Four Constituencies Water Supply Scheme at Adidome, Volta Region

The Four Constituencies Water Supply Scheme was awarded to Strabag AG, an Austrian company. The project with head-works at Adidome was valued at over €16 Million EUROS and involved the construction of Water Treatment Plant, the installation of intake pumps, and construction of Booster Stations along the breath of the water pipelines.

The initial project involved the construction of 120 km of water pipelines. The transmission pipelines used 315/280 mm HDPE pipes and the distribution network used HDPE pipes ranging from 63 mm to 110 mm PE pipes. The water scheme was projected to serve over 600,000 households spread across five districts in the Volta Region.

Richfields was selected as one of the five subcontractors that worked on the projects. Richfields was awarded about Twenty Five (25) kilometres of water pipeline, construction of chambers, mechanical installations and general electrical works. The project involved digging 1m deep trenches, laying of water pipelines of sizes 110mm, 90mm and 63mm. The project was completed on time and Richfields was adjudged one of the best sub-contractor.

The following works were performed by Richfields:
• Digging of One (1) meter by 0.4m deep trenches for laying water pipelines
• Welding of HDPE Pipes sizes 63mm to 110mm
• Construction of water meter shafts
• Installation of air-valves shafts
• Installation of water meters
• Construction of Washouts
• Construction of Water Standpipes
• Construction of River and Road Crossings
• Filling, laying of caution tapes and compacting of trenches
• Conducting Water Pressure Tests (15 Bar) on the water pipelines
• Disinfection of the pipelines using chlorine

Development of 6 Kilometre Water Pipeline for Freshfields Farms

Richfields & Resources was the sole contractor for the development of the Six Kilometre water pipeline for Freshfields Farms located at Juapong. This was a very challenging job which we undertook with professional zeal.

Richfields installed an industrial pump (75KW) with a head of 60 meters on the Volta River and dug a 6Kilometre length by 1 meter deep water pipeline through swamps and hard rock to reach the Freshfields Farm. In spite of the many challenges faced, Richfields completed the project on time and saved 25% of the costs for the owners through re-engineering of the project.

The professional excellence exhibited by Richfields earned us high marks in the Water Engineering industry and paved the way for us to acquire the Four Constituencies Water Supply Scheme at Adidome under STRABAG AG.

Community Water & Sanitation Agency Projects

Richfields has also undertaken significant projects and maintenance for Community Water & Sanitation across the country, most notable among them being Donkorkrom, Teteman, Otumi, Kade, Kwahu Amafro etc.

Richfields has been working with Donkorkrom Community for the past 8 years and has drilled over twenty (20) boreholes and mechanized them. Richfields also maintained the water tanks and treated the borehole water with chlorine for portability. Richfields annually air lifts the boreholes to ensure clean water for the community. Richfields has constructed more than 100 kilometres of pipelines for Community Water across Ghana.,

Donkorkrom had several challenges that demanded expert knowledge and special skills to handle. The electrical connections had losses and Richfields was challenged to work with the ECG operators in Donkorkrom to resolve it because the high cost of electricity rendered the water business unprofitable.

Furthermore, Richfields has to institute management policies and work with the water Board to make sure that the revenue distribution is properly managed to allocate enough money for future capital expenses.

Catholic Dioceses Water Projects

The greatest numbers of water engineering projects were done for the Catholic Dioceses; notable among them are:

- Jasikan Catholic Diocese
- Catholic Vicariate of Donkorkrom
- Wa Catholic Diocese
- Ho Catholic Dioceses
- Keta-Akatsi Catholic Diocese
- Koforidua Catholic Diocese

In all these Dioceses, Richfields drilled several boreholes, mechanized them, and instituted maintenance agreement that ensures the boreholes are airlifted and disinfected annually. The sanitation policies of Richfields resulted in several communities having sustainable portable water for the past 15 years. Richfields has constructed over 150 kilometres of pipelines within these communities.

Notable among the clients of Richfields in these Catholic Dioceses and other communities are: • Kpando Technical School
• Bishop Herman College, Kpando
• St Dominic Hospital, Akwatia
• Dodi Papase Senior High
• Margaret Marquart Hospital, Kpando
• Jasikan University of Education
• Akatsi University of Education
• Wrawra Hospital
• St. Joseph Hospital, Kwahu Amanfro
• Catholic Formation Centre, Nsuta
• St Catherine Senior High
• St Roses Senior High, Akwatia
• Jasikan Catholic Secretariat

Teteman Water Project

The Teteman water project is one of the most challenging jobs undertaken by Richfields. The Teteman terrain slopes and rises steeply, From the top to the bottom of the town, the gradient is about 80 meters. Richfields had to be innovative in the construction of the water pipelines by constructing/installing two booster pump stations along the pipelines to uplift the water to the topmost tank of the town.

Richfields was able to solve all the technical and management problems facing the Teteman Water Board. Richfields developed management oversight policy for Teteman along the lines of Community Water best practices.

The Teteman Water Board had serious revenue leakage because of illegal connections that was siphoning about 30% of the water revenue. Additionally, the electricity bill of Teteman Water Board was astronomically high due to incompetence of the ECG workers who preferred to estimate the ECG bill rather than use the actual meter reading. Richfields successfully resolved the challenges of the Teteman Water Board by working with all parties to inject sanity into the management of the water system.

Designed a Solar Hybridization system for the Energy Commission

The Energy Commission decided to mitigates the use of ECG power within the various Ministry’s buildings by 50% using Solar sub-stations. The design incorporates intelligent sensors that monitor abuse of power supply and automatically apply load balancing to ensure efficient utilization of power resources. It is projected that the completed Solar Hybridization program will yield energy cost savings in the order of 30% while at the same time provide equity for the Ministries in their use of energy.

Safe Water Network

Richfields designed a solar system for Safe Water Network, an NGO that provides water to rural communities. Using a 5KW solar pumping system, the project is required to deliver about 30,000 Liters (30 m3) within 6 hours of daily pumping at a head of 101m. Using Solar Panels rated at 350 Watts, it was determined that Sixteen (16) panels, delivering a total of 5.6 KW was required to adequately power the Solar pump. The Solar Pump was rated at 3KW, and the Inverter was rated at 4KW.

Bosunu Water Project

The Bosunu Water Project presented a great challenge because the northern part of Ghana is a notoriously dry country and many past attempts to find water failed. Richfields meticulously performed water surveillance and determined that a depth 150 meters and beyond will yield water. Using specialized drill pits for penetrating hard rock, Richfields was able to successfully drill three boreholes, each with a yield of 1,700 liters/minute, setting a record for water generation in that region. The high yield of water resulted in the proposed construction of a 45 kilometer pipeline to transport the water from Bosunu to Damango (Phase 2).

The Legon Solarized Rain Water Project

The Center for African Wetlands at the University of Ghana, Legon-Accra wanted to design a water collection system that stores water from all available water resources at the University. The demands of the project include:

• Design of Water Tank to collect water from multiple sources
• Drilling of Borehole for water collection
• Design of roof-gutter around the university building to collect rain water into the water tank
• Design of water distribution pipes for watering the lawns

The aim of the project was to effectively manage the storage and distribution of multiple sources of water (rain water and borehole underground water) using Solar Power to automate the water management. The project was conceived by the Center for Africa Wetlands under the leadership of Professor Chris Gordon and sponsored by RAMSAR in Switzerland.

The Legon Solarized Rain Water Project

Chindere Solar Project Richfields designed a solar system for pumping water in the remote village of Chindere. The system uses 2500Watts solar panels to generate electric energy that powers a submersible solar pump installed in a borehole. The system is reliable and automates the basic functions of pump management (under voltage, over voltage, sensor level detection etc.).