Patients on admission at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) have resorted to buying sachet water for bathing and other purposes, following acute water shortage that hit the Tamale Metropolis a couple of weeks ago.

Checks by DAILY GUIDE revealed that both the underground and overhead water reservoirs at the hospital are empty with no record of the last time water flowed from the taps of the facility serving as the only referral hospital in the three regions in the north.

As a result, authorities have been relying on tanker services from Ghana National Fire Service, University for Development Studies (UDS) and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to cater for essential services.

Relation of patients have however expressed worry over the situation, disclosing that it is draining their finances considering the number of bags of sachet water they buy each day to cater for the use of their sick relations on admission.

Authorities of the hospital who are also worried about the water shortage have appealed to the GWCL to rectify the problem in order for the hospital to enjoy an uninterrupted supply to improve healthcare delivery.

Some suburbs of the Tamale Metropolis have been without water for weeks resulting in most of them drinking from unsafe sources.

The worse affected areas include Sabonjiga Kakpayili, Vittin, Kukuo, Tuutingli, Lamashegu, Dohinaayili, Kpambegu, SSNIT and Bayanwaya.

The Assistant Communications Officer of Ghana Water Company Limited, Nii-Abbey Nicholas, blamed the problem in the breakdown of one of the machines at the treatment plant at Dalun.

According to him, technicians were on the site working to ensure that water was pumped into homes anytime soon, and appealed to residents to be patient while the problem is finally resolved.

He, however, urged those indebted to the GWCL to settle their debt as it was from such monies the company relied on in repairing broken parts