The Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Authority, Nana Ama Brown Klutse, has disclosed that an estimated $35 million will be required to fully restore the heavily polluted Birim River.
She made the revelation during a pilot application of ionic nano copper technology at Kyebi-Adukrom in the Eastern Region on Tuesday, February 24, 2026.
According to her, although the pilot project has shown visible improvements in some sections of the river, scaling up the intervention nationwide will require massive financial support.
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Prof Klutse explained that it costs about $200,000 to procure enough ionic nano copper technology to clean one kilometre of a flowing river.
With the Birim River stretching approximately 175 kilometres, she said the total cost of full restoration stands at $35 million.
“It took us about $200,000 to procure an amount that will clean one kilometre of every flowing river body. The Birim River is about 175 kilometres, so you can do the mathematics,” she said in an interview with Channel One TV.
Despite the encouraging results from the pilot phase, Prof Klutse stressed that sustained and reliable funding remains the biggest obstacle to restoring the river to acceptable environmental standards.
She noted that without long-term financial commitment, efforts to rehabilitate polluted water bodies could stall, worsening the impact on communities and ecosystems.
The Birim River has suffered severe degradation in recent years due to illegal mining activities, popularly known as galamsey, resulting in widespread pollution that has led to poor water quality, destruction of aquatic life, reduced access to safe drinking water, and increased health risks for riverside communities.
Environmental experts warn that continued neglect and weak enforcement measures could permanently damage the river’s ecosystem and undermine livelihoods that depend on it.
Prof Klutse added that the ionic nano copper technology forms part of a wider national strategy to rehabilitate polluted rivers and strengthen long-term water resource management.
She said the EPA remains committed to working with government agencies, development partners, and local communities to protect Ghana’s water bodies from further destruction.
CNR