The Guyana Water Inc (GWI) is reviewing its strategic water-loss plan with the aim of reducing leakages across its coastal distribution network, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shaik Baksh on Friday said as he responded to questions on the utility company’s management of the issue.
“We are trying to bring down our strategic plan on our (water) losses to come down to 55% by 2025. We are revising that to a figure of 45 to 50%. You want to do more because as we reduce the water losses, if we don’t do that we won’t be in a better financial position…” the CEO said during the press conference on Friday morning.
Several plans are in place to tackle the issue, which has long plagued the efficiency of company distribution network.
And in order to achieve this goal, Baksh stated that they will have to engage in robust auditing of its transmission and distribution network, replace and repair aged pipes, manage and evaluate the performance of its network, and work on installing meters on every service connection.
According to the CEO, within the last year they have embarked on a robust metering campaign and it is their plan to install some 2,000 meters on service lines this year.
It is their goal, he stated, to achieve zero wastage of water and metering can play a key part in achieving that goal.
Further, he made it known that within the last year and half, the company has replaced 5,000 defective meters and during the course of this year it is their intention to replace an additional 4,000 meters.
Touching on transmission mains, the CEO stated that they will be engaged in replacing decades-old lines on the network. For Georgetown, specifically, he said that they will be replacing distribution lines along Church and Water streets and lines in the vicinity of the cenotaph at Main Street.
These works will be done in phases, he explained and stated that they are in the process of mapping areas for the pipes to be laid and are consulting with key stakeholders.
Meanwhile, as the company aims to tackle water leakages from its distribution network it is also gearing up to launch a new smartphone application to enable real time reporting and faster responses. GWI’s Director of Operations, Jawaharlall Ramjug explained that they are in the process of creating the application. The app, he said, which will be available to both users of android operating software and iOS and members of the public will be able to file a complaint in a matter of seconds.
He stated that once a customer is able to take a picture, they will be able to use the geo tag from the photograph submitted and dispatch it to the relevant authorities.
Ramjug went on to explain that even if the location is not enabled on a device, persons will have the opportunity to give a description of the issue that they are reporting and will have to give the location.
“…As you click send and it comes for us to deal with. It doesn’t matter the time of the day we can be able to monitor by a central dashboard. The dashboard is linked to the other satellite regions… the dispatch team sends it to customer service and they send it to the field crew out in the fields,” he explained.
Ramjug noted that the reporting of faults and leakages through the app eliminates bottlenecks in making reports as not only will the head office be alerted of the report but regional offices as well.
The application he added is about 50% complete and will be launched in a short period.
Moreover, Baksh went on to state that the company spent the last year repairing thousands of leakages to enhance the service provided to customers.
He explained that there are still a few areas outstanding on the coast and they are working to have them rectified.
“I’ve been working on that in the area of customer complaints for timely response. We know in some areas this has been a problem. We have reviewed our systems and we will introduce some new features to ensure that we respond to customer complaints in a timely manner,” the CEO assured.
