Linden residents to benefit from treated water by mid- August
Georgetown, GINA, July 18, 2016
The Amelia’s Ward and Wisroc water treatment plants are expected to become operational by mid next month. These will provide treated water to thousands of residents of the Region Ten town of Linden.
Executive Director of Infrastructure Planning and Implementation of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Ramchand Jailal, told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that the two water treatment plants were completed over a year ago, but after inspection, they were found to have defective filters.
Jailal noted that GWI is carrying out works to fix the filters. “At present work is ongoing on the improvement of the filters because for any water treatment plant, that’s the heart,” Jailal explained.
Testing for both water treatment plants should be completed within two weeks. Jailall said that once testing is completed, the treatment plants will be fully operational. The Director explained that, “they are scheduled to undertake testing in the latter part of this week and after they test the filters at Ameila’s Ward, in another two weeks’ time we will also be testing the filters at Wisroc.”
The aim behind constructing the two water treatment plants is to reduce operational costs associated with the treatment of surface water from the Demerara River. The repairs will cost over $50M, with $35M for the redesigned filtration system and a further $15 M for the shell structure.
Additionally, the Mackenzie and West Watooka water treatment plants will undergo rehabilitative works in August and will serve as a backup.
“These projects have already been tendered and evaluated and are at present at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board for award for contracts. We expect those awards before the end of July and the works are expected to start in August,” Jailal said.
Linden residents, at the Ministerial outreach on Friday, highlighted the water challenges they face on a daily basis. However, they were made aware of the ongoing efforts by GWI to ensure that potable water is accessible to every resident.