Kumasi, April 21, GNA- The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) is to launch a nationwide customer survey to help track down all those illegally enjoying treated water.

Mr Obeng Boateng, Chief Commercial Manager of the company, said the move has become necessary in view of what he termed "the huge revenue losses and unaccounted water in the system".

"We are going to make sure that every premise in every part of the country is visited by our survey teams", he said, adding, "every house where there is water connected should receive a bill". Mr Boateng was speaking at a one-day training seminar for Regional Monitoring and Implementation Committees to oversee the exercise in the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and West regions in Kumasi on Wednesday.

He said it was completely unacceptable that the GWCL should have consumer strength of between 300,000 and 400,000 for the past 10 years throughout the country when records at the Statistical Service showed that the Accra and Tema area alone has a total of one million houses. The Chief Commercial Manager said he had a firm conviction that there were "many customers out there who have connected water to their homes without the knowledge of the company".

There are yet several others whose water connection might be known to the company but have by-passed the meters particularly the major consumers".

Mr Boateng also talked about a situation where those disconnected for non-payment get reconnected through unlawful means and said this explained why the company's records showed that about 20 percent of customers remained permanently disconnected.

He pointed out that treated water the world over was costly and for that matter they could no longer afford to let about 50-55 percent of the company's treated water go waste.

The Chief Commercial Manager warned that anyone caught to have engaged in any illegal water deal would be prosecuted. He announced that the GWCL would take delivery of 75,000 new water meters by June this year.