Under the African Urban Poor Improved Water Supply and Sanitation (AUP-IWS) program, USAID/Ghana implemented the Water Access, Sanitation and Hygiene for Urban Poor (WASH-UP) program from 2009 to 2012. WASH-UP started in October 2009 in slum communities of the two major cities of Accra and Takoradi, Ghana.

The purpose of this Water Quality Assessment Report is to provide an analysis of the water quality data for the existing Zai Water Treatment Plant (WTP) system, including raw water quality, treated finished water quality, and unit treatment process performance to provide recommendations on treatment process modifications.

The provision of sustainable sanitation for all is one of the world’s most important development priorities, yet 4.5 billion people lack access to a safe toilet. Past efforts to provide greater sanitation access, such as direct government provision and full, blanket subsidies for toilets, have proven to be ineffective or unsustainable in many developing countries, prompting some to focus on market-based sanitation (MBS) as an alternative. However, market-based approaches have proven difficult to scale up.  

“The changes on the African continent are very much alarming—when we talk of sanitation and look at the growth of the populations in Africa, and also the urbanization phenomenon, with the growth of slums,” said Dr. Canisius Kanangire, Executive Secretary of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), acknowledging the challenges facing the region in a recent interview with USAID’s Global Waters Radio.

More than 3,000 practitioners and decision-makers gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, at the end of August 2018 for World Water Week. Hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), this annual gathering encourages new thinking and positive action on water-related opportunities and challenges.