Accra, Feb. 9, GNA - One of the four water pumps that were damaged a= t the Weija Water Works has been restored ahead of the arrival of engineers=

from South Africa to fix the problem, an official of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) told the GNA on Tuesday.

Mr Michael Agyemang, Public Relations Director of GWCL, said the restoration of the pump at the new Weija station would improve water delivery in the city.

Currently only about 11 million gallons of water are available for Accra West daily, instead of the usually 55 million gallons a day. This has caused difficulties to tens of thousands of people who have=

been running around the city with gallons looking for water. "Three pumps are usually operational daily and they pump enough raw water from the Densu River into the treatment plant to ensure that at lea= st 55 million gallons of water are produced every day.

"This means with one repaired about 15 millions more will be added t= o the current 11 million gallons from the old works to ameliorate the water=

situation in the city in the interim," he said.

Mr Agyemang said a new rationing programme had also been drawn up to=

ensure that the little water available now could be shared equitably amon= g residents of the city.

He said the 11 million gallons of water that were previously channel= led to Kasoa had been diverted to Accra and some more water from the Kpong Wa= ter Works had also been diverted to resolve the problem. "We have also supplied jumbo plastic tanks in some of the severely affected areas and are working on getting some tanks to some schools as well," he said.

Mr Agyemang said offices which had tanks had also been asked to take=

them to the GWCL Booster Station at Okponglo and get some water. Meanwhile engineers from South African-based Rockwell Limited, the company which sold the water pumps and power panels to GWCL, are expected= in the country on Thursday to determine whether the panels can be repaired o= r have to be replaced.

The four electric pumps that pump water from the Densu River into th= e treatment plant at Weija stopped working when the air valve at the statio= n blew up and allowed water to spill over into the electric panels that sup= ply power to the pumps.

According to Mr Agyemang, the engineers at the station tried to rest= art the pumps but they could not and they could not also detect the exact damage. The damage has led to a grave water shortage problem in the city and=

the engineers at GWCL and Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) have said the manufacturers have been contacted to come and assess the situation. Mr. Stanley Martey, Communications Manager of AVRL, told the GNA tha= t the pumps and panels were installed eight years ago and needed overhaulin= g, adding that the South African engineers would be expected to do just that= .. He noted that the impression that the local engineers could not fix the problem was erroneous, saying that "we thought it was wise to allow the manufacturer to come in and replace certain components that needed replacement".