Improving Water Quality Management, Water Equity, and Non-Revenue Water in Ghana

Rapid urbanization has strained Ghana’s urban water systems. Ghana’s urban population has more than tripled over the last three decades, rising from approximately five million (1990) to more than 18 million (2021), with over half (57 percent) of the country’s population now living in urban areas. This rapid rate of urbanization is outstripping the expansion of urban water infrastructure. As a result of insufficient supply, consumers face intermittent service delivery and water rationing and must rely on other, non-regulated water sources such as informal vendors and boreholes.

This inception report outlines how USAID’s URBAN WASH Activity will assess three core challenges faced by Ghana Water Company Limited in Kumasi and Tamale: water quality, equity, and non-revenue water.  It describes the selection process that led to the identification of the two target cities; the research activities to be implemented to address the research questions; data collection, quality assurance and management; and stakeholder engagement and dissemination.