Latest update January 19th, 2025 7:10 AM
Jun 14, 2009 News
In contrast to the global water availability trends, Guyana is a country endowed with an abundance of water resources.
In fact, the word Guyana in a native Amerindian dialect, literally means land of many waters. The adequacy of its naming is obvious upon inspections of the vast quantities of water conveyed by the country’s countless watercourses, vast aquifer systems and its high duration and intensity rainy seasons.
According to Altaf Gafoor, Acting Capital Investment and Planning Director within the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), consistent with its natural occurrence globally, much of the water resources in Guyana are either inaccessible or unfit for human consumption in its natural state. He noted that vast amounts of energy are required for abstraction, treatment and distribution of water to consumers countrywide.
“Unfortunately, this fact is often overlooked by the Guyanese populace and when coupled with an illusion of abundance, results in a leisurely approach to the utilisation of this precious resource,” Gafoor said.
And according to him, the alarming phenomenon can be exemplified from a range of occurrences, from the most blatant displays of wastage through permanently open connections, to lesser offences of leaky internal plumbing fixtures.
In either case, over time, the volumes lost are tremendous and contributes to the scarcity of this natural resource, the senior officer asserted.
He however pointed to the fact that “the burden of conservation is not limited to the consumers of this precious resource, but extends to its service providers as well.”
In the case of the country’s licensed provider (GWI), Gafoor said that significant volumes are lost in the distribution process through leakage. He related that the consequence on availability of this limited resource occurs at several levels, the most obvious of which is the exacerbation of scarcity.
And as a result of the limited quantities available, customers are unable to enjoy a quality of service that can afford them the volumes they desire, Gafoor noted.
“Because of their plight, some try to establish continuous service and often the only recourse seen fit is the destruction of water supply infrastructure. This situation is paradoxical as the very reason for initial shortcomings in supply, results in actions that ultimately impair the ability of the service provider to meet customer expectations.”
And according to Gafoor, GWI has recognised the need to aggressively address the issue of leakage and engage a campaign to reduce its propensity.
“This is a plausible action, as the returns from reduced leakage are tremendous. Apart from directly increasing the quantity of water available, reducing leakage reduces the volume that is required from production systems and hence the amount of energy and cost are reduced.”
It has been deduced by the water company, Gafoor said, that leakage reduction fosters the confidence of customers in the service provided. He said that customers would no longer tend to view the concept of conservation advanced by GWI as a statement of hypocrisy, as the company would be setting the example through leakage reduction.
Also noteworthy is the impact of the customers’ willingness to pay as a result of the water company’s leadership in water conservation, Gafoor noted.
And it is the belief of the Director that the illusion of abundance is also observable at the multi-sectoral level.
He cited the ongoing agriculture sector ‘Grow More’ Campaign that has naturally allured elements within the home-owners demographic, to engage in some level of crop cultivation, an activity which requires considerable volumes of water.
“Unfortunately, areas in which this is likely to occur are serviced exclusively by potable water pipelines, and hence the patterns of consumption and supply will be altered by additional uses for which existing systems are not designed to satisfy.”
Gafoor emphasised that implications of activities in parallel sectors, must be recognised and opportunities for synergies through shared resources must be explored. He suggested that in the case of the ‘Grow More’ campaign, possibilities such as re-use of domestic waste water for agricultural purposes could be considered.
“The undisciplined approach towards potable water in Guyana will also create issues of sustainability in the context of global potable water availability. Failing to respect potable water as a scarce resource, exacerbates its unavailability with a cascading effect on the economics of its provision.”
When attitudes of wastage are exhibited by consumers, the amount available for competing users and usages obviously decreases, Gafoor said.
In this context, he noted that the occurrence of a price increase may be two-fold.
The first part of the price increase, he said, is conditioned by the additional volume of water that must be extracted and/or treated, while the second part is as a result of the economic principle of supply and demand.
However, the effects of both the former and the latter are normally suppressed by Governments’ policies of subsidising the provision of potable water, especially to poorer consumers, the official relayed.
He explained that the economic implications alone should provide the impetus for potable water to be treated as a scarce natural resource, but there are benefits to be derived from other criteria.
“In Guyana’s case, much of the potable water delivered to consumers is derived from underground aquifers, of which their vulnerability to the natural phenomenon of saline intrusion is yet to be ascertained. Limiting the volumes extracted will serve to protect Guyana’s primary source of potable water from permanent contamination, thereby ensuring its availability for generations to come.”
Jan 19, 2025
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