Water sustains health, livelihoods and economic activity. When a household turns on a tap, the question is immediate: will safe water flow, and can the family afford it? Behind that simple test lies another. Can the institutions responsible for the supply meet the financial obligations, maintain the infrastructure and hold every partner accountable over the life of the project?
The Teshie-Nungua seawater desalination project brings these questions together. Conceived to expand potable water supply to Teshie-Nungua and surrounding communities, it used a build-own-operate-transfer public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement. A private developer would finance and operate the plant and sell treated water to Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). The arrangement offered a way to mobilize private capital for an urgent public need. Its experience also shows that financing construction is only one part of securing a lasting water supply.
In research undertaken as part of my doctoral thesis, I examined the project’s governance and sustainability through interviews with 14 institutional participants and discussions with two focus groups. The findings provide a case study of the period examined, rather than an audit of the plant’s current position.
The cost of inadequate preparation
Participants identified gaps in due diligence, financial appraisal, monitoring and coordination among public institutions. They also highlighted the difficulty of assessing a technically complex, unsolicited proposal when the contracting authority lacks sufficient specialist capacity to test its assumptions independently.
The study reported a purchase price of US$1.32 per cubic metre of treated water and a capacity charge of approximately US$1.4 million a month under the arrangements examined. These are historical figures from the research, not current prices or charges. Their significance lies in the financial question they expose: what happens when a utility’s contractual payments exceed the revenue it can realistically recover?
Such a gap can strain the utility, disrupt payment to the operator and create obligations that eventually reach the public purse. Because desalination requires substantial energy and intensive treatment, its costs demand particularly rigorous scrutiny. Before approval, public authorities must test projected demand, energy expenditure, payment currency, tariff assumptions and the capacity of the distribution network. They must also establish who bears the risk if collections fall short or costs rise.
An assessment of value for money should therefore extend beyond the amount of private capital invested. It should account for the long-term commitments and risks retained by the state.
Water’s value is realised in the home
The research also recorded the project’s benefits. Residents described improved access to water while the plant was operating, and some associated that access with better household sanitation. These gains matter. A dependable supply can reduce the time and expense of obtaining water and support healthier living conditions.
Other participants, however, raised concerns about interruptions, affordability, distribution infrastructure and the perceived salinity of supplied water. Reports about taste or salinity warrant careful investigation and transparent publication of test results; residents’ accounts alone cannot establish whether water met the applicable quality standards.
A water PPP must ultimately be assessed at the household tap. Continuity of supply, verified quality, affordable charges and timely responses to complaints are measures of public value. If the intended consumers cannot reliably use the water, the benefits of the investment diminish regardless of the plant’s technical capacity.
Consumers also have a role in oversight. Clear service benchmarks, accessible complaints channels and regular public reporting can help regulators and utilities identify problems early. Community feedback should inform decisions alongside financial and technical performance data.
Lessons for Ghana and beyond
Future water partnerships require four safeguards. Public authorities should obtain independent technical, financial and legal assessments before approving a project, particularly an unsolicited proposal. Contracting parties should test affordability under difficult but plausible conditions, including currency depreciation, higher energy costs and lower-than-expected collections. Agreements should set measurable service standards and practical procedures for resolving disputes before they interrupt supply. Finally, ministries, utilities and regulators need the expertise and authority to monitor performance throughout the contract’s life.
These lessons are relevant wherever governments seek private investment to close infrastructure gaps. A desalination plant may be financed and built through a partnership, but the public obligation continues long after construction. The contract must remain affordable, the institutions must remain capable, and the water must keep flowing.
For Ghana, the central measure of success is straightforward: a project should be financially sustainable for the state and deliver safe, reliable and affordable water to the people it was built to serve.
