GWCL to attain 100% access to potable water in Ghana by 2025.
The 77th Traditional Scientific and Technical Council and Exhibition has been organized by African Water Association in collaboration with Ghana Water Company Limited with the aim of improving the performance of the water and sanitation sector in Africa.
Joseph Kofi Adda (MP) noted that the meeting was also aimed at strengthening the institutional and human capacities to serve as a catalyst for acquiring and improving knowledge in water production and distribution, and sanitation management from the technical, legal administrative and economic point of view.
According to him, studies have shown that, investment in water and sanitation services result in an overall estimated gain of 1.5% of global GDP.
Adding that, there is also the issue of the management of solid waste, which is a huge challenge for Ghana.
“In the face of population growth, these disparities need to be addressed if Ghana is to achieve her sector target of Sanitation and water for all by 2025 and SDG-6 by 2030”, he disclosed.
This he said, the sanitation sub-sector would soon see a modernization of its operations from an injection of modern and state-of –art technology to help get rid of filth and open defecation in the country.
I throw a challenge to the private sector to position itself to take advantage of the opportunities that these innovations come with.
Since government has realized that WASH provision is a shared responsibility and has therefore created the enabling environment for private sector participation and partnership to achieve the national goals and subsequently the SDGs.
This year’s meeting was themed: “Improving the performance of the water and sanitation sector in Africa”.

St. Peter’s Square fountains being shut off due to drought.
ROME – The Vatican says it is shutting off all its fountains, including those in St. Peter’s Square, because of Italy’s drought.
Vatican Radio on Monday said the decision is linked with Pope Francis’s teachings on the environment.
The pope has decried wasteful practices and praised clean drinking water as vital for both people and the environment.
“The decision is in keeping with the teachings of Pope Francis, who in the encyclical Laudato Si’ recalls how the habit of wasting and throwing away things has reached unheard of levels, while clean drinking water represents a matter of primary importance because it is indispensable for human life and for supporting ecosystems on land and sea,” the report said.
Meteorologists say spring 2017 was Italy’s third-driest in some 60 years.
Eight percent of Rome’s drinking water comes from Lake Bracciano – located 20 miles north of the city – which has lost so much water, pumping has been halted.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, said the Holy See delegation will present a document on access to water to the UN in September.
The presentation will be made in conjunction with the Caritas in Veritate Foundation and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development.
Crux staff contributed to this report.

Proposed EPA cuts would put our safe water at risk.
The proposed budget by the Trump administration for the year 2018 is about on par with that of last year, at about $4.1 trillion.
However, many departments are expected to suffer from extreme cuts.
This would be a budget decrease of 31.4 percent and lead to a loss of 15,000 jobs, which accounts for about a quarter of all jobs at the EPA.
The cuts within the agency include decreases to grants that help states monitor public water systems.
It is proposed that these grants be cut by one-third, from $102 million to $71 million.
This could be dangerous for Americans because unsafe levels of lead have turned up in the tap water of many cities, besides just Flint Michigan.
These grants, including such grants as the Public Water System Supervision Grant, have been crucial in ensuring that communities in the United States have access to clean drinking water.
In the United States, we are privileged for the access that we have to clean water.
These extreme cuts to the budget of the EPA threaten our access and rights to safe, clean water.

St. Peter’s Square fountains being shut off due to drought.
ROME – The Vatican says it is shutting off all its fountains, including those in St. Peter’s Square, because of Italy’s drought.
Vatican Radio on Monday said the decision is linked with Pope Francis’s teachings on the environment.
The pope has decried wasteful practices and praised clean drinking water as vital for both people and the environment.
“The decision is in keeping with the teachings of Pope Francis, who in the encyclical Laudato Si’ recalls how the habit of wasting and throwing away things has reached unheard of levels, while clean drinking water represents a matter of primary importance because it is indispensable for human life and for supporting ecosystems on land and sea,” the report said.
Meteorologists say spring 2017 was Italy’s third-driest in some 60 years.
Eight percent of Rome’s drinking water comes from Lake Bracciano – located 20 miles north of the city – which has lost so much water, pumping has been halted.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, said the Holy See delegation will present a document on access to water to the UN in September.
The presentation will be made in conjunction with the Caritas in Veritate Foundation and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development.
Crux staff contributed to this report.

Proposed EPA cuts would put our safe water at risk.
The proposed budget by the Trump administration for the year 2018 is about on par with that of last year, at about $4.1 trillion.
However, many departments are expected to suffer from extreme cuts.
This would be a budget decrease of 31.4 percent and lead to a loss of 15,000 jobs, which accounts for about a quarter of all jobs at the EPA.
The cuts within the agency include decreases to grants that help states monitor public water systems.
It is proposed that these grants be cut by one-third, from $102 million to $71 million.
This could be dangerous for Americans because unsafe levels of lead have turned up in the tap water of many cities, besides just Flint Michigan.
These grants, including such grants as the Public Water System Supervision Grant, have been crucial in ensuring that communities in the United States have access to clean drinking water.
In the United States, we are privileged for the access that we have to clean water.
These extreme cuts to the budget of the EPA threaten our access and rights to safe, clean water.

Ottawa runner raising money to provide clean water for Africans.
Passersby in Ottawa during the mornings this week might catch sight of a young mother lugging a large water jug with two kids — one strapped to her back— in tow on the downtown sidewalks.
Sarah Heuser, 34, a special education instructor at Ottawa High School who lives on the city’s South Side, has become her own visual aid as she raises awareness for Africa’s clean water problem during her unique training sessions for the 2017 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Sunday, Oct 8.
"Most people in the United States have access to clean drinking water and, about two years ago, I became interested in supporting the World Vision organization," Heuser said.
According to its website, World Vision is the largest non-governmental provider of clean water in the world.
"I ran with nearly 2,000 other runners for this charity where we raised nearly $40,000 for various African water projects," she said.
"World Vision is a very hands-on on organization, which gives some 85 percent of its total donations to the actual people and services that they need to have a better life.
So my children and I are doing a mock water fetch of what the kids and woman in Africa experience on a daily basis in order to raise awareness and money for the cause."
"I’m really looking forward to the trip to meet some of the children and people that World Vision is helping," Heuser said.
"Sarah is amazing," McIntyre said.

Ottawa runner raising money to provide clean water for Africans.
Passersby in Ottawa during the mornings this week might catch sight of a young mother lugging a large water jug with two kids — one strapped to her back— in tow on the downtown sidewalks.
Sarah Heuser, 34, a special education instructor at Ottawa High School who lives on the city’s South Side, has become her own visual aid as she raises awareness for Africa’s clean water problem during her unique training sessions for the 2017 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Sunday, Oct 8.
"Most people in the United States have access to clean drinking water and, about two years ago, I became interested in supporting the World Vision organization," Heuser said.
According to its website, World Vision is the largest non-governmental provider of clean water in the world.
"I ran with nearly 2,000 other runners for this charity where we raised nearly $40,000 for various African water projects," she said.
"World Vision is a very hands-on on organization, which gives some 85 percent of its total donations to the actual people and services that they need to have a better life.
So my children and I are doing a mock water fetch of what the kids and woman in Africa experience on a daily basis in order to raise awareness and money for the cause."
"I’m really looking forward to the trip to meet some of the children and people that World Vision is helping," Heuser said.
"Sarah is amazing," McIntyre said.

For another, if these death statistics are accurate at all, they are not attributable to capitalism.
It is important to note that these numbers do not include all deaths, and in particular, do not include deaths due to unsafe drinking water, hunger or disease.
One cannot draw any conclusion from these numbers one way or the other, except perhaps that our socialist meme-makers could not find crimes against civilians under capitalist regimes that measure up to the crimes committed against populations living under socialism or communism.
The correlation between access to clean water and economic freedom is 49%.
Of the 46 countries that score a perfect 100% for access to clean drinking water, 38 are in the top half of the economic freedom charts, and 27 are in the top quartile.
Still, the correlation between high hunger levels and low economic freedom is 37%, which is statistically very significant with p<0.1%.
Economic Freedom Ranking Severe hunger Alarming hunger Top quartile 1 0 Second quartile 9 1 Third quartile 13 3 Bottom quartile 23 3 It is evident that hunger is also correlated with a lack of economic freedom, which means that attributing hunger deaths to free markets is equally dishonest.
There are 157 countries which have both a WHO death rate and an EFI score.
The correlation between high death rates and low economic freedom is 53%, which is even more statistically significant than either the hunger or unsafe water association, with p<0.01%.
Economic Freedom Ranking Top 40 (lowest death rate) Bottom 40 (highest death rate) Top quartile 25 0 Second quartile 10 8 Third quartile 3 8 Bottom quartile 1 23 This shows that deaths due to injury or disease are once again correlated with a lack of economic freedom.

Frankfort Plant Board Most of us are familiar with the phrase — “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?” While the context may vary, it is still a great question.
It is a vital component of a healthy life.
Yet, for bottled water, we spend more per gallon than we would on gasoline for something we can get from the tap for nearly free.
So, the question remains — Why spend a dollar on a 20-ounce bottle of water when the Frankfort Plant Board provides tap water for less than one cent per gallon?
Some may say, “I want to make sure my water is safe and free of contaminants.” But did you know the EPA regulates the filtration and disinfection methods of all tap water while the FDA offers no certain guidelines when overseeing such procedures of bottled water?
The water treatment processes are highly regulated and must comply with the EPA Safe Drinking Water Act, which regulates more than 90 different chemicals and bacteria to assure that your water is safe to drink.
Bottled water companies are not required to provide this information.
More plastic means more oil — up to 47 million gallons per year — to produce.
We’ll also provide refillable water bottles so you can take the tap with you.
So remember, when you have a choice between bottled water and tap water, drinking from the tap is much better for the planet and your wallet.

Republicans in Washington state took a water-rights dispute a step farther Monday by comparing landowners who can’t drill wells on their property to people lacking safe drinking water in developing nations.
The state’s Legislature spent a record number of days in overtime this year debating how to respond to state Supreme Court’s Hirst decision, which has effectively halted construction for some property owners in rural areas.
“The United Nations General Assembly voted in 2010 to recognize ‘…the right to safe and clean drinking water as a human right,’” staff for the GOP Senate caucus tweeted Monday morning, citing an article posted by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
In the Hirst decision, the state Supreme Court said Whatcom County didn’t adequately protect water resources when approving developments relying on new wells.
The resolution “recognizes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” But, according to the same article cited in the GOP tweet, the U.N. resolution also comes with a few caveats.
“Therefore, the 1.1 billion people worldwide who lack a water tap are not suffering a human rights violation, as long as their governments are making an effort,” the Natural Resources Defense Council’s article said.
A spokeswoman for Senate Republicans didn’t respond to questions about why staffers compared the property-rights debate surrounding Hirst to the U.N. resolution on clean drinking water.
Right now, the GOP controls the state Senate with the help of a conservative Democrat, while Democrats control the state House.
Each side continued to lob accusations at the other on Twitter Monday, even after Senate Republicans deleted the tweet about the United Nations resolution.
House Democrats criticized Republicans’ “all or nothing” strategy of costing the state billions in construction projects, while Senate Republicans accused Democrats of running away last week to prevent a last-minute vote on a Hirst bill.