THE Mandela Avenue and Sophia iron removal water treatment plants, on which construction have been completed, are undergoing tests, Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) Project Manager, Mr. Ramchand Jailall said yesterday.
He told the Guyana Chronicle that fences are being erected at the two locations and the facilities will be commissioned in July, with the upgrades of distribution networks delivering improved supply to 41,000 residents in Greater Georgetown.
Jailall said the factories will serve consumers in Central, East and West Ruimveldt, Shirley Field – Ridley Square, Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Tucville and South Ruimveldt Garden, Lamaha Gardens, Sections ‘K’ and ‘M’ Campbellville and Prashad Nagar.
The plants were constructed by the Trinidad Company, Universal Earth Movers (UEM) Incorporated, at a cost of $600M, with capacity to produce up to 12 million litres of purified water daily and  enhance the quality and pressure at which it is delivered.
Meanwhile, Jailall said three other water treatment facilities, being built in Regions Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) and Five (Mahaica/Berbice), are in various stages of testing.
He said one at Cotton Tree, Essequibo Coast, costing $400M was funded by the World Bank and is in the initial phase of testing, with the second to begin shortly.
The status is similar at another, in Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo but the third, at Lima, also on the  Essequibo Coast, will be commissioned in the latter part of this month.
They are all part of the Water Sector Consolidation Project (WASCP), with US$11.3M grant funding from the World Bank and counterpart financing, of US$1.1M, from the Government of Guyana, to benefit  48,000 people.
The treatment plants will be complemented by several wells to boost pressure flow to consumers in the beneficiary areas.
Jailall said the Administration, over the years, has adopted various strategies to ensure that Guyanese have access to improved and safe water supply and that is evident with the development and construction of several water treatment facilities across the country.