Efforts are being made to improve the water quality and supply in Central Georgetown to bring relief to residents soonest.
Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Shaik Baksh gave the assurance during a press conference at GWI’s Corporate Office on Thursday.
The high levels of turbidity and sediment intake at GWI’s Shelter Belt on Church Street and Vlissengen Road resulted from the recently dredged water conservancy, which caused the sludge to build up in the system due to heavy rainfall.
GWI has two sizable canals at Shelterbelt which serve as a storage for water coming from the East Demerara Water Conservancy into the Lamaha canal.
“About one month ago, we recognised that there was a problem in our canals…We observed that something was wrong with the quality of the water coming in. We did further checks and recognised that the sedimentation load coming into the plant was extremely high. We [have] never experienced such a high sedimentation load in all the years,” Baksh explained.
Subsequently, GWI immediately implemented steps to remedy the crisis. Several teams are currently working to flush the water from the system.
“Already, we are seeing some relief. We have taken samples of the water on a regular basis. We have seen through the cleaning of the canal that the water quality is improving. It will take a couple more days to bring it to normalcy,” he stressed.
The CEO emphasised that the overload of sedimentation in the system has affected the quality of the water that is provided to the residents.
“I want to state that this is a surface water treatment plant at Shelter Belt which receives water from the conservancy through the Lamaha Canal. It is not an iron removal plant…We are very much concerned about the situation and the effect the water supply has been having on households. We apologise for this situation which we consider was unavoidable,” the CEO stated.
