Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, has raised serious concerns over the alarming pollution levels in the country’s major water bodies, warning that the situation is compromising access to clean, safe drinking water.
Speaking at the opening of the Ghana Mining in Motion event on Monday, the minister revealed that most of Ghana’s key rivers, which serve as sources for major water bodies, are heavily contaminated—largely due to illegal mining and related environmental damage.
“What is worse is that because our major water bodies take their sources from these forests, almost 80% of our major water bodies take their source from these rivers,” he said.
Buah highlighted that the turbidity levels—an indicator of how cloudy or polluted the water is—are far beyond acceptable limits for treatment.
“We also have pollution of our main water bodies, and to the extent that turbidity levels of water bodies are at alarming rates between 5,000 and 12,000 NTU, above the maximum threshold of 500 NTU for treatment for portable use,” he stated.
According to him, the worsening water quality is already having real impacts, forcing intermittent shutdowns of water treatment plants across the country.
