1.4 million urban households in Ghana had no water on their premises in 2021, according to a report by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).

The GSS reported that residents of 89,922 households had to travel more than 30 minutes to fetch their main source of drinking water.

Nationally, the GSS said that 112,031 urban households were using unimproved sources of drinking water.

“One in every four households (27.7%) in urban areas did not have their main source of drinking water on their premises according to the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) General Report on Water and Sanitation. This figure represents 1.4 million urban households without access to water on their premises. Out of this number, 89,922 households had to travel more than 30 minutes to make a round trip to get to their main source of drinking water and return.”

“Nationally, 112,031 households in urban areas were using unimproved sources of drinking water defined as sources not adequately protected from outside contamination,” GSS said in its report.

The North East Region recorded the highest percentage of urban households using unimproved sources of drinking water.

“One in every four (24.0%) urban households was using unimproved sources of drinking water in the North East Region which recorded the highest percentage and was over ten times the national urban average (2.2%). The Northern (10.0%) and Savannah (9.3%) regions distantly recorded the next highest percentages of households using unimproved sources in urban areas.”

According to GSS, almost half a million also practised open defecation within the same year.

“Almost half a million (449,849) households in urban areas did not have a toilet facility and were practising open defecation while 1.3 million used public toilet facilities. Over half of urban households practised open defecation in the North East (54.0%) and Savannah (51.9%) regions, more than five times the national urban average of 8.9 percent. In all, there were six regions with over 20.0 percent of urban households practising open defecation.” GSS in its report stated.