Lifeline consumers whose water bills were absorbed as part of government's initiatives to cushion Ghanaians against the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, will effective July 1, resume paying for the service.

According to the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, the free water policy, implemented on the basis of a directive of President Akufo-Addo, will end on Wednesday, June 30.

A press statement dated June 23, issued in Accra stated, "effective 1st July 2021, all consumers/customers of the Ghana Water Company Limited, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, NGOs and partners in the water sector, will pay for the water they consume."

Upon the outbreak of Covid-19 in Ghana, in March 2020, the government introduced the free water policy to provide water to Ghanaians at no cost, initially for three months, that is from April 1 to June 31. It also fully absorbed electricity bills for one million active lifeline customers.

But the government, on two separate occasions last year, extended the free water policy from July 1 to September 30, and October 1 to December 31.

However, in January this year, the free water supply policy was maintained for lifeline consumers who consume less than 1,100 gallons of water per month from January 1 to March 31. The policy was further extended from April 1 and will end on June 30, 2021.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has entreated the general public to “conserve treated water as well as protect and preserve waterbodies.”