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GWI recorded over 50 per cent non-revenue supply last year
GWI PRO, Rawle Aaron
Leakages resulting from people breaking and bypassing mains were the number one reason for the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) losing revenue for more than 70 per cent of the water it produced in 2007.
However, last year the company was able to bring down the percentage of non-revenue water to less than 60 per cent countrywide, according to Public Relations Officer Rawle Aaron.
He pointed out that there were varying levels of reduction in various areas, which led to the results attained.
Aaron attributed the notable reduction in the loss of water to the water company’s efforts to commence service upgrades in some areas.
“For the areas we have done service upgrade we would find that the non-revenue water is much lower than the areas we have not done it in,” Aaron disclosed.
As part of the upgrades, he said, technical officials are now tasked with sleeving pipelines in a galvanised pipe, rather than just using polyurethane hose which cannot be easily damaged.
“This does about three things: first, it eliminates the polyhose from being cut or burst by animals and persons who are maintaining the trenchways,” Aaron highlighted.
In addition, he noted, it allows technicians to lead the service connection directly to customers’ premises, at which point it is sleeved with the galvanised pipe directly to the meter and then cemented.
“Once that is done properly there is no way that a customer can execute a bypass. The major thing is to address this — to do service connection ugrades. We have been doing this.
If a service connection is done properly, it is supposed to go from the saddle, which is a specific device we use around the distribution main to bring the water into the customer’s residence; so it is sleeved at that point with galvanised directly to the metre of the customers, and it is cemented there.
“Once that is done, there is no way that a customer can execute a bypass. But what we have found is that persons have been coming up with all sorts of innovative measures to do bypasses. It has really been amazing,” the Public Relations Officer noted.
He pointed out that when “we lose that water, it registers. For every cubic metre lost, “we waste 60 per cent of our electricity cost.”
Aaron stressed that more than 60 per cent of the water company’s operational cost is electricity; and because of that, technical officials have to constantly be on the alert for leaks.
“The more water wasted, the more pumping hours we have to engage in. The thing to do is to reduce non-revenue water and to reduce pumping, in order to reduce our operational expenses,” Aaron noted.
Aaron said that, this year, GWI will be working towards educating customers on the importance of water conservation, even as the service upgrade process is expanded.
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