Everyone to get potable water by 2025

Apr 16, 2017 News

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…GWI using technology to improve efficiency

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Dr. Richard Van West-Charles, has said that his entity is looking to ensure that everyone has access to potable water by 2025.

However, before this is achieved there are a number of corrective measures that the water company has now embraced and is working on a number of fronts to ensure the populace can access quality water supply.

Debt Collection
The CEO said that when he took over the reins at GWI there was a serious issue with debt collection and while the amount collected from those with outstanding balance have been over $2B there is a need for more work in this regard.
Dr. Van West Charles said that the debt recovery unit has now been re-established and the billing system is now being addressed. The water company head said that previously bills were generated every quarter but this has now changed and customers are now getting bills every 28 days.
He said that there were some serious issues with the quarterly bills and noted that this was one of the reasons why $5B was owed. “I met a situation where people were not paying their bills on time and was always paying for a previous period and not the current cycle.”
He said that at present the water company is zoning communities and in another two months persons who reside in zoned communities will begin to receive their water bills promptly.
Dr. Van West Charles explained that it is important that customers make their payments since 60 percent of GWI’s revenue comes from 40 percent of customers who are using meters.
It is towards this end that the water company will be installing an additional 40,000 meters by year end. Dr. Van West Charles explained that the evidence is clear that metered customers conserve water and the water company also benefits from financial efficiency.

Leaks
According to Dr. Van West Charles, there were copious leaks across the system previously and work has already commenced to rectify this problem. The CEO informed that in one week GWI will be launching two applications (Apps) where customers can report leaks instantly by using these apps.
He said that one of the requirements for the contractors that are under the employ of GWI is to have the application (app) installed on their phones and they are required to take a picture of the leak before the work commences and another one after the leak has been fix.
Dr. Van West Charles said this is an important issue since leakages compromise the water pressure.

Quality of water
The water company head said he looks forward to the day when black tanks will become obsolete because of the improvement of the water quality; something this is being aggressively looked at.
Dr. Van West Charles said that this issue is being looked at from two frontiers, water treatment in the form of chlorine use for mainly ground water and the installation of filtration systems for places that are accessing surface water.
He said that the quality of water has many benefits; chief amidst those benefits is the reduction of water borne diseases such as diarrhea and other related illnesses.
He said previously at the shelter belt in Georgetown there was no laboratory that looked at testing of the water quality. At present, there is a 24-hour functioning testing lab that tests the water quality every two hours. Additionally, water lines are now being constantly flushed.
Reflectively, the CEO said that this is an area where more emphasis should have been placed.

Pumps and interconnectivity
Dr. Van West Charles also said that the days of having one pump to service a community are over and that the water company is looking to ensure reliable water supply by improving inter-connection among pumps in different communities.
The CEO said that this is important because if a particular pump breaks down water can be sourced from another pump that is part of the inter-connecting pumps.
He said that this is a more efficient way to distributing water, since the one pump for village system was fraught with many operational issues and if the pump becomes defective the community is without water supply and there are limited alternatives.

Abuse of GWI workers
Turning his attention to professionalism by GWI employees, Dr. Van West Charles said that he expects them to be respectful to customers at all times and nothing less will be tolerated since the customers are at the heart of their operation.
However it is by the same token that Dr. Van West Charles expects customers to extend that courtesy to his employees. It is towards this end that he explained the importance of customers paying their bills.
He said that failure to meet those financial obligations will be met with disconnection. Dr. Van West Charles said there have been occasions when GWI employees have been chased with cutlasses when attempting to disconnect errant customers.
The CEO warned that such behaviour will not be tolerated and the police will be called in when the water company officials have been threatened or abused.
And for those persons who are bent on stealing water, Dr. Van West Charles had a message for them. “If you steal water we will take you before the court.”
He said that his company is willing to work out a suitable payment plan for those persons who owe.

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