The Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) on Friday disclosed that it had forced 10 water refilling businesses in Georgetown and its environs to suspend their operations after samples submitted for sanitation and safety tests were found to be unsatisfactory.
The disclosure was made as the GA-FDD announced the findings of a water processing survey that was conducted among 46 processors in Georgetown and its environs in the period October, 2020, to January, 2021.
GA-FDD did not identify the processors that were asked to cease operations but said they were only allowed to resume operations after satisfying sanitary and microbiological safety requirements in the best interest of the consuming public.
In a statement, the GA-FDD explained that a total of 160 water samples were taken by Inspectors of the department and submitted to its Food Microbiology laboratory, where the test parameters for Total Coliform and E. coli were performed. The test gives a general indication of the sanitary and safety condition of the water supplied and was part of an exercise to determine whether the sanitary/microbiological requirements as outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) standard for drinking water quality were being met.
The results showed that 109 or 68% of the samples were found to be satisfactory, while 51 or 32% were found to be unsatisfactory for the parameters tested. In was in relation to the latter that the GA-FDD explained that it immediately asked 10 water processors to cease operations.
The GA-FDD statement added that Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) or Sanitary Inspectors who work collaboratively with Inspectors of the GA-FDD have been alerted to the findings and would be conducting a similar survey among water processors in their regions.
Meanwhile, the statement also noted that only 25 of the 46 water processors who participated in the survey were in possession of the Water Treatment and Basic Sanitation certificate issued by Empretec Guyana Inc., which is a basic requirement that water processors must fulfill in order to be licensed or be approved to process.
The FA-FDD further reminded all water processors to submit regular samples to the department; and to ensure that processing, sanitation and record keeping requirements are adequately maintained to protect the consuming public.
