The government's intervention to absorb water bills for all Ghanaians as part of its fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic will end on June 30, 2021.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources said “effective July 1, 2021, all consumers/customers of the Ghana Water Company Limited, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, NGOs and partners in the water sector, will pay for the water they consume”.

Intervention

The Free Water intervention, which had initially been announced to span a period of three months from April 1 to June 31, 2020, was extended on two separate occasions in the year 2020 - from July 1 to September 30, 2020, and from October 1 to December 31, 2020.

In January 2021, the policy was maintained for lifeline consumers defined as persons who consume less than 5m³ (1.100 gallons) of water per month, from January 15 to March 31, 2021, and further extended from April 1 to June 30, 2021.

The statement also urged the public to conserve treated water and protect water bodies.