Latest update March 27th, 2025 8:24 AM
Latest News
- Jamaica rebuffs Rubio push against Cuban doctors
- Canadian company to pay over US$3.8M to local titleholders to fully acquire second gold project in Guyana
- Over 140,000 displaced in a week in Gaza amid renewed Israeli attacks: UN
- Businessmen complain of foreign currency shortage
- PPP disrupts meeting with Mohamed and Berbice residents
GWI moving toward 100% meter coverage by 2020
-16,000 to be installed this year
The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) is aiming at achieving 100 per cent water meter coverage by the end of 2020. This will ensure that all customers pay for the water they use.
GWI’s Managing Director, Dr. Richard Van-West Charles
GWI’s Managing Director, Dr. Richard Van-West Charles, said that this would ensure that the infrastructure and operational improvement that the water company is undertaking across the country is being used by the persons authorised to do so.
“There is no secret that it takes money to run the system, so we have to ensure that we can meter between now and the next three years, the entire country,” Dr. Van-West Charles said in a statement.
Currently about 40 per cent of GWI customers are metered. Under a larger water improvement project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the water company is currently undertaking metering in Uitvlugt in Region Three, Diamond in Region Four and Sheet Anchor in Region Six.
GWI, with its own funding, has purchased over 16,000 meters and has prioritised for 2017, metering on the East Coast, Georgetown and in Region Six, Dr. Van-West Charles explained.
The meters being used are of better quality than those that were used in the past.
Dr. Van West Charles explained that those old meters developed issues due to the then high iron content of the water, which also resulted in discoloration to white clothes, tiles, sinks and toilet bowls.
“We have introduced a new product which is making a difference (with the water quality) and that is a thing of the past, but the customer must realise that there is a cost attached to that, and so we are looking at how we would factor that cost into tariff,” the Managing Director explained.
GWI’s efforts in metering may also result in the water company using less meter readers. Dr. Charles explained that the water company will soon be piloting a project which examines the use of ultrasonic flow meters across the country. The non-contact ultrasonic flow meter uses sound waves to determine the velocity of a fluid flowing in a pipe.
“It would not require meter readers, one person can drive through the street and an electronic system would pick up the meter readings and forward them to us,” Dr. Van-West Charles said. He explained that the ultrasonic flow meter will be tested across the country within the next four weeks.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The U.S. pressure on Venezuela may backfire on Guyana
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- The world is full of unintended consequences, those sly little gremlins that slip into... more
The Caribbean: Destined to Grin and Bear the Consequences of Its Self-Created Vulnerabilities?
By Sir Ronald Sanders For decades, many Caribbean nations have grappled with dependence on a small number of powerful countries... more
Weekend Cartoon
