After a disruption that lasted nearly four weeks, residents of the Diamond and Kaneville, East Bank Demerara areas are once again receiving water through their taps.
The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) yesterday announced the resumption of the service, after successful works to fix a rupture of the well casing at the pump station at Diamond.
The casing ruptured in early February, resulting in the Diamond and Kaneville communities not being able to access water from it.
Two weeks ago, GWI had signed a $12M contract with the local company Nabi Construction Incorporated for the rehabilitation works, which had been projected to last three weeks.
However, GWI, in a statement, yesterday said that due to the successful rehabilitation the well was once more servicing the Diamond water distribution network on Wednesday afternoon and customers of Diamond and Kaneville were receiving water at an adequate level of service.
It reported Water Resources Manager Orin Browne as saying that the final stage of the rehabilitation involved testing the well to ensure that it is capable of normal production levels.
Browne added that GWI would continue to monitor the well station and a camera inspection is scheduled for early next week. “It is important that we continue to consistently monitor the well station to avoid a recurrence,” Browne was quoted saying, while adding that the company’s priority countrywide is to ensure that customers are receiving a continuous service.
GWI’s Divisional Manager for East Bank Demerara, Orion Dhanraj, meanwhile, explained that GWI would be conducting a “flushing” exercise to remove any sediment within the distribution system that serves the two communities. “Because there was not a continuous flow of water during the rehabilitation of the well station, it is vital that we ‘flush’ the mains to remove any foreign particles,” Dhanraj was quoted as saying, while noting that the exercise was necessary to maintain the water quality standards.
“I’m surprised we are getting water again so fast to be honest,” a resident from Diamond told Stabroek News yesterday, while praising GWI for its quick response to the situation. “I remember hearing that it was going to take about three weeks to fix and it’s been way less than that so I have to say congratulations to them,” he added.
Following the rupture, GWI had deployed tanker trucks to the two areas to deliver water to residents and had boosted the capacity of the nearby well stations to get water to the communities.
