GWI filtration system being upgraded- as part of improving water supply-GWI CEO Dr. Van West Charles

Georgetown, GINA, June 13, 2016

The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) is currently facilitating upgrades to several of its filtration systems. The upgrade is focused on the water company’s filtration system at Central Ruimveldt, Shelter Belt and at Sophia,  Georgetown, Region Four, at Poudreyen, on the West Bank of Demerara and  Fellowship on the West Coast Demerara, in Region Three, and Queenstown Corriverton, in Region Six.

These interventions will result in more efficient and cleaner water supply for residents of the communities and surrounding areas, GWI’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO,) Dr. Van West Charles says.

“We have now had to move very quickly to import over 80 odd (Filter) Media to replace the filtration system so that the quality of water in the system can improve,” Dr. Charles said. He explained that Filter Media is anything placed in a filter that changes the quality of water flowing through it.

According to Dr. Charles, most of the company’s filters are not functioning to their fullest capacity. He said that the ten filters that exist at the company’s Shelter Belt location “are basically functioning at 25 percent of their capacity,” and this has been impacting negatively on the quality of water being distributed to the population.

Touching on the aggressive drive to improve the level of filtration and water purity in Georgetown, he explained, “I am a physician and therefore, what is important to me is that water borne diseases should not be under my watch, with the water that is consumed by the GWI and delivered by GWI.” The focus is also on ensuring that the water provided by GWI is up to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, he stressed. The upgraded to the filtration system are among several key projects that GWI has embarked upon that will see quality service and water provided country-wide.

Currently, GWI has a couple of plants that are nonfunctioning that would be replaced by treatment facilities. Meanwhile, the issue of demand for more water supply and production should be rectified by the supply of several wells and water treatment facilities that are being constructed across Guyana.

A sum of $4 billion was allocated this year to improve and expand access to water across Guyana