Dredging of the East Demerara water conservancy during the recent drought resulted in a buildup of sludge which contaminated the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) Shelterbelt, resulting in the distribution the ‘rusty’ water in Central Georgetown.
To remedy the situation, GWI Chief Executive Officer, Shaik Baksh on Thursday said immediate measures were taken to flush out the system.
And with “significant” improvements already, Baksh said the water supply is likely to return to a normalcy by this weekend.
“Because of the dreading of that canal in the conservancy area during the drought, the long drought, the longest in years, a lot of sludge built up in the canal and with the heavy rainfall it moved down into our systems here, our reservoirs.
Samples showing the improvement of the water supply to date (Photo: News Room/August 15, 2024)
“We are very much concern about situation and the effect supply has been having on households as a whole and we do apologize for situation which we consider was unavoidable,” Baksh said during a press conference to address the issue on Thursday.
According to Baksh, the issue was first recognised on July 15.
Upon checking, he said it was recognised that the sedimentation load coming through the Shelter Belt plant was extremely high.
“As a matter of fact, we never experienced such as high sedimentation load in all of the years,” Baksh said.
So to respond, he said a team was immediately dispatched to the conservancy. Upon discovering the cause of the issue, Baksh explained that additional labour was procured the two canals at Shelter Belt was clean.
The western canal was completed in two weeks and the eastern canal is expected to be completed by Friday.
GWI Chief Executive Officer, Shaik Baksh (second from right) and other senior officials at the press conference (Photo: News Room/ August 15, 2024)
“The system is being flushed out and with the process ongoing, already seeing improvements.
We are seeing some great relief. We have taken samples of the water on a regular basis and we have seen through the flushing of the canals that the water quality and the water colour in particular is improving,” Baksh explained.
Characteristically, GWI Water Quality Specialist, Dr Deon Anderson said the water quality of the Shelter Belt plant would usually be around 15 to 20 units but with the current occurrence, he said it went up to 400 units.
“What this means, all treatment plants are designed to handle specific load that is characteristic of the source…If the load changes, the entire system comes under strain.
“…They all become overburden and therefore what you had was an overloading in the system and hence a buildup of the sediments,” Dr Anderson explained.
Highlighting that GWI is concerned about the situation, Baksh said the situation totally beyond the company’s control.
“It is one of those situations that occurs once in a lifetime. It is a phenomenal that was never experienced,” he said.
And to avoid reoccurrence, he added there is a need for greater coordination between East Demerara water conservancy, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority and GWI.
In the intern, Baksh said GWI is prepare to consider relief to affected customers.
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