Dear Editor,
In a SN letter of Oct. 18, Berbician Mr. Ayaz Mohamed, a state certified water/wastewater plant manager in Florida has extended an open invitation to any official of the Government of Guyana/GWI to visit the state-of-the-art water/wastewater treatment plant where he works. The plant serves about half a million customers daily.
Mr. Mohamed has apparently visited Guyana many times and has seen and heard complaints about the poor quality of its drinking water and means of supply. Hence he is of the opinion that if no action is taken to improve the situation, the water woes Guyanese are experiencing will continue to plague them. With his abiding interest to see improvements to the existing system, he has graciously suggested that the relevant authorities in Guyana visit the plant where he works to see the latest technologies in water treatment and waste disposal which they could adopt to improve their existing system thereby benefitting the people they serve. After all, the supply of potable water is a basic service and it should be at the heart of the country’s implemental development plan to better serve residents.
I am not a Government/GWI official but a SN reader with an interest in water and waste/water treatment and would like to learn more about the subject through future letters in SN from Mr. Mohamed. In Guyana, GWI’s major ‘potable’ water treatment plant is located at Shelter Belt in Georgetown. The plant uses sand as its filtration medium with chlorine and other chemicals for bacterial and colour removal treatments. Its residue is discharged in the nearby trenches thus creating a major drainage problem for the City.
It would be helpful if Mr. Mohamed could inform us – SN readers, where the water from the plant he works at comes from, how and what it is filtered and treated with to make it potable thereby satisfying WHO standards, since some of us do not possess the requirements nor the resources to visit the plant where he works to get the information. Further, it would be useful if he could state the method used by the plant to dispose of the wastewater it generates.
Sincerely,
Charles Sohan
