Accra, Feb. 25, GNA - The Weija Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) pumps out 55 million gallons of potable water per day to consumers, Mr Hadisu Alhassan, Chemist at the plant, told journalists on Wednesday. He made the statement during a field trip for students from Accra Girls and Saint Thomas Aquinas Senior High Schools to the treatment plant.

The trip was part of a project dubbed: "Water for all Education Project", jointly instituted by Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL), operators of the urban water system and Wisewater Foudation, a non-governmental organization.

The project is to educate the public on the efficient use of water with the view to cutting down on water wastage by 30 per cent. Mr Alhassan said the company ran three separate treatment plants, which treated a total of 60 million gallons of water out of which 55 million was made available for public consumption everyday. He said even though the Weija Dam was 50 feet deep, the plants operated at 47 feet at which a total of 25 billion gallons of water was available at any point in time.

Mr Alhassan said the Densu River, from which the Weija Dam got its water, was contaminated through human activity upstream, adding that the human waste enabled algae to grow on the dam.

"We do not encounter industrial wastage in the water, but we see a lot of pesticides from farming activities up stream and toxics from the activities of those who fish with chemicals down stream," he said. He therefore appealed to the fishermen, farmers and settlers along the Densu River to desist from contaminating the water with human excreta, pesticides and chemicals. 25 Feb. 09