River bodies that serve as a source for treated drinking water may soon be untreatable, an officer of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has warned.

This is as a result of the activities of illegal small scale miners, the officer said.

This is why the Company is demanding higher tariffs, which will enable it secure more chemicals to treat water for consumption, he said.

Nana Yaw Barnie, a Communications Manager of GWCL, made this known on TV3’s News @10 on Monday, October 12.

GWCL together with other utility companies want over 200 per cent tariff increment.

GWCL wants a 124 per cent increment, which translates to 120 gallons of water (5 barrels) going for GHc5 instead of the current GHc1.78.

Mr Barnie explained that the high cost of water production with electricity has also called for an increase in tariffs.

He said the Company is the single highest consumer of electricity in Ghana with about 49 per cent of its revenue expended on power.

Therefore, the current power crisis has had a toll on production, he said.

He also mentioned the depreciation of the Cedi as increasing cost of production.