The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) has indicated that illegal mining activities popularly known as galamsey are a contributing factor to the increase in water tariff. 

The Commission’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Ishmael Ackah, lamented that water bodies in galamsey prone areas are being heavily polluted, leading to a significant increase in production cost. 

Speaking at a tariff education forum for tertiary students on Thursday in Ho, he explained that the Ghana Water Company was compelled to introduce the use of expensive chemicals to treat and purify water from polluted rivers before consumption.

“Before galamsey became a big issue, Ghana Water was using a chemical call alum to treat the water before they serve customers. Now because of the nature of water we have now, when you go to the Pra, they are almost treating mud instead of water.

"That means that even when you want to use the alum, you have to use about 5 times more. Now they are moving toward what we call polyelectrolyte, which is the chemical they are using now and that is two and half times more expensive than alum. 

"So the implication is that galamsey is making the cost of treating water very expensive and unfortunately consumers are paying for that, so I will also admonish all of us to help fight against galamsey so that we don't bare some of these costs”, he said.