'PURE Water!'

To start things off: my apologies for yet again another lengthy hiatus since my last blog post. The girls have truly kept you well up to date, and, to tell you the truth, I much prefer the more direct communication outlet of email. (I also don’t feel so bad about rambling that way).

I think some of the most interesting observations and reflections I’ve had so far in Ghana is that of public infrastructure.  While I suppose you can attribute a good portion of this to my academic nerdiness, it is truly awing to compare the systems of water, waste, sanitation, and roads between Canada and Ghana. I definitely do no have, and will not even attempt to provide you with incite as to understand the complex arenas of public policy, financing structures, municipal planning, and technological development governing these differences; but if you’re interested, there is a lot of informative literature available.

The Ghanaian water distribution system provides different solutions for citizen needs, and most notably, varies widely across the spectrum from urban to rural. Within the urban regions, water is most often distributed by trucks to large barrels of water called polytanks located outside of each household or business complex. Think of it kind of like a septic tank in rural Canada, except rather than picking up waste, the trucks are bringing you water. The tanks are elevated as much as possible to take advantage of energy in transporting the water through a pipe system into the house. You are truly aware of every drop you consume since it can (and does) run out at any time. Many specialists also exist, and must be paid for, to fix, repair, and distribute the polytanks since they are weakened over time by the wind and sun.

Drinking water is a different story. Since the water treatment system for the polytanks is very minimal in comparison to the extensive systems we are used to in Canada, drinking water must be purchased in bottle or sachet form, usually sold by women and children on the streets as ‘pure water’. (Ice cold pure water is one of the most refreshing treats after a day at the office). Both of these produce a large amount of plastic waste that cannot be recycled due to the enormous expense of a thorough municipal recycling system. Consequently, there is a large degree of littering and you often note the open sewers clogged with plastic waste remnants.

Rural water demands rely heavily on borehole pumps for drinking, bathing, and cooking. During our time in Koka and Minta Bomeng, you would almost always see someone (often a child) vigorously pumping for water into a bowl of which they would carry to (sometime distant) destinations on their head. Communities that do not have boreholes will access streams or rain water diversion from their roofs. This can often be challenging due to contamination from other wastes in the area. (Human, animal, and agriculture biproduct—to name a few).

So what’s to be made of all this? First, I think the ingenuity developed for water infrastructure solutions in an environment of limited resources, population growth, and restricted access to funds is pretty incredible. What we (as engineers) have been trained do design (and think) is the best solution in Canada may not be the best solution in a country such as Ghana (for example: centralized water treatment systems). I think, however, that importance must be placed on the opportunity for improvement. Economic growth presents the allure of more financial inertia for public spending. While this is true, without appropriate policy prioritization, planning, and advocacy for those who are most disadvantaged, the growth can, and does serve to augment the disparities already present.

I will not even begin to grasp these complexities during my time in Ghana. I have, though, learned a tremendous amount from the brilliant people at KITE, our friends in Accra, and the welcoming residents of the various communities we worked in. I am excited to continue my journey in learning about infrastructure challenges in a developing context, and will feel privileged to incorporate them into my future pursuits.

Hope everyone is well at home—updates are always great, and I miss you all tons.

Josh