When two iron treatment water plants in central Ruimveldt and Sophia are completed in April, over 40,000 residents in several areas in Georgetown will have access to an improved supply, Chief Executive of Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) Karan Singh said on Tuesday.
During a tour of the Central Ruimveldt plant, Singh told reporters that when completed the two facilities will be able to produce up to 12 million litres of purified water daily. Over 23,000 residents of central Georgetown, including East Ruimveldt, West Ruimveldt, Shirley Field Ridley Square, Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Tucville and South Ruimveldt Gardens, will benefit; while roughly 18,000 residents of Sophia, Lamaha Gardens, Section K Campbellville, Section M Campbellville and Prashad Nagar will also see an improved supply.
Construction of the two plants, funded by the IDB at a cost of $600M, is scheduled to be completed by April 24, 2009. The contract has been awarded to the Trinidad firm UEM and work began in June. Stabroek News was told that work is about 20% complete. At the Sophia plant, construction of the treatment building and the gravity filters has started.
Singh said the plants will improve the appearance of water by removing the reddish-brown colour which has been a regular complaint by consumers in the city. He said the water would be “as safe as any bottled water” and he hoped it would increase the use of water. He lamented the fact that less than 40% of the water utilised locally is used for drinking and cooking and is hoping that this phenomenon will be changed with the implementation of the iron treatment plants.
He also highlighted that the plants will be cost-effective and estimates that it will significantly cut the electricity costs of GWI. According to him, the organisation spends approximately $2B each year in electricity charges to the Guyana Power and Light Co. He also mentioned that the collected sludge from the lagoon can be effectively used as plant fertiliser.
How the Ruimveldt
Plant will work
Raw water is collected from the Sanata Textile Mill and Central Ruimveldt well. The collected water is then transported to two aerators which are located above retention/oxidation tanks.
At the aerators, iron in the water reacts with the oxygen in the air, which causes the liquid iron to form solid particles which is easily removed.
From the aerators, the water passes through the oxidation/retention tanks, where it remains for approximately 30 minutes, during which some of the iron particles settle out.
From here, the water goes to the six Rapid Gravity Filter units, where the remaining iron particles are removed. The filter units comprise tanks filled with different layers of filter media, such as various grades of sand and gravel.
From the filters, the water moves to the storage tank, where it is pumped at different intervals into the Distribution Mains.
As the water is being pumped into the distribution system, chlorine is injected to disinfect the water.
Afterwards, the water will be pumped in two intervals. The first from 5:30 am to midday and the second from 10 pm to 5:30 am. When the water is not being pumped the storage tank is recharged. Finally the sludge collected from the Retention/Oxidation tanks and filters is drained into a lagoon.
