– Claims no serious water quality concerns found after investigations
FOLLOWING statements made in a June 23rd article published in the Stabroek News under the caption “Linden Councillor protests water quality”, an investigative team comprising members of GWI’s Scientific Services and Public Relations Departments was dispatched to Speightland, Lower Kara Kara, Linden. A Guyana Water Inc (GWI) press release stated that the investigation revealed the recognition by residents of iron in their water supply, but contended that consistent flushing of the pipelines by GWI’s Linden Division had improved the quality of the water.  According to Mr. G. DaSilva, a resident of Lower Kara Kara, the only complaint about the water supply was the colour. 

“The water was very brown a few weeks ago,” stated Mr. DaSilva. “However, I saw the GWI workers coming around to flush the lines and after that there was tremendous improvement,” he added.

DaSilva stated that he was pleased with the colour of the water and that he had not heard of anyone in the community complaining about water-related illnesses.  He said that his household utilizes water supplied by GWI for domestic purposes. And that no member of his family ever became sick from consuming the water.    

Further, GWI claimed that similar discussions with other residents of lower Kara Kara revealed that residents utilise numerous sources of water, which include GWI’s supply, the Kara Kara Creek and rain water harvesting. GWI is disclaiming responsibility for water provided by other sources because the entity says it provides safe water by way of its treatment facilities and well stations.
GWI also stated that the diseases, dengue and malaria, referred to in the article, which the Linden Councillor claimed that GWI’s water was responsible for, are vector diseases caused by mosquitoes. 
GWI said it is concerned that neither the writer of the article, nor the Editor of the newspaper made any attempt to clarify the uninformed position of the councillor, although the media house has made contact through several means of communication with personnel from the Department in the past. The Company says that none of these were utilized to obtain a comment regarding the protest incident, which it claims reveals gross unprofessionalism by the media house and a lack of proper research. 

GWI’s Linden team spoke to a local healthcare worker who indicated that there were no abnormal instances of water-related diseases or illnesses in the Speightland, lower Kara Kara community.  Another health-care professional who was interviewed by the visiting GWI team believes that there is inadequate care by residents in the storage of water and hygiene practices. The health care professional indicated that on several occasions they were required to visit residents to provide education on correct hygiene and safe water storage.

GWI says it adheres strictly to World Health Organization (WHO) standards in the production of treated water and ensures that water leaving its treatment facilities and well stations is safe. 
However, the water company is advising that customers must adopt improved hygiene practices to avoid contaminating their stored water.  According to GWI’s Scientific Services Manager, Ms Savitri Jettoo, the issue of contamination by customers is quite prevalent. She said “Most Guyanese utilize black tanks, but how often these tanks are cleaned to avoid contamination by rodents and insects which may enter the tank is the problem.
“We have also noted customers leaving their buckets uncovered, which allows for numerous instances of contamination. In some cases the way in which customers retrieve water from buckets leads to contamination.”
The entity is also advising that, in instances of power supply disruptions and maintenance works, treatment facilities cannot supply water. However, according to Ms Jettoo, the company has consistently issued advisories via the local television station indicating the cause of the service disruption.  According to GWI’s Divisional Operations Manager of the Linden branch, Rawle Friday, all significant disruptions are broadcast via NCN Linden. The Company claims that it is in possession of documentation that supports Mr. Friday’s statement and, thus, Mr. Jainarine’s claim that residents are not informed of service disruptions cannot be substantiated.
GWI is advising all customers who have queries regarding water quality to contact the Company’s Customer Services Call Centre on 227-8701.  The Company says that it continues to partner with all stakeholders in the interest of maintaining safe water supply for all Guyanese.