas that will help shape subsequent Sector
Performance Reports that will satisfy Ghana’s information needs on WASH.
Performance against national targets by 2015 (Drinking water supply)
The Ghana Water Company Limited, the main national utility in charge of supply of potable water to
urban dwellers in Ghana, has set a target of achieving 85% coverage by 2015. As at the end of 2009, the
company had achieved 59% coverage. The Community Water and Sanitation Agency has also set a target
of 76% drinking water coverage for rural and small town dwellers by 2015. The Agency had achieved
58.97% as at the end of 2009. Based on this information, the overall national coverage as far as the two
main sector agencies in charge of drinking water supply are concerned is estimated at 58.98% as at the
end of 2009 as against a national target of 79.8%.
Performance in Water Resources Management
The main activities under water resources management in 2009 included:
Water quality monitoring: this has been carried out in 19 locations since 2005. Most of the river
systems analyzed maintained their quality status while a few recorded some decline;
Water resources use and regulation: As at the end of 2009, 154 major water users had been licensed
and issued permits, majority of which were for domestic water supplies;
Regulation of Dams: The WRC initiated a process of developing another regulation aimed at
coordinating all relevant activities related to dam design, construction, operations, maintenance,
and decommissioning to ensure uniform and adequate level of safety for all dams throughout
Ghana;
Compliance monitoring and enforcement: A register of permit holders (major water users) was
regularly updated and annually made public in the print media;
River basin management: Main activities included ensuring the functionality of River Basin Boards,
development of national IWRM plans, IWRM promotion and public education and transboundary
water resources management and development, as well as undertaking specific climate change

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adaptation projects.
Rural Water Supply and Sanitation
Rural and small town drinking water supply coverage has consistently improved from 40% in 2000 to
58.97% in 2009. However, with a sub-sector target of 76% by 2015, coverage should have been 60% as
at 2009, meaning that the sub-sector is not yet fully on track. If the current coverage trend continues,
the sub-sector will achieve about 74% by 2015.
Urban water supply
The national target set for urban drinking water supply under the GPRS is 85% coverage by 2015.
Available data however shows that Ghana is far from meeting this target. The installed capacity of all the
urban water supply systems in the country is about 949,000 cubic metres per day but current water
demand in urban areas is estimated at about 1,101,032 cubic metres per day. Effective urban water
supply coverage is about 59%. This coverage is quite low when compared with the targets.
Urban water coverage experienced a downward trend from 2003 to 2006. The trend however changed
and since 2006 there has been a steady upward movement from 55% to 59% in 2009.
Since 2003, water production by GWCL has increased steadily from 205.2mm3
to 231.77mm3
in 2009.
Revenue generation by the Company has also improved from GH¢41.5 million to GH¢106.6 million in
2009. However, cost of production has also increased from GH¢0.096/m3
to GH¢0.39/m3
. Cost of
chemicals per m3
for instance has doubled from GH¢0.02 in 2003 to GH¢0.04 in 2009. Non-revenue
water as at the end of 2009 was 51.5%, having reduced from 57.1% in 2003.
GoG Budget performance
Since 2007, government allocations to the Water Resources Commission have consistently reduced from
GH¢94,500 to GH¢60,845. It is also evident that actual releases from these allocations have been very
low; 6.3% in 2007, 11.7% in 2008 and 3.2% in 2009. WRC spending from the GoG releases have always
been 100%. Government releases to WRC over the three year period have been about 3% of WRC’s
internally generated funds.
GoG allocations for rural and small town water supply has shown an upward trend from GH¢2,179,419
in 2006 to GH¢35,026,106 in 2009. However, the gap between allocations and actual releases is rather
widening; from about 25% in 2006 to about 90% in 2009.
Since 2007, GoG has not been able to fully release its approved budget to GWCL. In 2007 for instance
GoG released only 4.6% of the GH¢25.7 million approved, while in 2009, GoG released about 23% of the
approved GH¢11.8 million.
Conclusions and recommendations
Monitoring and Evaluation
There is currently no sectorwide Monitoring and Evaluation framework. Information in this report has
been based on fragmented sub-sector definitions and standards. Developing a sectorwide M&E

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framework is therefore critical to the value of this report. For instance this report has no information on
functionality and sustainability since an indicator on functionality or sustainability is not yet defined.
There are no known sectorwide indicators on hygiene, gender and vulnerability issues among others.
Lack of information on such critical components of WASH service delivery leaves a major gap in sector
information and decision-making.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) however generates substantial amount of data on WASH, including
data on sanitation, hygiene and gender. However, stakeholders in the WASH sector have yet to make
effective use of this survey data since they are yet to fully accept the methodologies and the definitions
used. Experts have recommended a special WASH survey to be conducted (by the GSS) with common
sector definitions and indicators in order to make more effective a common M&E framework.
Rural and small town water supply
Provision should be made for the investment component of CWSA to be rolled over every financial year
to enable smooth implementation of programmes as happens with the funds provided by donors since it
is not always possible for funds to be disbursed in one financial year.
Procurement
Though the Procurement Act has introduced a lot of transparency in the system it must be reviewed to
introduce a higher degree of flexibility to properly align it to the development exigencies of current
times to avoid unnecessary delays in implementation of projects.
Sanitation and hygiene indicators and data
To date, no WASH sector agency collates sectorwide data on sanitation and hygiene. Therefore this
report has almost no data on sanitation and hygiene. The only type of data on sanitation is generated by
the Ghana Statistical Service through representative household surveys and censuses. This report could
not use that data for this report since the methodologies applied in generating such survey data are
different from what the agencies applied to generate data on water.
NGO Contribution
In spite of their much appreciated contribution to policy formulation, decision-making, funding and
facility delivery, it was extremely difficult to obtain a documented evidence of NGO contribution to the
WASH sector in Ghana from the umbrella body (CONIWAS). It is strongly recommended that CONIWAS
compiles an annual report on the total contribution its members make to the sector in the form of
funding, facility delivery, advocacy and policy formulation, strategy development, sector learning among
others.
Sustaining existing investments
More water and Sanitation investments are needed in both rural/small towns and urban areas

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particularly in fast growing peri-urban areas. However, it is absolutely necessary to properly operate and
maintain the systems and assure the sustainability of the investments. Unfortunately, however, it was
hard to come by data on functionality for this report and it is strongly recommended that data
generation by all the agencies should ensure that this all important indicator is not ignored.
GoG budget allocation and releases
Coverage for water and sanitation has been generally slow given the demand for improved drinking
water and sanitation. A major contributory factor is government’s inability to release all approved funds
to the sector over the years. There is a similar complaint from the GWCL and the WRC, and it is strongly
recommended that the GoG should reverse the trend and ensure that adequate funds are released to
help achieve the targets.
Water and Sanitation Development and other Boards
There have been major complaints from sector agencies and civil society of political interference in
water management issues especially the dissolution of well established and trained water boards,
agency Boards, CEOs and Managing Directors etc whenever there is a change in government. Long
delays in replacing and training such Boards and Directors affect the overall performance of the WASH
sector as they affect major decision-making such as release of funds and disbursement, recruitment of
staff, award of contracts and collapse of installed systems.
Population estimates
Put together, estimates from the Ghana Water Company and the CWSA portrays Ghana’s population as
at 2009 to be more than 27 million, while other reports such as those from the UN estimate it at about
23 million as at 2008. Population estimates alone can distort all statistical data and give a very wrong
picture of what is supposed to be the actual situation. It will be in the interest of the WASH sector to
work with a common population base.
Definition of urban and rural
Data disaggregation should base on common definitions of urban and rural. What happens at the
moment is that some communities that are purely urban (according to the GSS definition of urban as a
community with 5,000 or more inhabitants) are actually reported under rural or small town by CWSA
because they fall under the CWSA operational areas as small towns. Therefore, while household user-
based survey data on WASH disaggregate rural and urban according to the GSS definition, the agencies
define the term according to the areas they operate (the GWCL for instance define urban as the
communities served by the 82 systems they operate). It is therefore not possible to compare
rural/urban disaggregated data from the agencies with those from the user survey reports from the
GSS/JMP.

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1 Historical overview

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1.0 Introduction
The first public water supply system in Ghana, then Gold Coast, was established in Accra just before
World War I. Extensions were made exclusively to other urban areas among them the colonial capital of
Cape Coast, Winneba and Kumasi in the1920s.
During this period, the water supply systems were managed by the Hydraulic Division of Public Works
Department. With time the responsibilities of the Hydraulic Division were widened to include the
planning and development of water supply systems in other parts of the country.
In 1948, the Department of Rural Water Development was established to engage in the development
and management of rural water supply through the drilling of bore holes and construction of wells for
rural communities.
After Ghana’s independence in 1957, a Water Supply Division, with headquarters in Kumasi, was set up
under the Ministry of Works and Housing with responsibilities for both urban and rural water supplies.
During the dry season of 1959, there was severe water shortage in the country. Following this crisis, an
agreement was signed between the Government of Ghana and the World Health Organization (WHO)
for a study to be conducted into the water sector development of the country.
The study focused not only on technical engineering but also on the organization of a national water and
sewerage authority and the methods of financing. The study recommended the preparation of a 20-year
(1960 to 1980) Master Plan for water supply and sewerage services in Accra-Tema.
In line with the recommendations of WHO, the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC), was
established in 1965 under an Act of Parliament (Act 310) as a legal public utility entity. GWSC was
responsible for:
water supply and sanitation in rural as well as urban areas
the conduct of research on water and sewerage as well as the making of engineering surveys and
plans
the construction and operation of water and sewerage works, and
the setting of standards and prices and collection of revenues
1.1 Decline in Operational Efficiency of GWSC
In 1957, there were 35 pipe-borne water supply systems in the country. The number of pipe-borne
systems rose to 69 in 1961 and then to 194 in 1979. At this time, there were 2,500 hand pumped
borehole systems in the country and by 1984, additional 3,000 boreholes had been drilled and fitted
with hand pumps. However by the late 1980s and early 1990s, 33% of the water supply systems had
deteriorated greatly or completely broken down due to inadequate funding to carry out maintenance

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and rehabilitation. A World Bank report in 1998 states that: “The water supply systems in Ghana
deteriorated rapidly during the economic crises of the 1970s and early 1980s when Government’s ability
to adequately operate and maintain essential services was severely constrained.”
1.2 Interventions by to Improve Efficiency
To reverse the decline in water supply services, interventions in the area of sector reforms and project
implementation were made in 1970, 1981 and 1988. These included interventions by the World Bank,
IDA, donor countries and other external support agencies such as Austrian Government, Italian
Government, Nordic Development Fund, the African Development Bank, Canadian International
Development Agency, Department for International Development, KfW, GTZ, OECF, ECGD and CFD/ADF.
Though some gains were derived from these interventions, their general impact on service delivery was
very disappointing. Due to the failure of these interventions to achieve the needed results, several
efforts were made to improve efficiency within the water supply sector in Ghana especially during the
era of the Economic Recovery Programme from 1983 to 1993. During this period, loans and grants were
sought from the World Bank and other donors for the initiation of rehabilitation and expansion
programmes, to train personnel and to buy transport and maintenance equipment.
In addition, user fees for water supply were increased and subsidies on water tariffs were gradually
removed for GWSC to achieve self-financing. Although subvention for both operational and
developmental programmes was withdrawn in 1986, government funding for development programmes
continued. The government at that time approved a formula for annual tariff adjustments to enable the
corporation generate sufficient funds to cover all annual recurrent costs as well as attain some capacity
to undertake development projects.
1.3 The Water Sector Restructuring Project
In 1987, a “Five-Year Rehabilitation and Development Plan” for the sector was prepared which resulted
in the launching of the Water Sector Restructuring Project (WSRP). Multilateral and bilateral donors
contributed $140 million to support the implementation of the WSRP. The reforms were aimed at
reducing unaccounted for water, introducing rationalization through reduction of the workforce, hiring
of professionals and training of the remaining staff. A strong focus in the WSRP was also to improve
management and increase efficiency through organizational change in the water sector.
Accordingly, a number of organizational reforms within the Ghanaian water sector were initiated in the
early 1990s. As a first step, responsibilities for sanitation and small towns water supply were
decentralized from Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation to the District Assemblies in 1993.
The Water Resources Commission (WRC) was founded in 1996 to be in charge of overall regulation and
management of water resources utilization. In 1997, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC)
came into being with the purpose of setting tariffs and quality standards for the operation of public

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utilities.
With the passage of Act 564 of 1998, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) was
established to be responsible for management of rural water supply systems, hygiene education and
provision of sanitary facilities. After the establishment of CWSA, 120 water supply systems serving small
towns and rural communities were transferred to the District Assemblies and Communities to manage
under the community-ownership and management scheme.
Finally, pursuant to the Statutory Corporations (Conversion to Companies) Act 461 of 1993 as amended
by LI 1648, on 1st July 1999, GWSC was converted into a 100% state owned limited liability, Ghana
Water Company Limited, with the responsibility for urban water supply only.
A Water Directorate was also created within the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing in
2004 to oversee sector policy formulation and review, monitoring and evaluation of the activities of the
agencies, and co-ordination of the activities of donors.
The Environmental Health and Sanitation Department of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural
Department was also upgraded into a Directorate in 2008.

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2 Institutional and policy
framework

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2.1 Introduction
Several institutions play various roles in Ghana’s Water and Sanitation Sector. These include Ministries,
Agencies, and Local Government institutions. This chapter presents brief information on institutional
arrangements and how they link with each other from policy and coordination to implementation and
regulation, as well as a bit on External Support Agencies and NGOs.
2.2 Sector Ministries
2.2.1 Ministry of Water Resources, Works and housing (MWRWH)
The Ministry is responsible for setting policies and strategies for the water sector in the country –
including water resources management and supply of drinking water to both urban and rural
communities. There are three key public sector institutions/agencies under the ministry; the Water
Resources Commission (WRC), Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the Community water and
Sanitation Agency (CWSA). They execute the Ministry’s programmes, policies, plans and strategies on
water resources management and drinking water supply in the country. The Ministry has established a
Water Directorate to oversee sector policy formulation and review, monitoring and evaluation of the
activities of the agencies, and co-ordination of the activities of donors.
2.2.2 The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development
This is the Ministry responsible for the overall policy formulation and strategic guidelines, planning,
coordination, collaboration, monitoring and evaluation of programs for the environmental health and
sanitation sector - both liquid and solid waste. It is also responsible for the efficient administration of all
local government institutions including the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies. It should
be noted that these MMDAs are also responsible for the management and coordination of water and
sanitation programmes within the communities under their jurisdiction. An Environmental Health and
Sanitation Division under the Ministry was upgraded into a Directorate in 2008. The EHSD is responsible
for coordinating the activities of all the key sector institutions including MMDAs involved the
environmental sanitation sector.
The EHSD provides sector coordination and facilitation of MMDAs in implementing national-level and
other ministries’ programmes on environmental sanitation
2.2.3 Ministry of Education
Through the School Health Education Programme (SHEP), the Ministry is tasked to implement the
hygiene promotion and the school health programme in water and sanitation in all educational
institutions particularly at the basic level.
2.2.4 Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service
The Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service are responsible for the management of health
services in the country and providing health data, supporting health education activities, and

Page 24
contributing to regulation and standard-setting for health services. The health sector relies on
environmental sanitation data and information to contribute to disease prevention and control.
2.3 Sector Agencies and Departments
2.3.1 The Water Resources Commission (WRC)
Created in 1996 by Act 522, the WRC is responsible for the regulation and management of the utilization
of water resources and the coordination of policies related to its functions. Among its major tasks are
the granting of water rights and the allocation of water resources among competing users.
2.3.2 Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL)
Established by Act 310 of 1965 as the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC), and converted
to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) by Act 461 of 1993, it is a state-owned company
responsible for producing and distributing potable water to the urban population for domestic, public
and industrial purposes.
2.3.3 Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA)
Established by Act 564 of 1998, the CWSA is a facilitating agency under the Ministry of Water Resources,
Works and Housing. Its mandate is to facilitate the provision of safe drinking water and related
sanitation and hygiene services to rural communities and small towns in Ghana.
2.3.4 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs)
Established under the Local Government Act, 462, MMDAs are responsible for the preparation of the
District Water and Sanitation Plans. This responsibility, however, does not include urban water supply.
MMDAs play a crucial role of ensuring that facilities provided to rural and small towns are adequately
managed and maintained. They are required to ensure that Water and Sanitation Committees and
Water and Sanitation Development Boards are formed and given recognition to manage rural and small
town water facilities provided. MMDAs are also expected to establish a budget line for water and
sanitation either through central government allocations or through internally generated funds.
2.3.5 Development partners
Development partners play a very important and indispensable role in Ghana’s water and sanitation
sector. These roles extend from financial assistance to technical assistance and, through participation in
(and sometimes championing) sector dialogues, contribute to development of sector policies and
strategies. There are many external development assistance partners working in the sector.
Development partners currently contribute about 80% of total WASH sector funding1
. The partners
include: African Development Bank (AfDB), Agence Française de Dévéloppement (AFD), CIDA, DANIDA,
1
Recent arguments point to the fact that a considerable proportion of donor funds to the WASH sector are indeed loans
contracted by the government of Ghana. It will therefore be fair to the government if future analyses disaggregate loans from
grants and show the actual GoG contribution.

Page 25
GTZ/KfW, DfiD, European Union, Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), Netherlands, UNICEF,
IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, and the World Bank.
2.3.6 NGOs
Though currently difficult to estimate the exact contribution of NGOs in Ghana’s Water in terms of
sector financing, there is a lot of field evidence to suggest that the significant presence of both
international and local NGOs and Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) in the WASH Sector in Ghana is
indeed helping to accelerate sector growth.
WaterAid, World Vision International (WVI), Church of Christ, the Catholic Church, Plan International
and Adventist Development and Relief Organization (ADRA), are among international NGOs sometimes
playing roles of donors and implementers. The formation of the Coalition of NGOs in Water and
Sanitation (CONIWAS) in 2003 has also contributed to a better sector coordination, having been
collaborating with the MWRWH and its agencies, particularly CWSA. In effect this has enabled CONIWAS
to bring its members to conform to sector’s procedures and guidelines, a situation which was previously
missing.
2.4 Sector coordination updates
2.4.1 Sector policy updates
The overall goal of the National Water Policy, which was approved in 2007 after years of consultations,
is to ‘achieve sustainable development, management and use of Ghana’s water resources to improve
health and livelihoods, reduce vulnerability while assuring good governance for present and future
generations.’ This goal is to be achieved by addressing relevant issues under water resources
management, urban water supply and community water and sanitation2
.
Every action taken, from integrated water resources management, urban water supply and community
water and sanitation during the year 2009 were therefore broadly influenced and informed by this
broad policy objective. Some of the focus areas that received renewed attention were private sector
participation in water service delivery; for the first time there were high level discussions on how to take
this objective forward during the 1st
Ghana Water Forum in October 2009, where sector stakeholders
and corporate institutions organized a Business Roundtable to find a way forward. A final draft of the
reviewed National Sanitation Policy was also submitted to Cabinet for approval and it will very likely be
launched by the end of 2010.
2.4.2 Sector-wide Approach (SWAp) updates3
Efforts to move towards a sectorwide approach for water and sanitation delivery is an on-going process
and dates back to 2002 when the Donor’s Conference of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency
2
National Water Policy 2007
3
Water Directorate: Deepening the understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the Ghana water Sector SWAp (March
2010)

Page 26
(CWSA) deliberated on the theme: ‘Towards a Sectorwide Approach for Community Water and
Sanitation Delivery.’ The 2004 Donors Conference further built on this under the theme ‘Harmonizing
approaches in water and sanitation delivery.’ By the end of 2008, some important milestones had been
attained towards a more integrated national water and sanitation sector. These include the creation of a
Water Directorate in 2004 and the development of a National Water Policy in 2007. In 2009, a Water
and Sanitation Sector Group, led by the Water Directorate established a SWAp Task Force which
developed a SWAp Roadmap to build momentum towards getting the SWAp in motion. The roadmap
defined some critical next steps f including:
Strengthening of the Water Directorate;
Agreement on a Code of Conduct for all those working in the sector;
Development of a comprehensive sector development plan with a budget linked to
government’s annual budget processes;
Agreement on possible financing options for SWAp and
Development of a sustainable common sector M&E system.
Series of action oriented stakeholder workshops have subsequently been planned against 2010 to help
take major decisions on how to implement this roadmap.
2.4.3 Sector M&E updates
At the agency level, both the CWSA and GWCL have M&E systems that help them to track progress, plan
and make informed management decisions. A major challenge, however, has been with monitoring,
evaluation and decision-making at the national level. This is because of differences in definitions and
methodologies that the agencies employ in their monitoring processes. In the spirit of a drive toward a
sectorwide approach and effective sector coordination, there is need to harmonize some of the
definitions and monitoring approaches and develop sectorwide monitoring indicators and produce a
sectorwide report.
Monitoring and evaluation received a boost as a policy objective and as a major requirement in a sector-
wide approach when, at the national level, and with support from the EU Water Facility and UNICEF, a
Water and Sanitation Monitoring Platform (WSMP) was established to support the Water Directorate in
2008 to begin a process of actively disseminating available sector data and facilitating a process of
harmonizing sector definitions and monitoring methodologies. The WSMP has so far been able to
disseminate some of the existing and useful data and has promoted a better understanding of various
data available in the sector. The Platform has also raised a number of issues needing national level
attention. As a result of its achievements, the Water Directorate has decided to recognize and support
the WSMP to serve, in the interim, as a national mechanism for sectorwide monitoring and evaluation,
with mandate to, among other functions, facilitate the development of sectorwide monitoring
indicators, establishment of a sectorwide M&E system, data flow system and also disseminate
sectorwide data to inform national level decision-making.

Page 27
2.5 On-going sector learning and other projects
There are a number of on-going projects that are intended to inform policy and strategies, particularly in
relation to WASH delivery to the poor, WASH data literacy and harmonization, life cycle costs of service
delivery, sustainable management of water resources and water safety and management etc. These
projects are being implemented by various institutions in partnership with the MWRWH and its
agencies, academic institutions, NGOs and international organizations. These are briefly discussed
below:
2.5.1 Improvement of Water Sector Performance Management Framework (IWSPMF)
The project aims at supporting the Water Directorate in policy formulation, planning and coordination of
sector activities and programmes, while ensuring coherence in monitoring and evaluation. The
Improvement of the Water Sector Performance Management Framework (IWSPMF) aims at developing
the capacity of the Water Directorate in the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing to
implement the National Water Policy and improve the Water and Sanitation (W&S) Sector performance
for achieving national and MDG targets. This is expected to be achieved by developing a consistent and
objective framework for promoting increased, predictable and innovative funding for the Sector. The
project is funded by the European Union with support from DFID and the Government of Ghana.
Outputs in 2009 include:
Capacity building of Water Directorate staff through appropriate short term training courses in
Ghana and other countries, as well as the provision of various office equipment;
A Water and Sanitation Sector Website was developed and launched with links to other agencies;
A quarterly sector newsletter Water Focus was established with first edition already published;
A multi stakeholder dialogue on improving transparency and accountability in the WASH Sector was
organized;
Supported the development and implementation of a roadmap for Sector Wide Approach (SWAp)
and funded the organization of the 2nd
SWAp workshop;
Provided funding and technical support for organization of the 1st
Ghana Water Forum; and
Supported the organization of Water and Sanitation Sector Group meetings.
2.5.2 The Water and Sanitation Monitoring Platform (WSMP)
With funding from the EU Water Facility and technical/financial Support from UNICEF, the Water and
Sanitation Monitoring Platform was established in Ghana in 2008 by the Water Directorate of the
Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing.
WSMP was established as a three-year pilot project to support WASH sector monitoring through
assembling of available data, repackaging and disseminating information to relevant stakeholders. The
project also seeks to support and/or facilitate efforts towards harmonization of sector definitions and
methodologies for data collection in order to minimize disparities.
This Platform had become necessary due to wide disparities between data generated by sector Agencies
and those generated by the Ghana Statistical Service and the United Nations and the need for

Page 28
government and stakeholders to understanding them to make informed decisions. There was also a lot
of data that was not disseminated and thus not made use of.
From 2008 to 2009, the WSMP contributed tremendously to sector activities by educating the WASH
sector on various types of data and why there were differences between them, when and where to use
which type of data etc. The Platform also raised the profile of a number of issues such as Ghana’s MDG
progress on water and sanitation and the issue of shared toilet facilities and its impact on Ghana’s MDG
progress on sanitation. Among other activities, the WSMP is currently supporting the Water Directorate
to establish a sectorwide monitoring and evaluation framework as part of the drive towards a sector-
wide approach (SWAp). The Platform is also coordinating the production of this WASH Sector
Performance Report. For more information, visit www.wsmp.org.
2.5.3 Resource Centre Network (RCN)
The Resource Centre Network (RCN) is an institutional partnership that seeks to promote Knowledge
Management (KM) services within the WASH sector in Ghana. The network is a group of organizations
and projects that generate and disseminate knowledge and act as the operational body for sector KM
activities. Though RCN partners have their own sector focus and target groups, the Members commit to
network their knowledge activities through the RCN Secretariat in order to avoid duplication and
optimize use of resources to ensure that the knowledge requirements of the entire sector is met.
A major achievement of RCN in 2009 was the introduction of the monthly National Level Learning
Alliance Platform (NLLAP) and the Sector Events Calendar (both in collaboration with the Water
Directorate). The platform provided regular interactive sessions with sector stakeholders to learn and
share lessons, experiences, best practices and innovations on various thematic areas within WASH. The
events calendar also served as a guide to setting dates of sector events, thus supporting sector
coordination with regards to sector engagements. For more information, visit www.ghana.watsan.net.
2.5.4 WASHCost Project Ghana
WASHCost is a five-year initiative focused on exploring and sharing an understanding of the true costs of
sustainable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services. It is led by the Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana in cooperation with IRC International Water and Sanitation
Centre, The Netherlands. Since 2008, WASHCost has developed new methodologies with sector
stakeholders to better understand and use the costs in providing WASH services to rural and peri-urban
communities in Ghana. Some of the partners include Water Directorate (WD) of the Ministry of Water
Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH), Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of
the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) and Community Water and
Sanitation Agency (CWSA).
In 2009, WASHCost piloted new methodologies to collect life-cycle costs of sustainable WASH services in
Northern, Ashanti, Volta, and Greater Accra regions. Preliminary information was collected on Capital
Expenditure (CapEx), Operating and Minor Maintenance Expenditure (OpEx), Capital Maintenance

Page 29
Expenditure (CapManEX), Expenditure on Direct Support (ExpDS) and Expenditure on Indirect Support
(ExpIDS). Service levels indicators were identified which reflect the standards of service in rural and peri-
urban communities against which life-cycle costs can be measured. Some of the preliminary results have
been presented on certain stakeholder platforms.
2.5.5 Tripartite Partnership Project (TPP)
The Tripartite Partnership Project (TPP) is a collaborative approach involving Ghanaian and Dutch
partners, with additional AWF/AfDB funds for infrastructure, that seeks to tackle the core problems of
weak sector capacity for planning and delivery of WASH services in poor urban areas. This is done
through the demonstration of new approaches to pro-poor WASH service delivery in three pilot areas
involving three-party partnerships of NGO, Public and Private sectors. The specific objectives are:
To analyze the problems and constraints to pro-poor services delivery and identify innovative
approaches;
To identify and test a range of different innovative management models for providing WASH
services to the urban poor;
To support the creation of the enabling environment (policy, regulation, etc.) necessary for these
innovative models to be widely scaled-up.
The main achievement for 2009 included the identification and documentation of innovative
management models for water supply in Ghana, support for the establishment of structures for sector
learning and networking, and the preparation of detailed field-based pilot projects with infrastructure
for service delivery alongside learning aspects. For more information, please visit
http://www.ghana.watsan.net/page/687
2.5.6 Sustainable Water management Improves Tomorrow’s Cities Health (SWITCH)
SWITCH is implemented by a consortium of 32 organizations from various countries under the
coordination of UNESCO-IHE. In Ghana it is being implemented by KNUST, the International Water
Management Institute and District Assemblies. The aim is to achieve a paradigm shift in urban water
management for a sustainable, healthy and safe urban water system. The principal objective of the
project is that Accra will strive to develop and safeguard its renewable water resources and to use them
to effectively and efficiently provide its citizen’s with appropriate drinking water and other water related
services in a manner that is integrated, equitable, sustainable and cost-effective.
SWITCH has for the past three years been contributing to the development of strategic directions in
Urban Water Management through training, research and demonstrations on Social Inclusion in Urban
Water Governance, Use of Natural Systems for storm water management and waste water treatment.
SWITCH also supported the training of various sector practitioners in planning for Integrated Urban
Water Management. SWITCH initiated a Learning Alliance (LA) Process for the Urban Water Sector
which is in its 3rd
year. The SWITCH project is using the LAs to develop strategic plans for Integrated
Urban Water Management. The LA is currently in the strategy development phase and to provide

Page 30
evidence for decisions regarding the strategic directions, an institutional map and a Resource
Infrastructure Demand Access Assessment (RIDA) have been developed. The RIDA document has been
instrumental in collating information regarding the status of water management in Accra. This
document has been widely circulated among key stakeholders in the Urban Water Management Sector.
2.5.7 UN-HABITAT Water for African Cities Project
This is a project sponsored by the UN Habitat and the Government of Ghana. The objective is to improve
health and productivity by increasing access to good drinking water and proper sanitation facilities on
sustainable basis and trigger investments in the sector to meet GPRS, NEPAD, and MDG targets. The
project area consists of core community of Sabon Zongo and other areas in the Accra metropolis
including Weija, Bortianor and Legon. Co-operating partners are WaterAid, GWCL, Ghana Education
Service, Accra Metropolitan Assembly and Water Resources Commission.
2.5.8 Pro-poor pilot projects for water interventions in low income communities
To achieve its pro-poor objectives the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) is collaborating
with GWCL, AVRL, WaterAid, communities and other institutions to undertake pilot projects to serve the
poor in three low-income, water-deprived communities in Accra. These pilots are expected to provide
specific information for further refining of the commission’s social policies with a view to better
identification and targeting of the poor in its regulatory decisions. GWCL is also collaborating with AFD
through a study and infrastructural development to develop a national pre-urban policy for Ghana. The
study area is in three towns under the Berekum Water Supply system namely Kato, Jemdede and Nato
in the Brong Ahafo Region. Three models are going to be studied and also a learning study tour to
countries with similar successfully policies visited to learn from their challenges in its implementation.
Similar GWCL, AVRL and CHF are also working on a similar project which will feed into the finalization of
the national pre-urban policy.
2.5.9 Sustainable Services at Scale (Triple-S)
The Sustainable Services at Scale (Triple-S) is an IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre six-year
multi-country learning initiative aimed at supporting governments and stakeholders in the water sector
to improve rural water supply. Working collaboratively within existing structures, applying innovative
planning and best practice, Triple-S encourages the shift away from one-off, stand-alone infrastructure
projects towards integrated and lasting water services. In Ghana, the initiative will develop and test
innovative approaches for water service delivery for national level upscale; support learning in the
sector through documentation and dissemination of information on best practices of rural water service
delivery; support processes for harmonization and coordination at national and district levels; facilitate
processes for adoption of a service delivery approach and; support institutional strengthening and
reforms for sustained water service delivery. The main implementing partner and host is the Community
Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA). Implementation of the initiative in Ghana began with the signing
of a hosting agreement with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency in October 2009. A multi
country study (including Ghana) into experiences with rural water service provision and aid effectiveness

Page 31
was commissioned in 2009. Structures for implementation, including a technical committee under the
chairmanship of CWSA and a multi-stakeholder National Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of
the Ministry of Water Resources Works and Housing were established in 2009. Again, a consultative
process for the development of a strategic plan for implementation of the initiative was launched. These
primary activities set the stage for a full scale implementation of the initiative in 2010.
2.6 Annual reviews and conferences
There are a number of review processes in the WASH sector. Some of them examine policies,
implementation processes, procedures and specific project/programme achievements and challenges.
The MWRWH-led sector review for drinking water supply and sanitation, takes place around September
or October every year to ensure that its decisions and recommendations are captured in the
Government’s Annual Budget. In 2009, this review meeting (called GoG and Donors Conference) was
replaced by the Ghana Water Forum Series.
The Mole Conference Series: It is organized by the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation
(CONIWAS), and is held mid-year. Led by NGOs, this has been held annually since 1989. The theme for
the 2009 Mole Conference was “twenty years of multi-sector dialogue in Ghana, the state of water,
sanitation and hygiene.” It was mainly to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Mole Series and assess
its contribution to WASH development in Ghana. Mole Series had contributed to sector dialogue,
knowledge and the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene services to the people of Ghana. Among
several others, Mole 2009 made the following pledges and calls in the conference communiqué:
A pledge to consolidate the gains made through improved sector coordination, and to collectively
work towards improving it through compliance with and respect for sector policies, regulations and
standards;
A pledge to support the development and implementation of appropriate policies and programmes
and the enactment of requisite legislation to promote water-saving devices and practices;
A call for intensified stakeholder education on the efficient selection and use of WASH sector data;
A call on government and its agencies to evaluate and draw lessons from laudable private initiatives
aimed at improving access to water and sanitation services to low income communities;
A call for the development of a comprehensive Hygiene Education strategy by the Environmental
Health and Sanitation Directorate.
CWSA Annual Review: This review focuses on rural and small town water and sanitation service delivery.
The theme for the 2009 Review was on Monitoring and Evaluation for Sustainable Delivery of Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion. There were discussions on new ideas to make monitoring and
evaluation more effective within the agency as it relates to the sustainability of the facilities that it
provides.
The Management and staff of CWSA acknowledged the critical role they have to play in achieving the
Government’s “Better Ghana Agenda” and pledged to work hard and endeavour to achieve set targets.
They also promised to continue to pursue a policy of transparency and strive to build consensus through
open engagement and constructive exchange of ideas.

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Ghana Water Forum: This is an annual event dedicated to wider water security issues, which mimics the
African Water Week at the national level. The first of the GWF series was held in 2009. The Theme for
the forum was “Accelerating water security for socio-economic development.” Unlike the GoG/Donor
Conference, the Forum brought together a wider range of participants including the youth and children
and the business community to brainstorm and/or take decisions on achieving water security in the face
of climate change for Ghana.
The Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate annual review: This review is held to assess
environmental sanitation in general. This is usually preceded by a Sanitation Week that highlights issues
and challenges in sanitation and creates awareness for improved sanitation. The EHSD plans to convert
this review to a National Environmental Sanitation Conference (NESCON) from 2010.

Page 33
3 Sector Performance

Page 34
3.0 Introduction
This chapter presents progress on implementation of WASH activities from the three main sector
agencies – the Water Resources Commission, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency and the
Ghana Water Company Limited. It should be noted that this maiden WASH Sector Performance Report
has been produced ahead of the sectorwide discussion and selection of common monitoring indicators.
Therefore it was impossible to use any form of common indicators from the agencies. Indicators and
definitions used to produce this report are those that are currently being used by the various agencies.
3.1 Sector performance against the MDG targets
The focus of this report is on national targets set by the three main agencies based on their respective
standard criteria, methodologies and definitions and not necessarily based on the methodologies for
assessing progress towards the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However,
for the sake of clarity and the avoidance of confusion over coverage data in circulation through current
UN reports and those that are contained in this report, we present a summary of Ghana’s performance
against the MDGs before we move on to report on national targets.
The MDG for water and sanitation is to “halve by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable
access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.” The base year for monitoring MDG progress is 1990
(with occasional variations when new data is discovered). The indicators used to measure progress on
this goal are:
The proportion of the population that uses an improved drinking water source, urban and rural;
The proportion of the population that uses and improved sanitation facility, urban and rural.
We therefore present in the table below, Ghana’s status as in 1990 and her current position (as in 2008).
Table 1: Ghana’s MDG status 1990 and 2008
Year % Water Coverage % Sanitation coverage
Rural Urban National Rural Urban National
1990 37 84 54 4 11 7
2000 58 88 71 5 15 9
2008 74 90 82 7 18 13
Source: WHO/UNCEF Joint Monitoring Programme; Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water 2010 update
As 46% of Ghanaians did not use an improved drinking water source (Detailed JMP definitions for
improved water source and improved sanitation facility have been provided in Annex 9) in 1990, and the
MDG was to reduce that figure by half by 2015, one could then conclude that Ghana’s MDG target for

Page 35
drinking water is 77%. Therefore if as at 2008, when 82% of the population was drinking from an
improved source, Ghana could be said to be clearly on track to meet its MDG target by 2015. The same
could however not be said about sanitation. As Ghana should reach a target of 53.5% in 2015, only 13%
of the population was using an improved sanitation facility as at 2008. This indicates that the country is
off track to meeting its sanitation target by 2015.
Local agencies have largely applied their own indicators, definitions and criteria for monitoring and have
hardly applied the JMP4
criteria. They therefore set their own (local) MDG target of 76% for rural and
small towns water supply and 85% for urban water supply. Missing conspicuously are local targets (and
local data) for sanitation and hygiene.
There are however, local efforts, underway, being coordinated by the WSMP, to find a way of adapting
JMP coverage figures to suit local decision-making and planning. This includes refining JMP coverage
figures with the time that people spend to search for water and/or the distance that people cover from
their homes to the source of water. For now, this report will focus on local targets for water, sanitation
and hygiene until any major decisions are taken in future.
3.2 Performance against national targets - Summary
Coverage against national targets for drinking water as at 2009
Population Population Served % Coverage
Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total Rural Urban National
15,673,313 11,529,723 27,203,036 9,242,366 6,802,536 16,044,902 58.97 59 58.98
Source: CWSA and GWCL: 2009
The Ghana Water Company Limited, the main national utility in charge of supply of potable water to
urban dwellers in Ghana, has set a target of achieving 85% coverage by 2015. As at the end of 2009, the
company had achieved 59% coverage. The Community Water and Sanitation Agency has also set a target
of 76% drinking water coverage for rural and small town dwellers by 2015. The Agency had achieved
58.97% as at the end of 2009.
Based on this information, the overall national coverage as far as the two main water supply sector
agencies are concerned is estimated as 58.98% (total population served as a percentage of total
estimated population by CWSA and GWCL) as at the end of 2009.
Using the absolute figures of the 2015 targets by both agencies, an aggregated national target for 2015
will therefore be 80% (76% of total rural population plus 85% of total urban population expressed as a
percentage of total estimated national population).
4
The JMP is the UN mechanism mandated to monitor global progress on the MDG for drinking water and basic sanitation.

Page 36
Figure 1: Performance against 2015 targets
Given the sub-national drinking water targets of 76% rural and 85% urban by 20155
, and the total
estimated population of 27,203,0366
, it can be deduced that the overall national target by 2015 is 79.8%
(representing 21,711,982 people out of 27,203,036 in absolute terms). The overall national performance
against the national target is therefore 58.98% as against a target of 79.8%.
Figure 2: Total WASH budget against GDP
Sources: Annual Budget Statements 2006 to 2010
5
Ref: Strategic Investment Plans from CWSA and GWCL
6
The figure is derived from the estimated population figures provided by the GWCL and CWSA in their 2009 reports

Page 37
Allocations to the WASH Sector7
since 2006 have consistently fallen below 2% of annual Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). It has also shown a downward trend, having dropped from 1.52% in 2006 to 0.52% in
2010.
Table 3: Investment requirements from Strategic Investment Plans
Rural/Small Town WSS Requirement 2008 - 2015 GWCL (Urban) Water Supply Requirement
2008 -2015
Activity Total Water &
Related
Sanitation
($m)
Software and
Project Mgt
($m)
Total ($m) New
Facilities
($m)
Rehabilitation
($m)
Expansion/
New ($bn)
Cost 469 36 505 921 452 1,373
Source: GWCL and CWSA SIPs 2008 - 2015
Sector Investment Plans from both CWSA and GWCL indicate that the drinking water supply and basic
sanitation sub-sector requires a total investment capital of US$1,878 billion from 2008 to 2015. This
translates into U$505 million and U$1,373 billion rural and urban respectively.
3.3 Water Resources Management
3.3.1 Introduction
A number of reviews were undertaken in the water sector during the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the
resultant reforms remained agency specific with each sector agency managing, controlling and
regulating its own activities. Subsequent reviews identified the institutional gap regarding the co-
ordination and integration of the various sector policies for water use in the country. A significant step
was taken by government to address the diffused state of functions and authority in water resources
management to an integrated form.
Accordingly, the Water Resources Commission (WRC) was established by an Act of Parliament (ACT 522
of 1996), as the national institution responsible for the management of the country’s water resources.
The mandate of WRC is specifically to regulate and manage the country’s water resources and to co-
ordinate government policies in relation to them.
The Commission represents a forum for integration, cooperation and collaboration of different interests
and is composed of the major stakeholders involved in the water sector. The main stakeholders
represented on the WRC are Hydrological Services, Water Supply – both urban and rural, Irrigation
Development, Water Research, Meteorological Services, Hydropower Generation, Environmental
Protection, Forestry, Minerals, Traditional Chiefs, NGOs and Women interests. A Secretariat - the
technical arm of WRC - is responsible for implementing the decisions of the WRC.
7
This excludes allocations to the Water Resources Commission and the Hydrological Services Department

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3.3.2 Water Resources Assessment and Monitoring
The mechanism to enhance water resources data and information services was to review and establish
service provision arrangements with the Water Research Institute (WRI/CSIR) and Hydrological Services
Department (HSD). The focus is to improve hydrometric network, runoff monitoring and routine
provision of stream flow data; monitoring groundwater including water quality, and assessment studies
in selected basins. The collaborative arrangements were initiated with support from the European Union
but could not be consummated before the end of 2009.
The main practical water resources and information management activity was under the Hydro-
geological Assessment Project (HAP), supported by the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA), which entered into its 2nd
phase in 2009. It is aimed at conducting a hydro-geological study in
the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West Regions of Ghana in order to build up a scientific information
and database on the groundwater potential.
Substantial data and information has so far been gathered and shared with relevant institutions.
Specifically, rainwater samples were successfully collected and chloride concentrations determined. Also
15 monitoring wells were successfully drilled and groundwater recording instruments successfully
installed. Initial yields from the boreholes indicate that the potential for groundwater in the Northern
Region is rather substantial.
3.3.3 Water quality monitoring updates
Water Quality Assessments of the South-Western and Coastal River Systems have been carried out in 19
locations (16 River Stations and three Reservoir Stations) since 2005. These rivers and Reservoirs were
sampled five times in a year. The water quality assessments for the Volta System will be included from
2010.
The Water Quality Index (WQI), which is the general water quality indices type in which various physical,
chemical and microbiological variables are aggregated to produce an overall index of water quality,
describes the state of water quality of the water bodies The WQI classification (presented in Table 4)
and the results for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 (shown in Table 5) are available with WRC. The results
for 2009 were not ready for this report.

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Table 4: Water Quality Classification
Class Range Description
I >80 Good – Unpolluted and/or recovering from pollution
II 50 – 80 Fairly Good
III 25 – 50 Poor Quality
IV < 25 Grossly Polluted
Table 5: Results of Water Quality Monitoring and Classification of Water Bodies from 2005- 2008
Station 2005 Class 2006 Class 2007 Class 2008 Class
Weija Lake 59.30 II 64.00 II 57.8 II 55.7 II
Potroase- River Densu 68.90 II 82.80 I 81.0 I 63.9 II
Mangoase- River Densu 54.80 II 64.00 II 49.0 III 54.1 II
Nsawam- River Densu 32.50 III 45.00 III 43.6 III 42.3 III
Mankrong J – River Ayensu 60.80 II 51.80 II 57.8 II 51.0 II
Akim Oda-River Birim (Pra
Basin)
57.80 II 54.80 II 59.3 II 52.5 II
Akim Brenase-River Pra (mid) 60.80 II 57.80 II 59.3 II 57.3 II
Daboase – River Pra 60.80 II 50.40 II 62.4 II 55.7 II
Dunkwa- River Offin (Pra Basin) 56.30 II 53.30 II 56.3 II 48.0 III
Lake Barekese –River Offin 62.40 II 74.00 II 70.6 II 67.4 II
Akotsi-River Ochi-Nakwa 59.30 II 57.80 II 56.3 II 51.0 II
Mankesim-River Ochi-Amisa 59.30 II 62.40 II 60.8 II 51.0 II
Lake Brimso-River Kakum 57.80 II 56.30 II 57.8 II 55.7 II
Ewusijo-River Butre 59.30 II 67.30 II 68.9 II 63.9 II
Dominase- River Ankobra 67.20 II 57.80 II 59.3 II 52.5 II
Prestea –River Ankobra 64.00 II 60.80 II 60.8 II 51.0 II
Elubo- River Tano 59.30 II 60.80 II 64.0 II 65.6 II
Sefwi-Wiawso – River Tano 57.80 II 64.00 II 57.8 II 57.3 II
Dadieso-River Bia 56.30 II 43.60 III 64.0 II 57.3 II
Source: Water Resources Commission
Most of the river systems analyzed have maintained their quality status (class) since 2005. However,
some of them showed some margin of decline in quality. For example the Weija Lake, which supplies the
Western part of Accra with treated water, declined from 64 WQI in 2006 to 55.7 WQI in 2006. The

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Densu River at Potrease also fell from 82.8 in 2006 to 63.9 in 2008 and slipped from Class I to class II.
Though the Densu River at Nsawam maintained its class III status, there was a remarkable improvement
in its quality when its WQI increased from 32.5 in 2005 to 42.3 in 2008. River Offin at Dunkwa also
suffered a slip from class II to class III between 2005 and 2008.
3.3.4 Water Resources Use and Regulation
3.3.4.1 Water allocation and permits administration
The implementation of Water Use Regulations (L.I. 1692) and procedures for the issuance of rights to
major water users by means of permits is well advanced. The water permit register at the end of 2009
shows that 154 major water users have been licensed and issued with permits. Majority of the permit
holders are for domestic water supplies and mining, while only one permit has been issued for
recreation, and two for power generation. Aquaculture and industry have only five and ten licensed
users respectively. See figure 3:
Figure 3: Licensed water users
Source: Water Resources Commission 2010
A Drilling License and Groundwater Development Regulations, 2006 (LI 1827) is also being implemented
to ensure:

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Appropriate coordination of water well drilling activities,
Proper data generation and collection on groundwater, and
Sustained development of groundwater resources.
The Commission in November 2009 initiated the process of developing another Regulation aimed at
coordinating all relevant activities related to dam design, construction, operations, maintenance, and
decommissioning, to ensure uniform and adequate level of safety for all dams throughout Ghana. The
Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) is providing technical assistance for the
process, which would also lead to the development of a National Dam Safety Unit (NDSU).
3.3.4.2 Compliance monitoring and enforcement
In addition to licensing and regulations, periodic water user identification exercises were undertaken to
ensure compliance of the regulations. Institutions such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
River Basin Boards and District Assemblies assisted in compliance monitoring. Furthermore, a register of
permit holders (major water users) was regularly updated and made public in the print media.
3.3.5 River Basin Management and Planning
3.3.5.1 Functionality of River Basin Institutions/Boards
Three River Basin Offices have been set up and are functioning as part of the decentralization process of
Water Resources Management at the local level while two others are in the pipeline.
The Densu River Basin undertook collaborative activities such as education, tree planting, relocation
of waste disposal sites, etc. These activities have contributed to the improvement in the quality of
the Densu River;
The White Volta River Basin Board focused on transboundary activities and collaboration with
Burkina Faso under the Project for Improving Water Governance in the Volta Basin (PAGEV). During
the year, a Climate Change Adaptation Project was also initiated in the three regions in northern
Ghana with the view to developing and implementing adaptive and coping strategies for water
resources use and management. The project also aims at raising awareness on climate change and
information to reduce livelihood vulnerability;
The Ankobra River Basin were focused mainly on monitoring compliance by water use permit
holders and inspected hotspot issues including pollution, spillage, etc.; and
Two new basin offices, Pra and Tano, are in the process of being established.
3.3.5.2 River basin and national IWRM plans
River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) Plans for the Densu, White Volta, and
Ankobra River Basins have been developed to serve as ‘blueprints’ for water resources management
activities in the basins. There are actions and measures to address the broad spectrum of prioritized
water resources management problems specific to each of the basins, such as water availability and
water quality. In 2009, preparation for similar IWRM plans for the Pra, Tano and Dayi River Basins was
initiated as well as that of a national IWRM. The main action was the completion of baseline data and

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information for the development of the Dayi Basin IWRM Plan. Furthermore, actions such as education
and awareness creation were taken as part of routine programs/activities.
3.3.5.3 IWRM promotion and public education
Nationwide workshops have been ongoing at the regional and district levels for promoting IWRM and
building the capacities of relevant staff at the District Assemblies. The focus is now on targeted
workshops for media/information personnel, queen mothers, opinion leaders and market
women/traders and traditional authorities in all the regions – the Eastern, Ashanti and Central Regions
were comprehensively covered in 2009.
3.3.6 Transboundary water resources management and development
a. A Ghana-Burkina Faso Joint Technical Committee on IWRM (JTC-IWRM) has been functioning since
2006, with the WRC as the focal institution for Ghana. The JTC-IWRM is to advise the Ministers in
charge of water in the two countries. The key activity undertaken by the Ghana-Burkina JTC-IWRM
was a workshop for selected media from the two countries on transboundary water management
particularly to support public awareness regarding flooding through the contribution of spilling from
the Bagre dam in Burkina Faso.
b. The Volta Basin Authority (VBA) has been established for the purposes of ensuring international
cooperation for the rational and sustainable management of the water resources of the Volta Basin,
and for the socio-economic integration among the six riparian countries. The Convention that
established the VBA formally came into force on 14th
August, 2009 after five of the countries - Ghana,
Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Benin - had ratified and deposited the ratification instruments as
legally required. The VBA Strategic Plan and Pre-Investment Plan were approved by the Council of
Ministers at its 5th
meeting held in Accra in December 2009.
c. The PAGEV, the project for improving water governance in the Volta, is focusing on the White Volta
Basin. The project is in its second phase with the Bawku Municipality, Bawku West and Garu
Tempane districts benefiting.
One of the key strategic approaches adopted is to strengthen the national focal institution (WRC –
White Volta Basin Office), as well as engage two NGOs and two decentralized District Assembly
institutions as implementing partners in the delivery of interventions under the IWRM. The
interventions and accomplishments that came out during the year 2009 included the following:
Partners introduced the project to new communities selected for the implementation of IWRM
interventions. Committees were formed to lead communities in partnering the project
implementation;
HIV/AIDs education and awareness campaigns, seminars and group dynamics training were
carried out for the committees and some selected women groups in all communities;
Soil fertility management training for all communities were organized and nursery attendants in
the new communities were trained in nursery management;

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Four new communities were provided with nursery materials and kits to establish nurseries
towards riverbanks restoration in 2009. The communities are Nafkolga, Bazua, Googo and Kobore;
and
Agricultural extension services were provided to all the communities.
3.3.7 Climate Change Adaptation projects
DANIDA through a small grant is supporting the Water Resources Commission to implement a 2-year
(2009-2010) ‘Climate Change Adaptation Project’ through IWRM with focus on the three Regions of
northern Ghana. The project was officially launched in July 2009 in Tamale bringing together local
government and civil society groups, the media, NGOs, etc. Progress made at the end of the year
includes the following:
i. Extensive scoping of communities and fields was completed for the physical implementation of
water conservation and climate response activities.
ii. Sub catchments of the White Volta River Basin were mapped for the development of specific models
on water abstraction and allocation. The outcomes would determine physical piloting of water
storage infrastructure such as dams and reservoirs. Subsequently;
iii. Physical assessment of some flood control and water storage facilities was completed with the help
of the Hydrological Services Dept (HSD) in selected districts (e.g. Bongo, Savulegu-Nanton, and West
Mamprusi).
iv. Work in the Bongo District started in three selected communities. Activities included afforestation,
construction of mechanized wells and dug-outs.
v. Two issues of the climate policy newsletter “Climate Adapt” were released and distributed to over
70 institutions, the basin offices, and second cycle schools in Accra.
vi. Extensive discussions were carried out on determining models for mainstreaming climate
adaptation issues into local level IWRM network/committee on the PAGEV and transboundary
projects.
vii. Guidelines on setting up community indicators of flood and drought and early warning systems have
been outlined and pending validation.
3.3.8 Major challenges with water resources management
A major challenge in water resources management is with respect to the availability of professional
staff, both in numbers and in time, to execute planned activities especially for the basin offices. For
instance, the new Pra Basin Board would need at least three professional/technical staff. The
Commission has previously made submissions to the appropriate authorities for approval for more
technical/professional staff. Meanwhile, local contract personnel are utilized as an interim measure to
resolve necessary issues in lieu of permanent staff. The second key challenge is the lack of or late
release of funds from GoG sources for services and investment to support implementation of programs
and activities.

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3.3.9 GoG Allocations, Releases and WRC Spending
Figure 4: WRC Financing Trends
Source: Water Resources Commission - 2010
Since 2007, government allocations to the Water Resources Commission have consistently reduced from
GH¢94,500 to GH¢60,845. It is also evident that actual releases from these allocations have been very
low; 6.3% in 2007, 11.7% in 2008 and 3.2% in 2009. WRC spending from the GoG releases have always
been 100%. Government releases to WRC over the three year period have been about 3% of WRC’s
internally generated funds.
Figure 5: WRC Internally Generated Funds
Source: Water Resources Commission - 2010
Total WRC Internally Generated Funds released and spent have always been more than 70% since 2007.

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3.4 Rural Water Supply and Sanitation
3.4.1 Introduction
Until the early 1990s, the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) had been responsible for
both urban and rural water supply since 1965. During this period, there was low coverage of rural water
supply. This led to the creation of Rural Water Department within the GWSC in 1986 to give more
attention to the provision of water and sanitation for rural people. Some facilities were provided but
these could not be sustained due to non-payment of tariffs by beneficiary communities with little or no
maintenance of the facilities. The United Nations General Assembly declared 1981 – 1990 as the
International Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade. The focus was to ensure that by the end of the
decade, nations would have given priority attention to the delivery of water and sanitation facilities.
The Ghana Government took advantage of the declaration and initiated a review of its policies on water
and sanitation provision to keep pace with the changing conditions in the country and on the
international scene. In 1987 therefore, a donor conference on water and sanitation was held in Accra, at
which pledges were invited from donors. In February 1991, about sixty participants from Sector
Institutions and External Support Agencies (ESAs) met at Kokrobite for a Workshop to prepare the
grounds for a Rural Water and Sanitation Sector Strategy. After four years of consultations, a National
Community Water and Sanitation Programme (NCWSP) was launched in 1994, in line with the
Government’s decentralization policy. Prior to the launch of the NCWSP in 1994, access to potable water
by the rural dwellers was nominally below 30%, while sanitation was about 10%.
This culminated into the establishment of the Community Water and Sanitation Division (CWSD), a semi
autonomous unit under the then Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) to manage rural
water supply. After about four years of operation, the unit was granted complete autonomy to give
greater impetus to its work. Subsequently, the Division was transformed into the Community Water and
Sanitation Agency (CWSA) by an Act of Parliament, Act 564 in December 1998, with the mandate to
facilitate the provision of safe drinking water and related sanitation services to rural communities and
small towns in Ghana. CWSA has since been facilitating the implementation of the National Community
Water and Sanitation Programme (NCWSP) using the decentralized structures at the district and
community levels as prescribed in the Act. The objectives of the NCWSP are to:
Ensure the sustainability of these facilities through community ownership and management,
community decision-making in their design, active involvement of women at all stages in the
project, private sector provision of goods and services and public sector promotion and support.
Maximize health benefits by integrating water, sanitation and hygiene promotion interventions,
including the establishment of hygiene promotion, and latrine construction capabilities at the
community level.
With the collaboration of all the stakeholders in the sector, policies and strategies have been formulated
to guide the implementation and management of the NCWSP. The key elements of the national strategy

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are summarized as follows:
Demand Responsive approach, where communities decide to select preferred services and
contribute towards capital cost and full operation and maintenance cost;
Decentralized planning, implementation and management of services by beneficiary communities
and District Assemblies;
District Assemblies to play a central role in supporting community management;
Private sector provision of goods, works and services;
Integration of community development and training in potable water and improved sanitation
delivery;
Active and full participation of women in decision making at all stages in the project
implementation;
Adoption of basic technology and service level options in the delivery of water and sanitation
facilities;
Integrated approach to hygiene promotion, water and sanitation delivery to maximize health
benefits.
Sustainable supply chain of goods and services, especially spare parts at affordable prices to users.
Community Ownership and Management (COM)
Public sector promotion/facilitation and support
3.4.2 Summary of rural and small town water supply coverage
Figure 6: Rural water supply performance
Source: CWSA 2009 Annual Report.
As at the end of 2009, rural and small town water coverage, based on CWSA standard measurement
criteria and definitions, stood at 58.97%. This was a significant rise from 57.14% in 2008. But then it
leaves 41.3% of rural and small town dwellers without access to potable water, while it falls short of
CWSA’s expected coverage of 60% by end of 2009.

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3.4.3 Rural water performance trends
Figure 7: Rural water coverage trends
Source: CWSA Annual reports 2008 and 2009
From 40% in 2000, the national coverage figure as at December, 2009 was 58.97%, representing about
48% increase within the nine-year period. There is an indication of a consistent rise in coverage, which is
quite encouraging.
3.4.4 Projected rural and small towns’ water coverage by 2015
If the rural and small towns’ coverage trend should be maintained, Ghana can achieve about 74% of
coverage by 2015 instead of the target of 76% (see figure 8).
Figure 8: Projected rural and small town water coverage by 2015
Source: WSMP Ghana 2010

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3.4.5 Expected vs. projected coverage trends for rural water supply
CWSA formulated a Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) in 2008 that seeks to achieve a target of 76%
coverage for rural and small town water supply by the end of 2015. With reference to the information in
figure 9 below, Ghana should have achieved 60 percent coverage as at the end of 2009 but rather
actually attained 58.97%8
. There is thus a deficit of 1.03% percent and by the end of 2010 the sub sector
needs to achieve 63.16% coverage. Given the current investment commitments by development
partners and assuming no additional investments are made, CWSA will achieve only 53.19% by end of
2015 if the population growth trend is maintained. Counting from 2008, GoG and development partners
therefore need to clear a deficit of 22.81% in order to achieve the 76% target for rural water supply.
Figure 9: Expected vs. projected coverage for rural water supply
Source: CWSA SIP 2008-2015
To meet the expected coverage target of 76%, the rural and small town subsector will require an
average of US$63,166,785 annually from 2008 to 2015. This is further broken down as shown in Table 6:
Table 6: Investment requirement for the SIP 2008 – 2015 (Ghana Cedis)
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total
81,980,511 77,705,213 71,007,913 63,846,229 55,119,232 51,532,065 53,207,753 50,935,360 505,334,275
Source: revised CWSA SIP, 2008 – 2015.
8
This is the figure reported in the CWSA Annual Report 2009

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3.4.6 NCWSP Achievements in Facility Delivery
In terms of facility delivery, the NCWSP has improved significantly and this is reflected in the consistent
rise in coverage statistics. Table 7 shows the facility delivery status as at 2009, compared to the status as
at 1999.
Table 7: CWSA facility delivery status as at 2009
Type of Facility 1999 2009
Water
Boreholes 2,837 12,954
Hand-dug wells 379 1,484
Small Community piped schemes 88 279
Small Town Piped schemes 25 339
Total Water Facilities 3,329 15,056
Sanitation
Household latrines 7,666 61,384
Institutional Latrines (KVIP) 410 3,470
Total Sanitation Facilities 8,076 64,854
Source: CWSA Annual Report 2009
The total number of water facilities provided multiplied about three times between 1999 and 2009. The
number of Small Town piped systems witnessed the most significant rise, increasing from 25 in 1999 to
339 in 2009.
The total number of sanitation facilities also rose from 8,076 to 64,854 between 1999 and 2009. Most
significant was the rise in the number of household latrines from 7,666 to 61,384. The increase in the
number of institutional latrines was equally significant, rising from 410 in 1999 to 3,470 in 2009.
3.4.7 NCWSP Achievements in Capacity Development
Table 8 shows the capacity building status as at 2009, compared to the status as at 1999.

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Table 8: CWSA capacity building status as at 2009
Stakeholders 1999 2008
Districts in Program 85 168
Communities in Program 6601 15,929
WATSANs 5170 18,042
Environmental Health Assistants Not available Not available
Water and Sanitation Development Boards 19 649
Hand Dug Well contractors 363 Not available
Area mechanics 415 1,810
Pump caretakers 6395 25,983
Latrine artisans 1017 5,098
Technical Assistance Firms Not available 475
3.4.8 Regional Comparative Coverage and Equity in Distribution– 2009
Figure 10: Regional coverage - rural
Source: CWSA 2009

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The Upper-West and Ashanti Regions showed the highest coverage figures of 76.34% and 72.14%
respectively as against 44.2% for the Western Region. About five regions: Volta, Northern, Greater
Accra, Eastern and Upper East, did not deviate significantly from the National Average of 58.97%. The
Central and Western Regions, however, fell widely below the national average at 45.1% and 44.2%
respectively.
Table 9: Regional coverage trends 2006 to 2009
Region Percentage Coverage
2006 2007 2008 2009
Ashanti 63.06 62.82 72.95 72.14
Brong Ahafo 52.00 54.44 53.51 53.61
Central 46.36 48.87 44.35 45.10
Eastern 47.12 49.89 58.88 58.56
Greater Accra 50.96 57.23 59.03 59.20
Northern 58.13 59.53 57.97 60.11
Upper East 51.27 52.50 52.24 59.19
Upper West 67.20 78.24 76.76 76.34
Volta 50.99 50.81 54.26 62.63
Western 41.53 40.93 41.27 44.20
Total 52.86 54.86 57.14 58.97
Six out of the ten Regions in Ghana, namely Ashanti, Eastern, Greater Accra, Upper East, Upper West
and Volta Regions, recorded substantial increases in coverage for rural and small town water supply
between 2006 and 2009, while Brong Ahafo, Northern and Western Regions recorded very slight
increases. The Central Region recorded a decline from 48% in 2007 to 45.1 in 2009.
3.4.9 Hygiene promotion updates
At the time of producing this report it was not clear which indicators to use to measure progress in
hygiene, though hygiene promotion has always been mainstreamed in water and sanitation provision
activities in communities and schools. It is hoped that by the time the 2010 report is produced
stakeholders would have defined clear indicators for hygiene. There was however some scanty

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information on some specific hygiene-related activities; the exact figures for School Health Committees
formed and Programme Teachers trained were not available (from CWSA) for this report. In 2008,
however, 208 School Health Committees were formed nationwide while 684 Programme Teachers were
trained. Most hygiene-related activities focus on water transport, storage safety and handwashing with
soap.
Major hygiene related events in 2009 included the observation of the Global Handwashing Day. A
remarkable activity during this event was where 750 food vendors from the Greater Accra Region were
given orientation on handwashing with soap. Other activities included street procession with banners
and placards, radio and television discussions transmitting handwashing messages to the public.
3.4.10 GoG Financing Trends in WASH Sector – Rural and Small Town
Figure 11: GoG financing trends - rural
Source: CWSA Finance Department
Government has not been able to release all the allocations to the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation
sector since 2006. From figure 11 above, though allocations show an encouraging upward trend, the gap
between allocations and actual releases is widening. This was more pronounced in 2009 when only
about 10.3% of approved funds were actually released. All the excess spending was provided by External
Support Agencies (ESAs). This implies that ESAs contributed about 85% of CWSA’s actual spending in
2009.

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3.4.11 On-Going Projects
CWSA is currently managing a number of projects funded by various Development Partners (DPs) and
Government of Ghana (GoG). These include the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA),
International Development Association of the World Bank (IDA), German Development Bank (KfW),
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), African Development Bank (AfDB), Agence
Française Developpement (AFD), European Union (EU), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and
Department for International Development (DfID) and GoG itself among others. Highlights of the
projects in terms of the objectives, quantum of investments, the target regions, the project deliverables,
and the contribution to poverty alleviation are given below.
Northern Region Small Towns Water and Sanitation Project - NORST (CIDA)
This is a seven year (2008-2015) CIDA supported project that is aimed at providing increased access to
potable water and sanitation services for up to 30 selected small towns in the Northern Region. The
thirteen (13) participating Districts are: Bunkrugu Yunyoo, Chereponi, East Gonja, East Mamprusi,
Gushiegu, Karaga and Kpadai. The rest are Nanumba South, Nanumba North, Saboba, West Mamprusi,
Yendi and Zabzugu-Tatale. The project’s deliverables include the design and installation of water
facilities, capacity building support for the operation of the facilities and the provision of appropriate
sanitation facilities. The project will strengthen local capacity to manage and sustain access to potable
water and sanitation services in the beneficiary small towns. The forecast CIDA budget for support of the
NORST project is CDN$30million. Planning and designing for the construction of improved water supply
and sanitation facilities are on-going in the first five communities in four Districts; Bunkpurugu Town
(Bunkpurugu Yunyoo District), Karaga Town (Karaga District), Bincheratanga Town (Nanumba North
District), Bungbong and Gbungbalga Towns (both in Yendi District).
CWSA Performance Contract for 2010
Construction of 740 boreholes fitted with hand pumps
• Rehabilitation of 60 boreholes fitted with hand pumps
• Construction of 15 new hand dug wells with hand pumps
• Construction of a total of 49 new Small Communities piped systems
• Construction of 41 Small Towns piped systems and rehabilitation of two (5) others
• Construction of 12 rainwater catchment systems
• Construction of 1,320 household VIP latrines, 410 household KVIP latrines and 306 Institutional KVIP
latrines
• Training of 111 WATSAN Committees
• Training of 5 WSDBs, 1,110 Pump Caretakers and 20 Area Mechanics, 45 Latrine Artisans, and 62 Small
Town operators
• Training of 95 EHAs and 109 DWSTs
Source: CWSA 2010 Mid-year Review Report

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Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project (IDA/WORLD BANK)
This project is aimed at providing improved water supply and sanitation facilities for approximately
600,000 beneficiaries in six Regions, namely Western, Central, Upper East, Upper West, Brong Ahafo and
the Northern Regions of Ghana. The choice of these regions is based on the following criteria: Concept
of Continuity (regions currently on the IDA funded water and sanitation projects), low rural water
coverage, Integrity of existing systems and Poverty endemic regions. The project is in three components.
Component 1 deals with Community Subprojects which involves the construction of 1,200 new
boreholes, rehabilitation of 400 orphan boreholes and 13 sub optimal piped systems, 69 new small town
water systems, household VIP and KVIP latrines, Institutional latrines and hand washing facilities.
Component 2 involves sector support where capacity building and institutional strengthening will be
implemented. Component 3 will deal with program management. The project is being funded from an
IDA loan of US$75million. Project design started in late 2009 and launching is scheduled to take place in
2010.
Peri-Urban, Rural and Small Towns Water and Sanitation Project in the Brong Ahafo Region (AFD)
This four year project (2008-2012) is being implemented in 22 Districts in the Brong Ahafo Region of
Ghana. The funding was secured by the Government of Ghana from Agence Française Developpement
(AFD). The project is in 2 components namely Peri-Urban and Rural/Small Towns components. The Peri-
Urban component is being managed by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the Rural and
Small Towns component is being facilitated by CWSA. The Rural/Small Towns component is aimed at
improving water supply and sanitation through the construction of 16 small town piped Systems, 670
boreholes fitted with hand pumps, 3,000 household latrines and 100 institutional latrines (basically for
schools and health clinics). Per capita cost for piped systems increased from US$40 at the project design
phase in 2007 to US$100 in 2009 when it actually got started.
To maximise health benefits, the project is also providing hygiene and sanitation interventions. AFD is
also committing €200,000 in a co-funding arrangement for the construction of an office building for the
Brong Ahafo CWSA. There is a software part of the project which involves Accompanying Measures to
animate the target beneficiary communities and other stakeholders to effectively play their role towards
the achievement of the project objectives. The entire project (both Peri-Urban and Rural/Small Towns
Components) costs €18.6 million secured from AFD by the Government of Ghana, comprising of €1.6
million grant and €17million credit.
African Development Bank (AfDB) financed Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI)
The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative is a project aimed at improving water and sanitation in
selected communities in six (6) districts in the Ashanti Region. It started in 2005 and is expected to end
in June 2011. It involves the construction of 2 Small Town Piped Systems, 1,406 boreholes (plus 300
additional boreholes as a result of savings made on the project) and 16 hand-dug wells in 818
communities. The target Districts are Asante Akim South, Atwima Nwabiagya, Atwima Mponua, Sekyere
South, Kwabre East and Kwabre West. RWSSI is being funded by an AfDB grant at the cost of

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US$19.7Million. The initial project targets are as follows: About 436,000 people will be provided with
safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities at the end of project implementation.
Water and Sanitation Project under the Local Services Delivery and Governance Programme (LSDGP)
The Local Service Delivery and Governance Programme (LSDGP) aims at building upon and reinforcing
the initiatives in the decentralization process in Ghana. The LSDGP has poverty eradication as its
ultimate goal and comprises three components: namely,
Component 1: Institutional Support and Capacity Building of Local Government Service
Secretariat.
Component 2: Support to Service Delivery and Local Governance, with initial emphasis on
improved services in the feeder road and water and sanitation sectors in selected districts.
Component 3: Support to Ghana Audit Service.
The Support to Rural Water Supply and Sanitation project is being implemented in four regions in
Ghana, namely Volta, Eastern, Central and the Greater Accra. It started in 2008 and is expected to end in
2012. Like all water and sanitation projects, it is intended to improve the existing water and sanitation
situations in selected communities in the target regions. The project is being funded by DANIDA at the
cost of DKK 100 million.
Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Project (EU)
This project started in 2003 and is expected to end in 2012. Small Towns Piped schemes are being
constructed in forty towns (20 schemes per region) in the Central and Western Regions of Ghana. The
project is funded by the EU at the cost of €23 million.
Fourth Rural Water Supply Programme (RWSP4)
This project started in 2004 and will be ending in 2011. RWSP4 is targeted to improve water supply and
sanitation in 15 selected Districts in the Ashanti Region of Ghana through the construction of 1,000
boreholes, 200 KVIPs, 3400 VIPs and 91 Iron Removal Plants. The beneficiary Districts are Ejura Sekyere
Odumase, Sekyere West, Afigya Sekyere, Kwabre, Atwima Nwabeagya, Amansie West, Amansie Central
and Amansie East. The rest are Obuasi, Adansi South, Ashanti Akim South, Ashanti Akim North, Atwima
Mponua, and Bosomtwe. The Project has been extended to two additional Districts, namely: Bosome
Freho and Atwima Kwanwoma Districts. The KfW, a German Development Bank is funding the project at
the cost of €11.5 million. A residual fund of €830,000 has been made available to support the
construction of additional 44 boreholes.
Government of Ghana financed water and sanitation projects
As part of its commitment to the Rural Water Sub-sector, the Government of Ghana has allocated funds
for the provision of safe water supply to rural communities and small towns in the 2010 Budget. The
project is aimed at providing increased access to potable water and accelerating the pace of meeting the
MDGs. The project comprises the drilling of a total of 455 boreholes fitted with hand pumps and the

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rehabilitation of one small town water supply scheme in all the 10 regions of the country. The project is
funded through the 2010 investment budget for the Community Water and Sanitation Agency under the
Ministry of Water resources Works and Housing. The allocated budget is GH¢3,803,265.
3.4.12 Challenges with rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene education
CWSA is confronted with some challenges in its operations in 2009 and it is anticipated that the same
challenges may persist into 2010 and this could have adverse implications on attainment of targets as
set out in the MTIP. These challenges include:
Budget Constraints
CWSA has not received the full complement of its annual budget either from government or its
development partners over the years. In the case of government there has been little or no contribution
to the investment budget, and funds for administrative expenses have always been cut back by more
than half. The exceptional case was in 2009 when the agency was given GH¢30 million for investments
but was not allowed to roll it over into the following year. Consequently, only about 10% was released.
Limited Capacity at District Assembly Level for Water and Sanitation Delivery
The capacity of the districts to effectively manage water and sanitation projects under their jurisdiction
is still a challenge. Apart from the fact that the proposed Works Departments are not established in
many DAs, the rampant transfer of trained staff on specific water and sanitation projects also immensely
undermines the capacity of the DAs.
Hydro-geological challenges
Hydro-geological challenges are more pronounced in the Northern Region where insufficient ground
water leads to low drilling success rates. This makes the achievement of project targets difficult. In the
Eastern and Volta Regions, the difficulty arises in abstracting water in the mountainous areas, whereas
in the Brong Ahafo Region the challenge is mainly associated with mud drilling.
Water safety
There are a number of water safety issues affecting the water delivery process. These include high iron,
fluoride and arsenic contents. Even in areas with reasonable drilling success rates, the chemical content
in the water are normally higher than the recommended levels, making it impossible to use for drinking
purposes. A good number of high yielding wells have been capped, especially in the Northern parts of
the country due to high levels of fluoride in these wells. In the coastal regions, salinity continues to be a
constraining factor.
Lack of legal power to enforce guidelines and standards
By its Establishment Act, CWSA should serve as the focal point of the community water and sanitation
sub-sector. The Agency’s role as the Government Agency facilitating service delivery and regulating the
sector further makes this inevitable. In recent past, however, some operators, particularly NGOs, have
been operating without any reference to CWSA or the NCWSP guidelines. As the Agency makes the
effort to take command of the sub sector, weaknesses still remain in terms of effective coordination of
sector practitioners. On the field, this has made efforts at a fair distribution of resources difficult.
Compilation of statistical data on provision of facilities has also suffered as some NGOs still fail to report
on their operations.

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Long processes involved in the use of the Procurement Law
The requirements of the Procurement Act are quite cumbersome, time consuming and laborious to deal
with. This situation thus leads to delays in the execution of some projects. In the past there have been
instances where it has been difficult to get heads of Entity Tender Committees to convene and chair
meetings. The evaluation process is burdensome especially at the DAs where the expertise is limited
when it comes to water and sanitation projects. On the other hand some donor agencies insist on
following their own procurement processes which is allowed by the Procurement Act. The granting of
what is known as “No Objection” in donor parlance has been done by the home countries of the donor
agencies. In the case where a donor procurement process is being utilized, it does not preclude the
application of the national procurement process. In effect the agency manages a dual procurement
system on some of its projects. This contributes to some of the delays in procurement.
3.4.13 Recommendations for rural water and sanitation
The work of CWSA in the rural and small towns’ water supply and sanitation sub sector is fundamentally
pro poor. In effect any investments in this sub sector will largely go to support the poor. In order to help
the agency in its work the following support measures are recommended:
1. The government must make substantial provisions for investments in the 2010 and subsequent
budgets and not only increase the Administrative Budget to meet Operational Expenses of the
agency but must ensure that it is timely released and in the requisite amounts.
2. Provision should be made for the investment component of CWSA to be rolled over every financial
year to enable smooth implementation of programmes as happens with the funds provided by
donors. For instance CIDA signed an agreement with Government of Ghana to provide up to
CDN$30 million for the construction of about 30 small town systems in the Northern Region over a
period of seven years. Any unspent money is rolled over every year until the end of the project
period.
The CDN$30 million committed by the Canadian Government is comparable to the GH¢30 million
that the Government of Ghana made available to CWSA in 2009 as an investment budget but was
returned to government coffers because it could not be fully utilized in 2009 due to difficulty in
accessing the money. Given the challenges enumerated above as well as the need to adequately
prepare communities before construction begins it is recommended that GoG funding should be
treated in the same manner.
3. The Procurement Act should be reviewed to reflect current circumstances given the need to
accelerate water and sanitation delivery to minimize the health risk of the unserved masses.
4. CWSA has designed a Water Safety Framework to help address the water quality challenges such as
high levels of fluoride, iron and manganese that is found in some ground waters. Funding should be
made available to roll out the framework.
5. The Attorney General’s Department should support the CWSA to complete the work on a Legislative
Instrument to give legal backing to ACT 564 of 1998, which established the Agency.

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3.5 Urban water supply
3.5.1 Introduction
The first public water supply system in Ghana, then Gold Coast, was established in Accra just before the
First World War. Extensions were made exclusively to other urban areas, among them the colonial
capital of Cape Coast, Winneba and Kumasi in the 1920s. During this period, the water supply systems
were managed by the Hydraulic Division of the Public Works Department. With time the responsibilities
of the Hydraulic Division were widened to include the planning and development of water supply
systems in other parts of the country. In 1948, the Department of Rural Water Development was
established to engage in the development and management of rural water supply through the drilling of
boreholes and construction of wells for rural communities.
After Ghana’s independence in 1957, a Water Supply Division, with headquarters in Kumasi, was set up
under the Ministry of Works and Housing with responsibilities for both urban and rural water supplies.
In line with recommendations of a study by the WHO, the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation
(GWSC), was established in 1965 under an Act of Parliament (Act 310) as a legal public utility entity
responsible for:
Water supply and sanitation in rural as well as urban areas.
The conduct of research on water and sewerage as well as the making of engineering surveys and
plans.
The construction and operation of water and sewerage works,
The setting of standards and prices and collection of revenues.
Under the Statutory Corporations (Conversion to Companies) Act 461 of 1993 as amended by LI 1648,
Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation, was converted into a state owned limited liability company,
Ghana Water Company Limited on 1st
July 1999. The conversion of GWSC into a Limited Liability
Company (GWCL) in 1999 brought changes into the objectives spelt out in the Act of Incorporation. The
main objectives of GWCL were:
The planning and development of water supply systems in all urban communities in the country.
The provision and maintenance of acceptable levels of service to consumers in respect of quantity of
water supplied;
The preparation of long-term plans in consultation with the appropriate coordinating authority
established by the President;
The conduct of research relative to water and related subjects;
The making of engineering surveys and plans;
The construction and operation of works in the urban areas;
Submission of tariff proposals to Public Utility Regulatory Commission for review and final approval;
In 1987, a “Five-Year Rehabilitation and Development Plan” for the sector was prepared which resulted
in the launching of the Water Sector Restructuring Project (WSRP). Multilateral and bilateral donors
contributed $140 million to support the implementation of the WSRP. The reforms were aimed at
reducing unaccounted for water, introducing rationalization through the reduction in the workforce,
hiring of professionals and training of the remaining staff. A strong focus in the WSRP was also on
improved management and increased efficiency through organizational change in the water sector.

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Accordingly, a number of reforms were initiated in the early 1990s. These reforms included
decentralization of responsibilities within the water administration and the introduction of private
sector participation (PSP) in the water sector, a long term goal of the WSRP.
In 2005, government endorsed the Management Contract arrangement as the preferred option of PSP in
water supply in Ghana and signed a five-year Management Contract with Vitens Rand Water Services BV
of Netherlands, a consortium of Vitens International BV of the Royal Netherlands and Rand Water
Services Pty of South Africa with a commencement of 5th
June 2006. Under the Management Contract,
Vitens Rand Water Services BV, through its subsidiary, Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, is managing and
operating the urban water systems to targets set in the Management Contract. The overall objective of
the Management Contract was to restore GWCL to a sound financial footing and make a significant
improvement in the commercial operations of the company.
The Management Contract is being implemented within the framework of the Urban Water Project. The
World Bank has provided a grant of US$103 million to supplement US$5 million from the Nordic
Development Fund and US$12 million from the Republic of Ghana to support the Urban Water Project.
In addition the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands has provided US$13million in support of the project
bringing the total amount of financing to U$133 million.
3.5.2 National Targets and Achievements
Figure 12: urban water supply performance
Source: GWCL 2009
The national target for urban drinking water supply under the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy is
85% coverage by 2015. Available data however shows that Ghana is far from meeting this target. The
installed capacity of all the urban water supply systems in the country is about 949,000 cubic metres a
day but present water demand in urban areas is estimated at about 1,101,032 cubic metres a day.
Effective urban water supply coverage is about 59%, which is quite low when compared with the
targets.

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Figure 13: Urban water coverage trends
Source: WSMP Country Summary Sheet (2009); GWCL coverage data (2009)
Urban water coverage experienced a downward trend from 2003 to 2006. The trend however changed
and since 2006 there has been a steady upward movement from 55% to 59% in 2009. A response from
the Operations Department of GWCL indicates that though there have been significant increases in
investment in the urban sub-sector in recent years, the expanded systems and the new installations
usually take a couple of years before they operate at full capacity. It is therefore expected that coverage
figures will rise in the years ahead to correspond with the recent installations which have been on-going
especially since 2006.
3.5.3 Regional coverage in urban supply areas (2008)
Figure 14: Regional coverage - urban
Source: Operations and Assets Management Department GWCL
With the exception of Greater Accra and Western Regions, all the other regions fell below the national
average urban water coverage figure of 59% in 2008. Upper West Region was the least with only 14%
urban water coverage. Regional disaggregated updates for 2009 were not readily available for this
report. Details on regional population figures, demand and supply per day are provided in Annex 10.

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Table 10: GWCL/AVRL performance 2003-2009
No. ITEM UNIT 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
1. Water
Production
MM
3
205.2 206.1 210.6 211.7 217.9 222.6 231.77
2. Water Sales MM
3
88.03 93.78 108.88 100.1 103.9 107.6 112.3
3. Non Revenue
Water
% 57.1 54.5 48.3 52.8 52.3 51.7 51.5
4. Billing (Total) MGH¢ 40.1 47.4 53.9 55.9 69.7 101.1 104.6
5. Collection
(Total)
MGH¢ 30.5 30.5 38.5 53.4 62.5 91.7 101.1
6. Collection Ratio
Total
% 76.1 64.4 71.4 95.5 89.7 90.7 96.7
7. Total Revenue MGH¢ 41.5 49.53 55.90 57.65 69.40 102.26 106.6
8. Total Cost MGH¢ 40.2 44.67 54.32 62.41 57.81 87.99 90.5
9. Total Cost/M
3
GH¢/M
3
0.196 0.217 0.258 0.295 0.270 0.40 0.39
10 Electrical
Cost/M
3
GH¢/M
3
0.059 0.064 0.086 0.07 0.08 0.15 0.1
11. Chemical
Cost/M
3
GH¢/M
3
0.020 0.016 0.023 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.04
Source: GWCL 2009
Since 2003, water production by GWCL has increased steadily from 205.2mm3
to 231.77mm3
in 2009.
Revenue generation by the Company has also improved from GH¢41.5 million to GH¢106.6 million in
2009. However, cost of production has also increased from GH¢0.096/m3
to GH¢0.39/m3
. Cost of
chemicals per m3
for instance has doubled from GH¢0.02 in 2003 to GH¢0.04 in 2009. Non-revenue
water as at the end of 2009 was 51.5%, having reduced from 57.1% in 2003.
3.5.5 Briefs on on-going projects
Ghana Water Company Limited has, since 2006, undertaken major expansion and rehabilitation works
on a number of urban water supply systems throughout the country. Presently, several of these water
supply projects have been completed while others are at various stages of completion (see Annex 11).
The government has also secured funding for the rehabilitation and expansion of other urban water
supply schemes across the length and breadth of the country. Furthermore, the government is
aggressively looking for funding for other planned projects aimed at rehabilitating and expanding water

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supply systems in several cities and towns in the country. Water supply projects undertaken during the
period include:
1. Kwanyaku Water Supply Expansion Project: completed in July 2007 involved the dredging of
impoundment, rehabilitation of existing plant to its designed capacity, construction of new treatment
plant, construction of service reservoirs and construction and improvement of transmission and
distribution pipelines.
2. Cape Coast Water Supply Expansion Project: completed in November 2008. This project involved the
construction of raw water intake station on the Pra River, construction of a new treatment plant, clear
water pumping station and the laying of transmission mains. Other works were the construction of a
330,000 gallon reservoir and booster pumping stations and rehabilitation and laying of distribution lines.
3. Baifikrom/Mankesim Water Supply Expansion Project: completed in September 2008 and involved
supply and installation of mechanical and electrical equipment, construction of a permanent dam and a
weir across Ochi-Amissa River, construction of raw water intake reservoirs, pumping station and a
treatment plant.
4. Weija Water Supply Expansion Project which increased production of Weija Treatment Plant by about
15 million gallons a day. This was completed in October 2008. The scope of works included construction
of water treatment plant, expansion of existing water treatment plant, replacement of pumps, laying of
transmission and distribution pipelines, installation of chlorination facilities, laying of pipelines of
various sizes to some distressed areas within the city.
5. Tamale Water Supply Expansion Project completed in August 2008 involved intake installations, the
supply and installation of two new vertical shaft pumps at the intake tower, laying of transmission mains
and construction of transmission mains.
6. Koforidua Water Supply Project which was completed in November 2009. The project involved
construction of raw water intake on Volta Lake, construction of treatment plant and reservoir, laying of
pipelines to Koforidua, the construction of reservoirs and booster pumps, the laying and reinforcement
of the distribution network for Koforidua and its environs and erection of standpipes.
7. Kumasi Water Supply Project completed in October 2009 involved the rehabilitation and expansion of
existing water treatment plant at Owabi and Barekese, laying of new water transmission pipeline and
modification and expansion of high lift pumping station.
8. The World Bank First Year Investment Programme implemented from 2007 to 2008 under which a 44
kilometre length of old pipelines have been replaced to improve water delivery in Accra, Kumasi, Obuasi,
Mampong, Agona, Jamasi, Navrongo and Bawku.
9. Drilling and Mechanisation of 17 Boreholes at Dodowa, Tantra Hills, Ashongman, Pokuase, Aburi,
Begoro and Frafaha.
10. Kasoa-Kwanyaku Water Interconnection project which started in 2009 involves design and site
installation, laying of 69km long transmission pipeline from Buduatta to Kasoa, construction of reservoir
at Buduburam, and rehabilitation of existing ones at Senya Bereku and Ojobi, as well as erection of
standpipes.

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11. ATMA rural project which commenced in 2009 is aimed at supplying water to Somanya, Akwapim
Ridge, Atimpoku, Frankadua, Dawhenya, Dawa, Kpone, Michel camp, Dodowa.
3.5.6 Financing Urban Water Supply
The main sources of sector funding for development projects are primarily:
From External Support Agencies
From Government’s annual budget and other development votes
From internally generated funds mainly through water sales
From 2006 to 2009, GWCL has been able to attract substantial grant and commercial funding facilities of
about $500 million to improve its systems. In 2006 loans and grants obtained amounted to $59 million
and in 2007 the figure rose to $66 million. In 2008 inflows of loans and grants shot up to $286milion but
fell to $36 million in 2009.
The Netherlands has been a principal source of these loans most of which have been under
concessionary terms. The World Bank has also been a significant contributor providing about $130
million to support the Urban Water project.
Figure 15: GoG allocations and releases to GWCL
Sources: Government Budget Statements 2007 to 2009; GWCL Finance Department
Since 2007, GoG has not been able to fully release its approved budget to GWCL. In 2007 for instance
GoG released only 4.6% of the GH¢25.7 million approved, while in 2009, GoG released about 23% of the
approved GH¢11.8 million.

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4 Recent major WASH
Innovations

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4.1 Introduction
This chapter presents briefs on some recent major innovations in the form of technology, approaches,
learning platforms etc that contributed or could potentially contribute to WASH sector growth in Ghana.
4.2 The Ghana Water Forum
In response to the urgent need to bring greater visibility to Ghana’s water and sanitation agenda and
also be consistent with the Africa Regional commitment to an Annual African Water Week that
assembles water and sanitation actors to discuss water security, seek common solutions and share good
practices, the Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing,
organized the first Annual Ghana Water Forum (GWF-1) in October 2009. The Ghana Water Forum was
also, and is expected to always be, the forerunner to the African Water Week and the ultimate reporting
of country water actions to AU summits.
The theme for the 2009 GWF was “Accelerating Water Security for Ghana’s Socio-Economic
Development.” The main objectives of the first Ghana Water Forum (GWF-1) included:
Creating a platform for Ghana’s political leadership, water sector professionals, stakeholders and
partners to discuss opportunities and challenges of achieving water security for Ghana’s socio-
economic development
Taking stock of the status of the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals in Ghana,
reviewing key achievements and challenges and proposing strategies and actions for accelerating the
achievement of the water and sanitation targets
Building consensus on water security and providing recommendations for consideration at the
highest political level; and
Formulating concrete policies, strategies and actions to accelerate water resources development and
the provision of services taking into account the challenges and impact of climate change and
variability.
To achieve these objectives a number of sector professionals and institutions - both local and foreign –
engaged stakeholders in presentations and provided the evidence base to share lessons and proffered
solutions. Key attractions to the forum were three major side events comprising
A Ministerial and Development Partners Roundtable: This brought together the Ministers of Water
Resources Works and Housing, Local Government and Rural Development, and Representatives of
Development Partners to deliberate on key issues and made commitments on the way forward;
A Business Roundtable: This brought together corporate Ghana to discuss their contribution to the
country’s water security, in the context of the business opportunities available and in the context of
their corporate social responsibility; and
A Youth and Children’s Forum: This was organized for the youth of Ghana with the support of UNICEF;
its main purpose was to allow young people to define what they considered to be the key issues in
water resources management and also to deepen their understanding of water security issues. A full
report of GWF-1 may be obtained from the Water Directorate.

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4.3 Ghana Watsan Journalists Network (GWJN)
With support from WaterAid, a British International Charity with a Country Programme in Ghana, a
Water and Sanitation Journalists Network was formed in 2007 and inaugurated in 2008. Their main
objective is to work with stakeholders to raise the profile of water and sanitation in Ghana through their
respective media activities. Currently made up of about 30 journalists drawn from both state-owned and
private media institutions, the Network participates in most WASH sector programmes in order to gain
in-depth understanding of sector issues for better reporting. In 2009, the Network participated actively
in most sector review meetings, the Mole Conference, the Ghana Water Forum and the World Water
Week.
4.4 RCN Learning Alliances Platform
The Resource Centre Network (RCN) introduced the National Level Learning Alliances Platform (NLLAP).
It is a WASH sector multi stakeholder platform with the overall goal of improving sector learning and
dialogue. The platform offers learning and sharing opportunity for sector players as one of the practical
approaches to improving sector engagements/sharing with the long term aim of achieving a knowledge
driven WASH sector that delivers quality and sustainable services in Ghana. NLLAP meetings are
organized and facilitated by the Ghana WASH Resource Centre Network (RCN), and take place on the
last Thursday of every month. The meetings are open to all interested parties. The discussions of each
NLLAP meeting are summarized and shared with the wider WASH community in the form of a
communiqué after the meeting. The topics of upcoming meetings are decided on by the RCN secretariat
and a list of upcoming meetings can be found on the RCN website www.ghana.watsan.net.
4.5 GWCL/AVRL Customer Services Call Centre
GWCL/AVRL has established a customer services call centre meant for customers to call on 0800 40000
(toll free from Vodafone lines) or on 0302 211260 (normal rates apply) to report leakages and make
enquiries and other complaints.
GWCL/AVRL has also introduced an innovation called the Customer Interactive Messenger Service
(CIMS) which allows customers anywhere in Ghana to make an inquiry or complaint by SMS using the
short-code number 1700. With this innovation, customers can initiate the communication and receive
appropriate response or feedback from the Customer Call Centre. An important feature of CIMS is that
every interaction is tracked and archived digitally. This means that when customers follow up on their
previous complaints the status will automatically show on the screen. The CIMS has an in-built system
that can give information directly on (for example) water interruptions and reduce the use and cost of
radio and TV announcements.
GWCL/AVRL has also acquired a R100 device for effective monitoring of performance of pumps. The
product is a remote control designed for wireless communication. The device can be used for both head-
works and borehole operations in measuring operating hours, power consumption, voltage fluctuations,
current, ambient temperature, and variable speed detection. It can also be used to detect flow rates and
operating heads of pumps.

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5 Conclusions and
recommendations

Page 68
Introduction
This chapter highlights major conclusions drawn from this report, including progress, challenges, and
major gaps identified during the compilation of this report. The chapter also presents suggestions on
how some of the identified gaps may be filled in future. It must be noted, however, that the list is not
exhaustive and that the sector is most likely to have more challenges than those presented below.
5.2 Sectorwide Monitoring and Evaluation gaps
It has been extremely difficult compiling information for this 1st
WASH sector performance report due
largely to the fact that there is currently no sectorwide agreed set of indicators along which to gather
data for reporting. Information in this report has been based on fragmented sub-sector definitions and
standards. Selecting and agreeing on a set of sectorwide harmonized indicators is therefore critical to
the value of this report and the contribution that it can make to the progress of the WASH sector. For
instance this report has no information on functionality and sustainability since no such indicators have
been defined and there is hardly any sectorwide data on them. There are no known sectorwide
indicators on hygiene, gender and vulnerability issues among others. Lack of information on such critical
components of WASH service delivery leaves a major gap in sector information and decision-making.
Efforts towards harmonization and establishment of a sectorwide M&E framework and routine
dissemination of available data (such as the role WSMP is currently playing) within the sector must be
accelerated.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) also generates substantial amount of data on WASH, including data
on sanitation, hygiene and gender. Since the focus of this report was on local targets set by the WRC,
CWSA and GWCL and based on the methodologies they apply and not on those of the Ghana Statistical
Service, the Report Production Team did not use them. Experts have suggested that the WASH sector
practitioners should negotiate with the GSS to produce a WASH-specific survey with more sector
stakeholder inputs in order to generate a more harmonized and acceptable WASH data.
5.3 GoG funding for rural and small town water supply
Provision should be made for the investment component of CWSA to be rolled over every financial year
to enable smooth implementation of programmes as happens with the funds provided by donors. For
instance CIDA signed an agreement with Government of Ghana to provide up to CDN$30 million for the
construction of about 30 small town systems in the Northern region over a period of 7 years. The money
is not returned to coffers of the Canadian government at the end of each year just because CWSA and
the District Assemblies have not been able to fully utilize it. It is rolled over every year until the end of
the project period.
The CDN$30 million committed by the Canadian government is comparable to the GH¢30 million that
the Government of Ghana made available to CWSA in 2009 as an investment budget but which about
90% of it returned to government coffers just because it could not be fully utilized in 2009. Given the

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challenges enumerated above as well as the need to adequately prepare communities before
construction begins it is by no means possible for such an amount to have been disbursed in one
financial year. It is therefore recommended that GoG funding to the sector should also be treated in the
same manner.
5.4 Procurement bottlenecks
Though the Procurement Act has introduced a great deal of transparency in the system, it must be
reviewed to introduce some higher degree of flexibility to properly align it to the development
exigencies of current times. There is remarkable evidence of excessive delays in procuring contractors
and suppliers, coupled with very high costs associated with the procurement process. The WASH sector
has reached a stage where delivery must be accelerated if both the MDG and national targets are to be
realized. This goal must not be sacrificed in the name of less productive paperwork and rules.
5.5 Inadequate data on sanitation and hygiene
To date, no WASH sector agency collates sectorwide data on sanitation and hygiene. Therefore this
report has almost no data on sanitation and hygiene. The only type of data on sanitation is generated by
the Ghana Statistical Service through representative household surveys and censuses. This report could
not use that data for this report since the methodologies applied in generating such survey data are
different from what the agencies applied to generate data on water.
5.6 NGO Contribution
In spite of their much appreciated contribution to policy formulation, decision making, funding and
facility delivery, it was extremely difficult to obtain a documented evidence of NGO contribution to the
WASH sector in Ghana from the umbrella body (CONIWAS). It is strongly recommended that CONIWAS
compiles an annual report on the total contribution its members make to the sector in the form of
funding, facility delivery and policy formulation, strategy development and sector learning.
5.7 Institutional capacity issues
Ghana enacted in 2007 the National Water Policy that provides an adequate framework for the
sustainable development of water resources and the provision of water supply services. However, the
implementation and enforcement of the policy has been slow due in part to insufficient professional
staff and operational budget at the Water Directorate and the Environmental Health and Sanitation
Directorate. Ghana also has a National Environmental Sanitation Policy; however a revised version of
this policy is still pending cabinet approval. This approval, and appropriate staffing and budgeting for
both the Water Directorate and the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate, are requirements
under the Multi Donor Budget Support (MDBS).
5.8 Sector Coordination
A number of platforms currently exist for sector coordination. These include the Water and Sanitation

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Sector Group (WSSG), which was established in 2005 in response to the Paris Declaration on Aid
Effectiveness. It is made up of representatives of Ministries of Water Resources, Works and Housing,
and Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD); DPs active in the sector, and Civil Society
Organizations (CSO). Ghana has made good progress in the policy front but needs to do more on
implementation and enforcement. A Water Sector Strategic Development Plan will be essential to move
into the SWAp approach. Work on the National Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plan
(NESSAP), which was at the validation stage, was also another MDBS trigger for 2009.
5.9 Financing challenges
The key sources of sector financing include tariffs, government budget allocations, private sector
investments and donor contributions. The reality is that tariffs are often insufficient to cover O&M,
especially at small towns and community systems, and do not support any significant capital
investments. In accordance with the National Water Policy, budget allocations must progressively be
increased.
5.10 Budget allocation and releases
Coverage for water and sanitation has been generally slow given the demand for improved drinking
water and sanitation. A major contributory factor is government’s inability to release all approved funds
to the sector over the years. There is a similar complaint from the GWCL and the WRC, and it is strongly
recommended that the GoG should reverse the trend and ensure that adequate funds are released to
help achieve the targets.
5.11 Water and Sanitation Development and other Boards
There have been major complaints from sector agencies and civil society of political interference in
water management issues especially the dissolution of well established and trained Water Boards,
agency boards including the Water Resources Commission, CWSA Board, change in Managing Directors
and CEOs of agencies etc whenever there is a change in government. Long delays in replacing and
training such Boards and Directors affect the overall performance of the WASH sector as they affect
major decision-making such as release of funds and disbursement, recruitment of staff, award of
contracts and collapse of installed systems. It is strongly recommended that even if it becomes
necessary to make such changes, they are done such that no vacuums will be created that may
negatively affect progress.
5.12 Population estimates
Put together, estimates from the Ghana Water Company and the CWSA portrays Ghana’s population as
at 2009 to be more than 27 million, while other reports such as those from the UN estimate it at about
23 million as at 2008. Population estimates alone can distort all statistical data and give a very wrong
picture of what is supposed to be the actual situation. It will be in the nation’s interest and especially in
the interest of the WASH sector to work with a common population base.

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5.17 Definition of urban and rural
Data disaggregation should base on common definitions for urban and rural. What happens at the
moment is that some communities that are purely urban (according to the GSS definition of urban as a
community with 5,000 or more inhabitants) are actually reported under rural or small town by CWSA
because they fall under the CWSA operational area as small towns. Therefore, while household user-
based survey data on WASH (generated by the GSS) disaggregate rural and urban according to the GSS
definition, the agencies define the term according to the areas they operate (the GWCL for instance
defines urban as the communities served by the 82 systems they operate). It is therefore not possible to
compare rural/urban disaggregated data from the agencies with those from the user survey reports
from the GSS and the JMP. There is therefore the need to find common definitions for these
terminologies for effective monitoring and reporting.

Page 72
Annexes

Page 73
Annex 1
Proposed core items for development into measurable indicators for future sector monitoring and
the production of the WASH Sector Performance Report
1. Access to improved water sources, sanitation and hygiene
2. Functionality of water systems
3. Quantity of water produced (urban)
4. Proportion of unaccounted-for water (urban)
5. Equity in resource distribution
6. Gender and vulnerability mainstreaming
7. WASH Sector financing
8. Per capita share of total fresh water resources
9. Quality of water raw water resources
10. Compliance with water resource abstraction regulations
Source: WSMP 2010
Annex 2
WRC Approved Budgets, Actual Releases and Actual Spending: 2007 – 2009
GoG 2007 2008 2009
Approvd
Budget
Releasd Spent Approvd
Budget
Releasd Spent Approvd
Budget
Releasd Spent
Services 18,200.00 6,043.47 6,043.47 14,528.00 7,935.88 7,935.88 7,714.00 1,996.86 1,996.86
Investment 76,300.00 0.00 0.00 52,909.00 0.00 0.00 53,131.00 0.00 0.00
TOTAL 94,500.00 6,043.47 6,043.47 67,437.00 7,935.88 7,935.88 60,845.00 1,996.86 1,996.86

Page 74
Internally
Generated
Funds
2007 2008 2009
Approved
Budget
Releases Spent Approved
Budget
Releases Spent Approved
Budget
Releases Spent
Services 97,700.00 67,027.29 67,027.29 101,407.0
0
78,321.02 78,321.02 171,827.00 117,792.2
5
117,792.2
5
Investment 72,100.00 52,200.25 52,200.25 72,079.00 65,653.92 65,653.92 84,225.00 122,000.0
0
122,000.0
0
TOTAL 169,800.00 119,227.5
4
119,227.5
4
173,486.0
0
143,974.9
4
143,974.9
4
256,052.00 239,792.2
5
239,792.2
5
Annex 3
CWSA performance achievement - 2009
CWSA PERFORMANCE ACHIEVEMENT - 2009
A. EFFICIENT & PRODUCTIVITY INDICATORS Unit of
measure Target Achievement
i. Water Systems
Borehole Constructed no. 700 588
Borehole Rehabilitated no. 40 40
HDW Constructed no. 10 17
Small/Rural Comm. Pipe Schemes no. 5 6
Small/Towns Pipe Systems no. 45 12
GWCL Pipe Connections no. 0 0
Roof Catchment no. 0 0
No. of Comm. Converted to COM no. 0 0
Schools/Institutional Water no. 0 0
ii. Sanitation
Household VIP Latrines no. 4,600 3,311
Household KVIP Latrines no. 0 1,153

Page 75
No. Sch / Inst. Latrines Completed no. 350 323
iii. CWSA Capacity Building
Professional Staff Training(internal) no. 0 0
Professional Staff Training(external) no. 0 0
Support Staff Training no. 0 0
B. DYNAMIC INDICATORS
i. Districts
Fully Participating Districts no. 168 168
DWSTs Formed - no. 0 0
DWSTs Trained - no. 100 13
EHA's Trained no. 40 0
ii. Communities
WATSAN Committees formed no.
WATSAN Committees trained no. 0 577
Water Board formed - no.
Water Board trained - no. 143 181
New Communities in Programme no. 103 678
Communities with Facilities Converted no. 0 0
Pump caretakers trained no. 0 862
iii. Schools/Institutions

Page 76
School Health Committees formed no. 0 28
School Health Committees trained no. 0 0
Programme Teachers trained no. 0 84
iv. Private Sector
Technical Assistance Operating (POs) no. 0 63
Contractors-Water operating no. 0 14
Contractors-Sanitation operating no. 0 40
Latrine Artisans operating/trained no. 0 160
Area Mechanics Trained no. 0 100
Small Town Operators to be trained no. 0 76
Consultants with Contracts no. 0 0
Source: CWSA database 2010
Annex 4
Rural water coverage for end of 2009
REGION # OF COMMUNITIES TOTAL
POPULATION
POPULATION
SERVED
COVERAGE
(%)
Ashanti 2,558 2,713,186 1,957,323 72.14
Brong Ahafo 2,660 1,974,329 1,058,444 53.61
Central 3,377 1,514,881 683,224 45.10
Eastern 2,709 1,607,361 941,337 58.56
Greater Accra 851 670,050 396,677 59.20
Northern 3,896 2,078,085 1,249,074 60.11
Upper East 1,726 1,168,347 691,581 59.19
Upper West 926 614,897 469,425 76.34
Volta 3,234 1,749,029 1,095,464 62.63
Western 1,739 1,583,148 699,817 44.20
TOTAL 23,676 15,673,310 9,242,366 58.97
Source: CWSA provider based coverage statistics from the data base.

Page 77
Annex 5
CWSA GOG Approved Budget, 2006-2010 (GH¢)
Description 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Personal
Emoluments
1,204,838 1,840,770 2,340,330 1,995,911 2,041,518
Administration 469,897 832,018 883,486 401,575 3,217,280
Services 50,634 57,500 33,184 2,397,486 3,306,287
Investments 454,050 618,419 4,934,876 30,231,134 51,479,929
Total 2,179,419 3,348,707 8,191,885 35,026,106 60,045,014
CWSA GOG Actual Expenditure, 2006-2009
Description 2006 2007 2008 2009
Personal Emoluments 1,105,288 1,287,595 1,726,523 2,153,323
Administration 1,824,733 2,112,847 3,396,540 3,350,298
Services 766,439 731,661 1,281,576 1,114,248
Investments 6,549,537 6,046,711 6,862,374 17,956,266
Total 10,245,996 10,178,814 13,267,013 24,574,135
CWSA GOG Releases, Approved Budget & Actual Expenditure
Description 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
GOG Releases 1,630,114 2,817,471 3,925,351 3,612,937 876,738
GOG Approved
Budget
2,179,419 3,348,707 8,191,885 35,026,106 60,045,014
CWSA Actual
Expenditure
10,245,996* 10,178,814* 13,267,013* 24,574,135*
*Note: The differences are releases from Development Partners (DPs). There are however other DP
commitments and releases that are not captured here.

Page 78
Annex 6
Progress Towards the National Target for Water
Year Expected
Coverage
Current Facility
Coverage
Commitments Projected
Coverage
Percentage
Deficit
2008 57.07 51.94 3.17 55.11 1.96
2009 60.00 51.47 4.23 55.70 4.30
2010 63.16 50.99 5.06 56.05 7.12
2011 65.80 50.51 5.16 55.67 10.13
2012 68.00 50.01 5.04 55.05 12.95
2013 70.10 49.51 4.91 54.43 15.67
2014 72.72 49.01 4.79 53.81 18.92
2015 76.00 48.51 4.68 53.19 22.81
Source: CWSA SIP 2008 – 2015
Annex 7
TOTAL FACILITIES REQUIRED for SIP
Facility Description 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total
WATER
Borehole 1632 1474 1727 1487 1270 1282 1413 1749 12034
Hand-Dug Wells 1493 1228 1093 850 714 594 537 539 7048
Pipe System (Small
Community)
173 150 134 113 101 95 95 80 941
Pipe System (Small Town) 35 43 34 36 29 25 26 22 250
SOFTWARE
Water and Sanitation
Committee
3140 2858 2702 2660 2726 2899 3180 3578 23743

Page 79
TOTAL FACILITIES REQUIRED for SIP
Facility Description 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total
District Water and
Sanitation Teams
33 29 27 27 26 28 30 33 233
Technical Assistants 66 59 55 53 54 55 60 67 469
Small Towns Consultancy
Services
8 9 11 14 16 20 23 28 129
Source: CWSA SIP 2008 - 2015.
Annex 8
Improved Sources of Drinking Water
The proportion of the population with access to improved drinking water, according to the WHO/UNICEF Joint
Monitoring Programme (JMP), is an indicator expressed as the percentage of people using improved
sustainable drinking water sources or delivery points (Table ).
Sources of Drinking Water
Improved water sources Unimproved water sources
• Household connection
• Public standpipe
• Borehole
• Protected dug well
• Protected spring
• Rainwater Collection
• Unprotected well
• Unprotected spring
• Rivers or ponds
• Vendor-provided water
• Tanker truck water
• Bottled (& sachet) water
Source: JMP 2008
Improved Sanitation
An improved sanitation facility, according to the WHO/UNICEF JMP, is defined as one that hygienically
separates human excreta from human contact. It is important to note that only users of ‘improved’ sanitation
facilities are considered as having ‘access’ to sanitation on condition that the facility is not shared by multiple
households and not public. Facilities in the improved and unimproved categories are set out in the Table
below:

Page 80
Types of sanitation facilities
Improved Sanitation Facilities Unimproved Sanitation Facilities
Flush or pour-flush to:
-piped sewer system
-septic tank
-pit latrine
Ventilated improved
pit latrine (VIP)
Composting toilet
Flush or pour-flush to elsewhere
Pit latrine without slab or open pit
Bucket
Hanging toilet or hanging latrine
No facilities or bush or field (open
defecation)
Source: JMP 2008
Annex 9
Urban water coverage per region as at 2008
REGION POP
DEMAND(m
3
/day) SUPPLY(m
3
/day)
COVERAGE %
Ashanti 2,000,728 187,118 91,500 49
Brong-Ahafo 602,840 48,125 14,385 30
Central 1,129,733 90,225 38,415 43
Eastern 1,015,155 77,995 21,470 28
Gt.- Accra 3,837,236 532,570 401,800 75
Northern 560,820 44,449 20,375 46
Upper-East 172,168 13,239 5,665 43
Upper-West 106,735 8,539 1,180 14
Volta 575,287 43,974 17,115 39
Western 694,399 54,799 34,535 63
National 10,689,366 1,101,032 646,494 58.7

Page 81
Annex 10
List of On-going / Completed Projects
PROJECT TITLE. INSTALLED
CAPACITY
(m3/day)
ADDITIONAL
PRODUCTION
CAPACITY
(m3/day)
TARGETED
2020
POPULATION
PROJECT
COST
( €)
YRS SOURCE OF
FUNDING
START
DATE
COMP
DATE
CAPE COAST 27,300 30,000 510,360 36,970,000 2 NETHERLANDS Nov-05 Jan -08
BAIFIKROM 2,270 11,400 120,771 25,763,000 2½ NETHERLANDS Apr-06 Oct-08
TAMALE 19,550 25,000 757,233 45,000,000 2 NETHERLANDS Aug-06 Nov.-08
EAST WEST 204,545 66,000 877,654 25,000,000 18mth
s
GHANA Mar-07 Oct -08
KOFORIDUA
Ph1&2
5,450 19,200 206,618 35,500,000 2½ BELGIUM Aug-06 May -09
BAREKESE 95,000 27,200 1,455,577 37,426,000 2½ NETHERLANDS Jan-07 Oct-09
SUNYANI 6,800 44,000 266,567 65,384,615 2 U.S.A Dec-10 Jan-14
WA 2,800 15,000 124,441 35,000,000 2½ AUSTRIA / ITALY Dec-10 Jul-14
KPONG 220,450 186,000 683,339 152,307,692 4 CHINA Dec-10 Jan-15
KWANYAKU 14,000 21,000 724,830 24,136,000 2½ NETHERLANDS Jan-05 Jul-07
Urban Water
Project
57,000,000 5 W/B, Nordic
fund, GoG
2005 2012
TOTAL 598,165 471,800 5,727,390 539,500,000
Source: GWCL Operations and Assets Management Dept

Page 82
IMPROVING WATER
SECTOR PERFORMANCE
For achieving national and MDG targets
This publication was funded by the European Union through the I.W.S.P.M.F project. The views expressed in this publication
do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
CONTACT
The Water Directorate
Ministry of Water resources, Works and Housing
P.O. Box M43, Accra – Tel: 233 (302) 673701 – Fax: 233 (302) 673882
Website: www.water-mwrwh.com

Water and Sanitation Sector Performance Report of Ghana, 2009 Edition

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