Assessing the Safety of Piped and Packaged Water in Wassa East

Research Brief

July 2025

Assessing the Safety of Piped and Packaged Water in Wassa East

Survey from February 2025

Wassa East District is one of fourteen districts in Ghana’s Western Region. It was originally part of the larger Mpohor/Wassa East District, which was formed in 1988. In June 2012, the southwestern portion was split to create Mpohor District. The remaining area became Wassa East District.

WaterTRACS has been coordinating longitudinal water quality monitoring in two target districts in Ghana since 2022. In February 2025, Aquaya conducted a sixth round of surveys and water quality testing at households, water points, schools, and healthcare facilities in the Wassa East District. This effort builds upon prior monitoring.

Timeline of drinking water samples tested in the Wassa East District, Ghana

Background

This research focuses on piped water and packaged water, the two most common sources of drinking water in Wassa East district, which were collectively used by 60% of households in February 2025. While the use of piped water for drinking has remained fairly constant since 2022 (17%-23%), packaged water consumption has increased substantially, from <15% in 2022 to 37% in early 2025.

Piped water has been consistently used by about half of schools in Wassa East, with very few using packaged water (n=49). However, healthcare facilities have consistently reported using either piped water or packaged water, though packaged water varied from 5%-55% and piped water from 45%-85% at various visits (n=20).

Current drinking water sources of surveyed households at each sampling time in Wassa East, including packaged water (sachet and bottled), piped water, and other source types.

Results

Microbial water quality | Piped water

Piped water supplies have been among the safest waterpoint types at all sampling times, though microbial presence varied between sampling events, from a low of 17% and a high of 53% of samples with E. coli present.

In February 2025, only 17% of piped samples collected directly from taps tested positive for E. coli (n=70). However, contamination increased significantly when water was stored. About 80% of piped water samples collected from household storage containers had E. coli (n=54). This emphasizes the need for safe storage practices.

Chlorination

Free chlorine levels in piped water were generally low. Only 6% to 21% of tap samples met Ghana’s national minimum requirement of 0.2 mg/L.

In February 2025, 60% of piped water samples had detectable total chlorine. This showed that most systems received some disinfection. However, only 20% of those samples met the free chlorine residual standard. Healthcare facilities had the highest rates of successful chlorination.

On-plot piped water

Only 7% of households had piped connections on their property, and just 3% used that water for drinking. E. coli levels increased after storage, rising from 47% at the tap to 61% in stored water.

Microbial water quality | Packaged water

Packaged water consistently showed the best microbial quality. In February 2025, just 1% of packaged samples had detectable E. coli. Still, contamination appeared in 16% of sachet samples across all rounds (n=269), pointing to variability among suppliers.

Recommendations

All piped water supplies should be chlorinated.
Chlorination should be performed more consistently and at higher levels to ensure a free chlorine residual stays above 0.2 mg/L throughout the piped network.
Unless the chlorination of piped supplies improves substantially, sachet water remains the safest option for preserving water quality during household storage.