New $30M water supply system commissioned at Silver Hill

– a ‘dream come through’ for residents

After decades of trekking to a creek for water, residents of Silver Hill along the Soesdyke–Linden Highway are now turning on taps at their homes, thanks to a new $30 million water supply system that has transformed daily life in the community.
The system, commissioned on Friday, now provides potable water directly to about 90 per cent of households in the area. The remaining residents are being served through standpipes installed at key locations across the community.
The project entailed the drilling of a new well, the installation of a photovoltaic (PV) pumping system powered by solar energy and the laying of roughly three kilometres (km) of distribution lines to reach homes and yards. Officials say the intervention has effectively ended the community’s dependence on creek water for drinking, cooking and household use. For lifelong resident Raffina Lund, the commissioning of the new system marked the end of a struggle she has known since childhood.
“I was born and grew up at Silver Hill and I’ve been a resident for actually my entire life,” she told the gathering at the commissioning ceremony. “Growing up and living without water close to the home, it was a struggle. With this well, I just want to say thank you. Thank you so much. This is like actually a dream come true.”
Another villager, Raymond Baldwin, said the project has brought not only relief, but also pride, since residents were directly involved in installing the network.
“For years we have been using creek water for everything,” Baldwin recalled. “Since the beginning of this project, I have helped with the laying of pipes and it has been very beneficial for me and the community, because now everybody is getting potable water, and it even helps in the little kitchen gardens we have in the yard.”
He described the new system as a sign that smaller roadside communities are no longer being overlooked. “I think it is a good step that the Government has taken for small communities along the highway,” Baldwin said. “We look forward to taking care of this well as the years go by.”
Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar, who officially commissioned the water system, told residents that tests show the water produced from the new well is low in iron and safe for consumption. He said similar projects have been rolled out in scores of hinterland and remote communities.
According to the Minister, about 131 wells of this type have been drilled by Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) over the last five years, as part of a push to expand access to treated water nationally. “We have to modernise, we have to move away from relying on water from creeks and rivers,” Minister Indar said. “So through GWI we are divulging those resources to ensure that we have universal access to water that is clean, and usable for cooking.”
While most households in Silver Hill now benefit from water connections directly to their premises; those who are not yet linked to the network can access potable water from strategically placed standpipes. Residents say the new system is already reshaping their routines: children and adults no longer have to walk long distances to the creek, families can better manage hygiene and household chores, and small farmers are using the improved supply to support kitchen gardens and backyard farming. For communities like Silver Hill, where development has often felt slow in coming, the steady stream of water from a tap just outside the door is more than an infrastructure upgrade – it is, as Lund put it, “a dream come true”.