GWI advancing improved water supply and quality in Region Three

Apr 03, 2018 News

GWI’s Managing Director, Dr. Richard Van West Charles.

Before the end of May, some 1,500 additional house lots in Region Three alone will have access to water supply for the first time. This move comes as part of the Guyana Water Incorporated [GWI] efforts at expanding its supply of water to consumers.
In so doing GWI, which is headed by Dr. Richard Van West Charles, has also been giving keen attention to water quality as well.
Already for this year, GWI has improved the supply and quality of water provided in several communities including Region Three [Essequibo Islands/West Demerara]. In this regard, some 403 residents of Zeelugt, Phase Three on the East Bank of Essequibo in January accessed potable water for the first time as part of an ongoing project to install distribution mains in the new housing scheme as well as household service connections.
GWI as at the end of last month offered another 104 residents access to GWI services. Prior to this project, persons living in Zeelugt Phase Three relied on rainwater to meet their water demands.
The ongoing project, according information released by GWI, is scheduled to be completed by April 30, 2018 and upon completion, approximately 2,000 customers would have benefitted. To date, the project has resulted in an increase in GWI’s coverage on the East bank of Essequibo, which meets customers’ satisfactions, GWI has informed via its Public Relations Department.
As part of the water company’s efforts, 25 households in the Best Sea dam Squatting area, received access to potable water for the first time in February 2018, through the installation of standpipes placed at strategic points within the area to allow an ease of access to a potable water supply.
This system, GWI has informed, will remain in effect until the area becomes regularized. Prior to this project, persons living in this area also relied on rainwater to meet their water demands.
To date, positive feedback has been given by consumers living in those areas during house to house visits.
Meanwhile, GWI has informed that from March 5, it commenced upgrades to the flushing network by strategically installing flush-out points as well as conducting a leak repair drive in Stanleytown. This undertaking, according to GWI, was designed to eliminate water contamination and improve the level of service to all customers in that area.
To date, the project has resulted in an improved water supply in Inner Stanleytown and Church Street, Stanleytown, which meets both the World Health Organisation standards and customers’ satisfactions.
For in excess of 10 years, residents of Stanleytown had received poor water quality. The quality received contained a high iron concentration resulting in the water being unsuitable for cooking and laundry purposes too.
Upon investigation, it was noted that the number of flush-out points used to clean the pipelines was insufficient to provide a water service of acceptable quality. March 28 last was the scheduled completion date for that project after which routine weekly flushing was slated to be done.
Three hundred and eighteen customers from Stanleytown and 75 from La Retraite both on the West Bank of Demerara are expected to already be benefitting from this project.
Meanwhile, residents of Uitvlugt De Groot-en-Klyne, Uitvlugt Housing Scheme and Anna Catherina, also located in Region Three were found to be receiving a poor level of service for approximately two years due to the underproduction of their service wells at Anna Catherina and Uitvlugt.
To address this dilemma, during the months of February and March, the aforementioned wells were rehabilitated resulting in a 47.4 percent and 87.5 percent increase in the level of service respectively.
According to GWI information, the engineer responsible for the zone also took the opportunity to upgrade the pipe network and roll out a leak repair drive in the respective areas. Some 1,057 consumers from Uitvlugt and Anna Catherina have since started to benefit from this project.

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