GWI to spend $60M to rectify Linden water system

-contractor, designer flayed

Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) officials last Thursday updated the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region 10 on the plans to improve the Linden water supply programme by explaining the current status of the water production and distribution system in Linden, and outlining the strategy for resolving the issues at hand.

According to a release from GWI, its Managing Director, Dr Richard Van West-Charles informed that GWI is aware that the existing Linden water supply programme is not performing at its optimum while highlighting that there are many flaws in the existing water treatment plants which were designed by Hydea Srl of Italy in 2011, and constructed by UEM Inc. of Trinidad and Tobago. The plants cannot supply the 16,000 cubic meters required daily by Linden, due to a flaw in the design, and as a result, GWI was forced to rehabilitate two of the existing plants.

Executive Director of Project Implementation and Partnership Building, Ramchand Jailal during his presentation informed that the two new water treatment plants were intended to serve the entire Linden community, the release said. Jailal explained that due to the underperformance of the newly constructed plants, the reserve plants were still being utilized because of the high demand within the water distribution system. He noted that the project was expected to provide an acceptable level of service at a minimum of five meters pressure at the end of the distribution network, and optimize the Linden water system by reducing non-revenue water and strengthening the management and maintenance for the infrastructure.

According to the GWI release, Jailal further explained that the project provided one design for the Amelia’s Ward and Wisroc Water Treatment Plants, despite the fact that they utilise two difference sources of water – underground and surface. At present, the two plants can only supply 10,000 cubic meters combined.

“GWI is now forced to invest more money to refurbish the Mackenzie and West Watooka plants at a cost of around $60 million [Guyana],” Jailal was quoted as saying in the statement.

Another $60 million has been expended to rectify the filtration system, the transmission line and the layout of pipelines that were designed by the Italian consultants, Jailal said, according to the media release.

Additionally, GWI is exploring the possibility of drilling wells at other locations in West Watooka and at the river bank, which, once successful, will present a cleaner source of water and enhanced sustainability.

“Due to the lack of knowledge, Guyanese tend to accept what international consultants present and this can be costly. Over the years, one design was utilized for all sources of water and this is not feasible,” Executive Director of Operations, Dwayne Shako was quoted as saying in the release. Shako noted that GWI is currently engaging a Dutch firm which employs modern technology to drill wells which are unique to specific water sources within a shorter time span.

Head of Water Quality at GWI, Deon Anderson, according to the release assured that chemical analyses will be undertaken before, during and after the new filtration system is implemented to ensure that the water is properly treated in accordance with World Health Organization parameters.

During the presentation, several councillors stated that the Italian Consultant and the Contractor, UEM Inc should not be given more work since they had failed to deliver to the expectation of the community, and that there were still faults on the new plants which the contractor had failed to address to date, the release stated. Wed June 07, 2017 Tues June 08, 2017 15:15 - 16:45 hrs 15:50 - 17:20 hrs