Ghana Water Ltd. was established on 1st July 1999 following the conversion of Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation into a state-owned limited liability company under the Statutory Corporations (Conversion to Companies) Act 461 of 1993 as amended by LI 1648.

The first public water supply system in Ghana, then Gold Coast, was established in Accra just before World War I. Other systems were built exclusively for other urban areas among them the colonial capital of Cape Coast, Winneba and Kumasi in the 1920s.

During this period, the water supply systems were managed by the Hydraulic Division of the Public Works Department. With time, the responsibilities of the Hydraulic Division were widened to include the planning of water supply systems in other parts of the country.