The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has announced an initiative that will see the Sand Creek Secondary School and six other villages in Region Nine benefitting from upgraded water systems.
According to a GWI press release, these solutions were discussed during recent community meetings with village leaders and residents.
The students of the Sand Creek Secondary School dormitory, GWI said, will no longer need to fetch water, as it has committed to looking at alternatives. One option is to channel water from a nearby creek as an interim measure, after a water quality test is completed. GWI is also working to activate a new well that was drilled through a joint initiative with GWI and the Pan American Health Organization.
A permanent solution will be the addition of four storage tanks along with pipelines, which will be laid some 1300 meters from the tanks to the dorms. The school’s distribution network will also be redesigned to allow for an adequate water supply throughout the school compound.
Managing Director Dr Richard Van West-Charles said in his remarks at the community meeting, that GWI will collaborate with the Regional Executive Officer to address plumbing issues at the sanitary blocks at the health centre and the school.
The community of Shiriri consists of 104 residents, who reside in scattered clusters. The village has two hand pump wells, one of which has been non-functional for approximately four years and their hand-dug wells have become contaminated when it rains. Residents also access water from a creek that regularly runs dry.
GWI’s plan is to ensure that all solar panels and pumps are functional so as to adequately supply the community. The company will also work to reactivate a defective well and correct the plumbing at the school’s sanitary block.
In Rupunau, the viability of drilling a well will be explored, since previous attempts proved futile due to heavy rock formation. GWI is moving to access a rig that will go beyond the rocks to drill the new well, as has been done in Sand Creek. Also planned is a camera inspection, resistivity logging, a pump test and installation of solar panels.
The functionality of the current pump will be examined as well as other means of improving water access, in collaboration with the Regional Democratic Council.
Shulinab has a population of approximately 800 residents who depend on hand pumps and hand-dug wells within clusters. These sources, however, go dry during droughts or become contaminated during the rainy season. GWI says it has assured residents that it will pump test an existing well to determine its production capacity. Once this is found to be adequate, a distribution network will be installed to ensure there is water security among households in the South Pole area and other parts of Shulinab.
Residents also noted that the health centre, hot meals programme, school and 15 households rely on water from one source, which has proven to be inadequate. GWI will work with the Ministry of Education, Indigenous Peoples Affairs and the Regional Democratic Council to address the issue.
GWI says it will upgrade the existing pipe network in Quiko to extend distribution lines to households west of the village, since they are currently not benefitting from the existing water system. The company will also explore the possibility of drilling a new well for water security purposes. To ensure maintenance of these systems, GWI will train two persons from the community who have been identified by the village council as servicemen.
The village of Potarinau has approximately 613 residents and an inadequate water supply. GWI says it will add four more storage tanks to the existing four that have proven to be insufficient, as well as test pump the well for production capacity and conduct training for servicemen.
It was revealed that an existing well had been contaminated therefore GWI will be disinfecting the well and taking monthly samples for water quality analysis.
