Minister tours Legon waste treatment plant

Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development at the weekend toured the Legon Waste Water Treatment Project (LWWTP).

The project which is a component of the Accra Sewerage Improvement Project is valued at $15 million.

The project is sponsored by the African Development Bank (AfDP) at a cost of $77million with Ghana providing $ 8 million as counterpart funding.

The objective of the project is to improve and extend sewerage and sanitation systems for disposing of waste water from the city of Accra in an environmentally and socially acceptable manner to meet the demand up to 2030.

It is also to strengthen the sewerage staff of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to operate and maintain the system on a sustainable basis.

The current project output of the LWWTP treat 6,558m3/day of sewerage effluent, rehabilitation and extension of 190km sewerage network for AMA, La Dadekotopon and La Nkwantanan Municipalities and construction of 70 number 20- seater public and institutional water closets.

It is currently undertaking the final activities that include the commissioning of heavy duty truck, sewerage equipment and rehabilitation of the sanitary network in some areas of Accra.

Alhaji Dauda said, the LWWTP is directly benefitting about 220, 000 residents in the University of Ghana, University of Professional Studies and the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School.

He said the current inflow of the sewerage treatment plant is 15 per cent of the design capacity and needed to be extended to other catchment areas to optimise the usage of the plant.

The Minister who also the Member of Parliament for Asutifi south, said the adjoining assemblies would need similar facilities to treat waste water and appealed to the AfDB to support the country with another trunche of funding to construct more of the plants.

The project manager, Mr Stephen Ackon said the treatment water is currently discharge into a nearby stream, which is been used for the watering of vegetables and other crops in the university farms and gardens.

He said, there is water flowing every minute from the three institutions into the plant for treatment.

Mr Ackon said the plant has three ponds namely; the anaerobic which accommodate the first sewerage water before distributing into the facultative which is the second pond and maturation which is the final receiving pond and ready for watering of plants.

He added that the water flow by gravity with the machine located at the three institutions.