Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) Managing Director, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles and a team of senior technical officials visited the Region One community of Port Kaituma on Friday, to assess works and was told that a faulty pipe network had caused delays.
According to a GWI press release, a technical team from Georgetown is currently in the community to undertake corrective works to the distribution network, which includes making the necessary interconnections and reorganising the entire distribution system.
The planned completion of the ongoing upgrade works at the Port Kaituma Water Supply System has been marred by a number of factors that have existed for the past 15 years. These include an unstable power supply and an inaccurate pipe network design, which have contributed to numerous leaks, the GWI release also stated.
The Managing Director was informed that the distribution system, which exists in an undulating terrain, has a lot of its mains exposed to the surface of the road and there were no flush-out valves in some sections of the network. In addition, over 80 leaks were discovered, with 20 of those being major ones.
The technicians are in the process of repairing those leaks and installing flush-out valves and air valves, so as to facilitate an improved quality and level of service to residents, GWI stated.
Currently, works are underway for the development of a new well that was recently drilled in the compound of the Citrus Grove pump station. It was drilled at the required depth of 210 feet. The contractor attached to this project is Chowramootoo Construction Service.
GWI’s aim is to provide a daily water supply to residents of Port Kaituma and to phase out sectionalising. Currently sections of the community are receiving water two days per week. However, this is dependent on a sufficient power supply from Kaituma Power Inc. and the reconfiguration of the distribution network.
Plans are also underway to reduce the usage of the river water as the main source of supply and utilise additional groundwater sources. The residents of Port Kaituma have been provided with surface water from the Port Kaituma River for over 15 years, which is at risk of contamination by mining and agricultural activities.
