Over 16,000 to benefit from $1.3B Water Treatment Plant commissioned at Wales

With the aim of enhancing both water quality and service delivery, the newly constructed $1.3 billion Wales Water Treatment Plant was commissioned Sunday, on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD).
As the second largest water treatment plant under the Guyana Government-funded Coastal Water Treatment Infrastructure Programme (CWTIP), this facility will process approximately 8 million litres per day (MLD).
It will also serve approximately 16,000 residents along the WBD corridor, including Belle Vue, Canal No. 2, Goed Intent, Toevlugt, Sisters Village, Wales, Patentia, Vriesland, Vive la Force, and Free and Easy.
Describing it as a state-of-the -art facility, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI), Shaik Baksh, explained that this new treatment plant has the latest technology installed, to ensure the plant is automated to get real-time data of its operations.

“Efficient back-washing technology has been employed, and importantly, there is an advance filtration system known as Membrane Bioreactor. So, it’s really helping to give the most advanced water solution in the treatment of water here at Wales. Smart technology has been employed with sensors… giving real-time information,” he noted.
The GWI head went on to the laud the contractors, Hi-Pro Ecologicos S.A de C.V, with local sub-contractor S. Jagmohan Construction and General Supplies Inc for their work on the facility that is already providing improved water quality to communities.
The global standard for iron content in water is 0.3 milligrams (mg) per litre of water and since the operationalisation of the recently constructed Wales Water Treatment Plant, the detected iron content is on average 0.1 mg.
“So, the latest technology has been used in this plant and it has given us the result,” the CEO of the water company explained.

While the plant is designed to serve at least a dozen WBD communities, only Goed Intent, Sister’s Village, Wales, Patentia, Vriesland, Vive la Force, and Free and Easy customers are currently being served by the plant. Customers between Belle Vue to Canal #2 and Belle West are scheduled to be served by the treatment plant by August 2025, after transmission mains are installed.
The Wales Water Treatment Plant is one of three such facilities in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).
According to Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal during Sunday’s commissioning ceremony, Government has done tremendous work over the past four years to upgrade and expand the water system across Region Three. This includes investments to the tune of $7.6 billion that benefitted 89,000 residents along the West Demerara mainland, as well as on the islands in the Essequibo River, with the development of five new wells, the drilling of nine wells, and upgrading several existing plants including the new Wales Water Treatment Plant.
“This state-of-the-art water treatment plant will not only provide cleaner water but it also enhances public health, reduces water-borne disease, and improve the overall quality of life for families, for those who are attending school and for businesses here in this region,” the Minister stated.

Minister Croal further highlighted significant progress in the housing sector across the region. Notably, at Wales alone—where $17 billion has been allocated—nearly 5,000 house lots have been distributed over the past two years. In the coming weeks, the first set of lots will be allocated to awardees at the Wales Phase Two Housing Development.

Meanwhile, delivering the feature address at the commissioning ceremony on Sunday, President Dr Irfaan Ali pointed out that with the new Wales Water Treatment Plant alone, Government has invested some $400,000 per household in these communities.
To this end, the Head of State charged the GWI to ensure that these facilities that his Government is heavily investing in, are operating at optimum.
“We look forward to completion of all other wells and not only the completion, but optimum operability of those wells,” he stated.
“The story of development is before you. Today, in a tasteless way you will taste it, because water has no taste. Today, in a tasteless way, you will taste another form of development. By the end of this year, 90 per cent of the population will taste the tasteless nature of water through treated water all across this country,” the President stated.
According to the Guyanese leader, families… especially mothers have in the past endured many hardships to get water, and it is in acknowledgement of those tough times that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration is working to ensure clean and potable water is accessible across the country.
On this note, he called on citizens, especially the younger generation, to ensure they protect this vital commodity.
Reflecting on the state of the Wales community, which was plunged into a state of despair under the previous administration when the sugar estate was shut down and many placed on the breadline, President Ali noted that just four years later, under the current PPP/C Government, there has been unprecedented development in not just the WBD village but across the entire Region Three.
“That is not accidental. Drive in the back lands and see the transformation [with the new highways]. And you know what we were doing this weekend? We were plotting the next phase of the new highway that will come from the new [Demerara River] Bridge and will go all the way to Wales, and then go all the way to the Del Conte route, opening up tens of thousands of acres of land for farmers, for housings; connecting Bartica, bringing the road back to Sand Hill [and] taking it to Timehri – that is what we’re doing,” the Head of State revealed.
He went on to mention the new port facility that will be built at the Parika Stelling to facilitate ferries that would support the export of local produce to the Caribbean and further afield. Ali added that his Government is also building a second power plant that will see Wales being transformed into an industrial hub, with support from the highly-anticipated Gas-to-Energy (GtE) Project currently under construction at Wales.