The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has reiterated that the country could experience water crisis in the shortest possible time if illegal mining, also known as 'galamsey', is not dealt with urgently.

According to the Company, it is faced with increasing cost of treating water and the regular replacement of damaged equipment.

This, it explained, is due to the rising turbidity levels of water bodies due to illegal mining activities.

Managing Director of the GWCL, Ing. Clifford Braimah in a media interview warned of the imminent consequences. 

He said the menace cannot be treated as a joke.

“The cost is in several folds. Our machines are stopped and maintained more regularly so the shutdowns are becoming too frequent.

“Anytime you shut your plants, people are not getting water, the cost keeps multiplying, and so we cannot continue to treat the galamsey as a joke, else we will all have a challenge in this country,” he said.

Already, the Management of the Company are grappling with the reduction in volumes of water treated and supplied to customers as a result of the pollution of water sources by illegal miners.

The water-producing company has been complaining for years about the adverse effects of 'galamsey' on the raw materials and cost of production, however, the canker continues to thrive.

The company says it is currently burdened by huge sums of monies spent on chemicals to treat high turbidity levels of raw water at various extraction stations.

It has warned that it could shut down operations in areas affected by galamsey if the cost of treating water becomes economically unsustainable.