Over 10,000 residents receive first-time access to potable water in 2018

DPI, Guyana, Monday, December 31, 2018

More than 10,000 residents in communities in Regions One, Three, Four, Seven, Eight and Nine, received access to potable water for the first time in 2018. This was disclosed by Managing Director of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Dr. Richard Van West-Charles.

Among the communities to benefit are:

Region          Communities

 

Region One:

Barima-Waini

·         Mabaruma

·         Barabina

·         Rincon

·         Koko

·         Kamwatta

Region Three:

Essequibo Islands-West Demerara

·         Zeelut Phase Three

·         Best Sea Dam

·         Murphy Street

·         Goed Intent

·         Lust-en-Rust

·         Wallers’s Delight

·         La Parfaite Harmonie

·         Westminster

·         Onderneeming

Region Five:

Mahaica-Berbice

·         Paradise Village

·         DeHoop

·         Onverwagt

·         Good Faith

·         Ithaca

Region Six:

East Berbice-Corentyne

·         Lighttown Village

·         Highbury

·         Deutichem

Region Eight:

Potaro-Siparuni

·         Wayaleng

·         Chinoweng

·         Paramatakoi

Region Nine:

Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo

·         Yurong Paru

 

During his presentation at the utility company’s year-end press briefing, Dr. Van West-Charles detailed some of the works completed in 2018.

Among these, a new well was drilled at Koko, Moruca to provide potable water for approximately 500 persons at a total cost of $8.7Million. A new water treatment plant was installed in Matthews Ridge and a new well drilled in Port Kaituma to increase coverage. Works were also undertaken to clean two springs in Mabaruma and Barabina, while the Hosororo project is being finalised.

Managing Director of Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Dr. Richard Van West-Charles

In Lima, Region Two, water distribution has moved from 10 hours to a 16-hour supply; while in Region Three, a new well was drilled at Vergenoegen to increase the capacity of the system and increased the supply from 12 hours to 17 hours. A filtration system was also installed in Wakapoa in the Pomeroon River.

In Region Four, GWI repaired a total of 152 major breakages and replaced a main in Albouystown. They also cleaned the reservoir and earthen canal in the Shelterbelt, installed water distribution system in Timehri North, including three major interlinks in the transmission network which is the main source of water supply to Providence and other communities. Additionally, the utility company replaced three transformers at Lusignan Number 2 and 1 at Helena to minimise voltage imbalance at the station which reduces downtime.

A new water well was activated at Cotton Tree, Region Five to provide more than 3,000 customers with 24-hour service of potable water from No. 6 Village to Shieldstown. GWI also introduced a SeaQuest, a substance used to treat discoloured water and to generally improve water quality in Sheet Anchor, while in Region Ten, redesigned filters were installed at the Amelia Ward’s system to improve the treatment processes at the plant.

According to the Managing Director, more than 73 per cent of GWI’s customers are now receiving 24-hour service and the company aims to ensure that the distribution and supply move to 24-hour service throughout the country.

“In some areas, we have some challenges because for years the network has fluctuated in terms of the supply because of large amounts of incrustation. Therefore, we are now using different methods to remove the incrustations from the pipes so some people will find a lot of iron is coming out. That is a result of us trying to clean the lines so that you have better quality.”

In terms of quality of the water supply, over 12,530 water quality tests were conducted countrywide to ensure that the water supply is WHO compliant.

Synieka Thorne

Image: Giovanni Gajie

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