After almost four weeks, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) announced its plans to reactivate a well in Port Kaituma, Region One (Barima-Waini) to provide a stable supply of water to residents, as it was related that those works have not yet been completed.
This information was relayed by GWI’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Leanna Bradshaw who indicated that the works are still in progress for the reactivation.
These works were necessary after the presence of mercury was detected in the main source of water for residents – the Kaituma River. Samples were taken from different sections and sent to the Kaizen Environmental Services Laboratory in Trinidad and Tobago.
As such, the first option was to drill a well in the area after it was realised that the main well at Turn Basin was not functioning. However, an inspection by engineers discovered a well at Citrus Grove, Port Kaituma, which had been out of operation
GWI engineers examining the Port Kaituma well
for a number of years.
It was decided that the engineers would rehabilitate this well to supplement an existing one. This would entail a camera inspection, test pumping the well and determining an appropriately sized pump before it is connected to the distribution network.
Furthermore, plans were also ongoing for the installation of additional storage tanks at the well site and the rehabilitation of another tank in the region. With this in place, the storage capacity is expected to increase to serve the entire community. The tanks will be connected to a distribution network that will be run to each household.
Presently, residents have been accessing water directly from the well in the interim but due to climate change and other environmental challenges, the company has moved to drilling more wells in these areas, so as to ensure equal access to potable water year-round.
