Fecal Matter And Plastic Pollution Threaten’s Densu River

Fecal Matter And Plastic Pollution Threaten’s Densu River

River Densu in the Eastern Region of Ghana is under serious threat from human activities in Nsawam and its environs.

Obvious Fecal matter from a public toilet facility near the river is clandestinely been discharged into the river body whilst leachate from the landfill at Fotobi community also contaminates the river.

According to the Assembly Member of the Area-Mr Yaw Joseph Konor, the landfill site is posing a lot of challenges to water bodies and people living in around the area. He said the leaching from the site as a result of the decomposed stuff dumped by the people leaches. The leachate is very black and it swims into the Dobro river which joins the Densu river.

Additionally, solid waste materials particularly plastics from activities at the Nsawam market and Lorry terminal end up in the river due to their close proximity.

The plastic pollution is more visible during and especially after a heavy downpour as the running water carries volumes of plastic from nearby dumping sites into the river.

The river takes its source from the Atewa Range near Kibi and flows for 116 km into the Weija Reservoir before entering the Gulf of Guinea through the Densu Delta Ramsar Site.
Relatively, the Densu River Basin has an area of 2,490 km2 and spans 11 Local Government Assemblies in three regions (i.e. Central Region, Eastern Region, and the Greater Accra Region).

According to the Water Resources Commission, there are about 200 settlements in the Basin and the total population is over 600,000, equivalent to 240 persons per km2. This figure is visibly far higher than the national average of about 100 persons per km2.

River Densu serves over five million people with intakes of four treatments from the river in Koforidua, Apedwa, Nsawam, and Weija.

The river body is also been threatened by the activities of galamsey and if urgent measures are not taken by the appropriate authorities to curb it, the consequences will be dire to the community and the entire country.

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