RESIDENTS of several communities along the Corentyne coast are pleading with the Guyana Water Inc. to fix the Williamsburg Pump Station that has caused them great difficulty in accessing potable water over the past few days.

The residents contended that they have not been receiving an adequate supply of potable water for over a week. Recognising the gravity of the situation, Operations Manager of GWI Dwayne Shako is asking customers to have patience as they are working around the clock to fix the pump station, but it may take up to two weeks to get the situation back to normalcy. “We are trying to get this issue resolved. We will be checking with residents to ensure everyone is receiving a supply, even though we are working to rehabilitate the Williamsburg well; we are also working to ensure there is a constant supply.”

Shako explained that he believes the casing from the well is damaged, as such, it cannot supply the water treatment plant resulting in reduced water supply and lower pressure. “This pump station supplies the Port Mourant Water Treatment Plant, which supplies between Albion and Tain. Over the past few days we have had a major setback with one of our wells, one of the main wells that supplies the treatment plant .We are not having any water from the well, it’s mainly mud. We suspect that the entire casing of that well [has] collapsed. Preliminary investigation reveals that the casting of that well has ruptured, so we are in a situation where we are not able to sustain the plant using only one well; the plant is supplied by two wells [and] with this one well being out of operation, we are not able to sustain the plant,” Shako said.

He further stated that residents in the area were previously receiving approximately 16 hours of water supply. However, due to the well being out of commission, they are now receiving only about three hours daily to the stand pipe level. “What we have done is mobilise a rig to fix the well and we are looking at an estimated two weeks at least to get the casing replaced. We are trying to give water from other sources for areas such as Tain, we are giving the residents water from Letter Kenny, and for residents of Nigg, we are giving water from Albion; but for Rose Hall and surrounding communities, the well is the main supply. We are working actively to activate another well to [be] able to interconnect into the system, so we can give to Rose Hall and surrounding areas .With this well in place, they would not be able to receive water at first-floor level, but just standpipe level, but what they will have in [sic] a constant supply of water.”

When the Guyana Chronicle visited the area on Saturday, workers were seen offloading pipes at the pump station and residents were lining up behind a businessman’s home, awaiting their turn to get their buckets filled. The businessman, Mohamed Raffik, who is also President of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, said he is very sorry the residents have to be going through this inconvenience and he hopes that GWI gets the problem resolved as quickly as possible. Hema Devi Ramjas, a resident of Williamsburg, said she is having a very tough time due to the limited supply of water.

“We are finding it very hard, because we can’t get the water in our yards and we have to use buckets and pails to fill our containers to last the entire day. Our children have to be monitored in its use when they shower and toilets have to be flushed using buckets, it is very difficult”.

Bilal McClennan, a resident of Rose Hall Town, lamented that he is also affected, since he cannot afford to buy bottled water to drink or cook. “The water we getting right now coming rusty rusty,I barely catching some to bathe and wash cause you can’t drink it”. As a back-up plan, the GWI is working to drill another well in the Port Mourant area to increase redundancy and avoid a similar problem in the future.