THE Guyana Water Inc. (GWI), through the Water Quality Department has made a timely donation in the form of a “Del Agua” water quality testing kit to the environmental health unit in Mabaruma. This kit will now allow the environmental health officers to frequently monitor and analyse the microbiological safety of the water supply in Mabaruma and nearby villages within Region One.

An intensive training was executed by senior personnel of the Water Quality Department of GWI with the Officers of Region One. This training covered: proper sampling procedures using aseptic techniques, sample storage, transportation and handling and testing procedures using membrane filtration technology.

The DelAgua Dual Incubator Kit is a portable quality-testing kit designed for microbiological water quality monitoring via detection of indicator organisms (coliforms, E.coli and other faecal contamination). It is designed to help provide information about the safety of water supplies where laboratory facilities do not exist. In Mabaruma, there is no water-quality laboratory, however, with this Del Agua kit, water quality can be monitored onsite, generating adequate information about the safety of the water supplied to the community.

The kit is capable of monitoring pH, turbidity, residual chlorine, thermotolerant bacteria and coliforms, all of which are important parameters to determine the microbial safety of drinking water based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

Prior to now, samples had to be transported to Georgetown via domestic commercial flights, to be tested and the results were made available days and possibly weeks after. This was very difficult to manage, since no timely interventions could be made immediately in the cases of any contamination detected. Similarly, samples had to be transported on ice in coolers so as to preserve the quality of the water. If there were any delay in delivery or submission of samples, then the samples would no longer be valid, as they must be tested within 24 hours maximum.

This however, is now a thing of the past, as GWI stepped in to provide the environmental health officers with the requisite tools and skills set to be able to monitor the water quality on a regular basis. The kit can be taken into the fields as it is equipped with batteries to last more than 48 hours.

The water quality in schools, health centres, and of the general public can now be monitored on a routine basis and the information fed to the central laboratory, so that the data can be trended and assessed and necessary interventions can be made should any water quality issue be detected in the community.

Similarly, GWI is making every effort to ensure that the water supply is free of any contaminant that can compromise the water quality, such as pathogens and other microbiological or physio-chemical contaminants.

GWI remains committed to ensuring safe, adequate and affordable water of the highest quality, for improved public health and sustainable economic development throughout Guyana.