Households advised to harvest rain

TWO officers of the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA) have reiterated the need for households to adopt rain harvesting technology to reduce the pressure on the Ghana Water Company as a result of perennial water shortages.
They said the problem of perennial water shortage that confronted most communities in parts of the country could be addressed if estate developers included rain harvesting facilities in their building projects.
The two, Mr Chales Kwaku Yorke and Mr Kafui Quarshiga, were speaking to the Daily Graphic to throw more light on the 2009 rainfall outlook issued by the GMA, and to also offer suggestion on how to curb perennial water shortage in the country.
Mr Yorke explained that harvesting and storing rainwater from the rooftop was most economical, particularly for areas where the amount of average annual rainfall was more than 255mm.
He said it was surprising that most buildings in the country, even public ones, were without any rain harvesting facility, and pointed out that that was unfortunate in a country where the driest area had an average annual rainfall of about 750mm.
“Several tonnes of rainwater can be harvested from slight to moderate rainfall from rainstorm and squall lines which contribute more than 80 per cent of annual rainfall in Ghana” he said.
Mr Yorke cited areas like Kintampo South, East Gonja, Nkwanta and Tain districts as areas with intensive rainfall, at least once in a year.
He stressed that even in the dry season, these areas could harvest rain throughout the year unlike in the northern parts of the country where most areas were dry for almost five months in a year.
In his contribution,Mr Quarshiga noted that if seriously implemented, rain harvesting could provide about 90 per cent of the water needed for household use, and suggested that the technology should be incorporated into the architectural design of schools, hospitals and other public places.
“It is needless the way many of us carry gallons around the city in search of water when we can store and use rain water at least for domestic and industrial purposes”.
Mr Quarshiga said individuals could make a lot of savings from harvesting water as money spent on water bills could be used for other purposes.
He said rain harvesting could also help farmers to stop seasonal farming and farm all year round, stressing that “Let us not waste all the rainwater that we will be having this year”.