90,000 unmetered customers affecting GWI’s non-revenue water
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DPI, GUYANA, Friday, April 6, 2018
From a total of one hundred and eighty thousand (180,000) customers across Guyana, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has in its system, some 90,000 clients that are receiving water without a meter, thereby contributing to a shortfall in its revenue.
The large number of unmetered customers is also driving the water company’s non-revenue.
Executive Director of Operations, Dwayne Shako.
This was disclosed today by the company’s Executive Director of Operations, Dwayne Shako, during a water treatment and quality monitoring session with the media, at the company’s Vlissingen Road headquarters.
According to Shako, non-revenue water includes water that is lost due to leaks and customers using more water than they are being billed for.
“When we are billing these customers on a monthly basis, we are billing them on a fixed charge. We make an assumption; an estimate that we are using around 10 cubic metres of water a month. We have been analysing this water over the years and we have installed monitoring meters. To assess how much water, they have been using.”
He said the unmetered customers being billed for 10 cubic metres of water per month, are actually using 40 cubic meters, thus hiking the revenue water. It is for this reason, he said, that GWI is pushing ahead with the metering process, so as to allow for bills per consumption.
He explained that if the water company is able to bill the 90,000 unmetered customers for 40 cubic metres of water per month, GWI will be able to use that money to address the physical aspect of revenue water.
“When GWI said it is working on its non-revenue water, that is the aspect that we are looking at. We have to get persons billed for what they consume, and that is important.”
GWI’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles said that the company is still experiencing some difficulties with accessing meters, although it has been ahead in the process. In 2017, the utility company announced its plans to install some 40,000 meters in an effort to reduce non-revenue water.
“The difficulty that we have is the procurement process with respect to the meters and it is in our strategic plan. So that it will help us to move up.”
According to Dr. Van West-Charles, without metering, the company cannot arrest the revenue lost in this regard.
By: Alexis Rodney