East Bank residents to benefit from 24-hour treated water

– development of water treatment systems ongoing

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal reaffirmed the government’s commitment to enhancing water service by 2025, noting that significant investment is being made to ensure Guyanese have access to treated water on a 24-hour basis.

Minister Croal made this disclosure on Wednesday during an inspection of water treatment plants at Eccles, Covent Garden, Diamond, Grove, and Caledonia, on the East Bank of Demerara.

He explained that the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) is working with a five-year strategic plan from 2021 to 2025, with the overall aim of having 90 per cent of treated water by 2025.

“On the coastland, we must have 100 per cent access of water to households, and similarly in the hinterland. That is our objective, that is our target that we are trying to achieve and we have about two more years to ensure that we achieve that,” the housing and water minister affirmed.

At Covent Garden, the water treatment facility is functional. However, it is undergoing massive upgrades which will see the drilling of a new well and the development of two new water treatment tanks to boost accessibility and improve capacity.

Upon completion, the plant will be interlinked with the Diamond water treatment facility.

Further, the new water treatment system located at Sixth Street, Diamond will be active by Friday, December 22, 2023.

Minister Croal highlighted that the drilling of the well was done in-house by Guyana Water Inc (GWI) and was deemed successful. Currently, the GWI team is connecting it to the main distribution line in Diamond.

Similarly, at the Golden Grove Water Treatment Plant, a new well is being drilled to double the water output.

Upon completion, residents receiving water from that facility will gain access to 24-hour service. The well will also be interconnected to the Diamond Water Treatment Plant.

Additionally, major development is ongoing at the Caledonia Water Treatment Plant, which will see the resuscitation of the old storage tank, the construction of a new storage plant, the construction of three filter systems, and the drilling of a new well that will commence in the new year.

When this is completed, communities between Soesdyke to Garden of Eden will receive treated water on a 24-hour basis.

The project is part of the ministry’s massive programme that aims to construct seven new treatment plants for 2025.

Meanwhile, in Region Four, the ministry is building three plants at Caledonia, Cummings Lodge, and Bachelor’s Adventure.

Additionally, five new treatment plants are currently out to tender, as part of the ministry’s second phase of work. The tender is expected to close in January 2024. “The programme that we have for treated water is basically from Charity, all the way to Moleson Creek and that is the coastal programme to ensure all the households are getting treated water,” the minister pointed out.