In a significant public health progress for the Wassa East District, the proportion of households with drinking water free from harmful E. coli contamination has doubled over a three-year period, rising from 19% in 2022 to 38% in 2025.
This encouraging finding was revealed by Afua Gyaama Kissi Ampomah, Senior Programmes Officer at Aquaya, during a stakeholder presentation in Daboase. The stakeholders included key water production actors such as the Ghana Water Company, Numa, the Health and Education Directorates, and heads of the Wassa East District Assembly.
According to the 2022–2025 WaterTRACS monitoring brief, the remarkable improvement is largely attributable to a sharp rise in the use of packaged water, primarily sachets. Consumption of sachet water has more than doubled, increasing from under 15% of households in 2022 to 37% in 2025.
Crucially, sachet water demonstrated the highest microbial quality among all household samples tested, with 85% free from E. coli. This stands in stark contrast to just 11% of samples from improved water sources and 4% from unimproved sources.
The findings confirm that market-driven adoption of packaged water is playing an increasingly vital role in protecting families from waterborne diseases, marking a clear public health win for the district. Officials were encouraged to build on this progress by extending surveillance testing to local sachet water producers to ensure standards are maintained.
Credit-Frank Kwabena Danso
DIO
