It would see to it that there was water quality assessment - to ensure that water supplied to local communities was of good quality and wholesome enough for domestic use.

Mr. Dodji Attiogbe, the Regional Director of CWSA, told the Ghana News Agency that, as much as it was their desire to provide water for every community, the quality of the water remained its top priority.

“Our desire is not only to get water for every community, but to also make sure the water is good. It is better for the people to walk ten miles to get water than to drink water that is not good for their health”, he said.

The Agency was working closely with the Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) to provide safe water for communities.

“By the demand responsive approach, the communities are to apply to the district assembly requesting for provision of water facilities in their communities,” he said.

“Usually the district prepares its mid-term development plan or the district water and sanitation plan, in the plan they cater for all communities within their respective districts so that they are able to prioritise”.

The CWSA Regional Director spoke of some challenges they had been struggling with - inadequate finance and poor management of facilities by the communities and said these were unhelpful to the Agency’s operations.

Mr. Attiogbe revealed that the previous policy, which put management of the facility into the hands of the community, had been changed, and CWSA engaged professionals to manage those facilities.

He appealed to community members to cooperate with the Agency to help manage the facilities and put them in good shape, saying; “It is we and them together ensuring that we all have good life”

The CWSA metamorphosed from the then Community Water and Sanitation Division (CWSD) after it was transformed by an Act of Parliament, (Act 564, 1998), with the mandate to facilitate provision of safe drinking water and related sanitation services to rural communities and small towns in Ghana.