OVER 2500 households in Eccles and surrounding East Bank Demerara communities now have an improved quality of water flowing through their taps, following the re-engineering of the treatment process at the Eccles Water Treatment Plant.
This improved water quality surpasses the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s standard for drinking-water quality. The upgrade took three months.
The new system, which treats 7.4 megalitres of water per day, became fully operational two weeks ago and the results have exceeded the expectations of management, the Guyana Water Inc. said in a statement on Friday.
“The iron content throughout the Eccles community prior to this intervention was 1.9 milligrams per litre which was more than 6 times the required levels, thus resulting in discoloured water,” the statement noted.

Tests conducted after the installation of the new filtration system have recorded an average of 0.1 milligrams of iron per litre of water, a number that falls way within the 0.3 mg WHO standard for drinking-water quality.
According to the release, the new water quality was determined through testing by the GWI laboratory personnel, who were stationed at the Eccles mini laboratory over a 24-hour period to conduct tests on an hourly basis, after each stage of the treatment process.
“Samples were also taken from the distribution network in Eccles to monitor the water quality received at customers’ homes. The laboratory analysis was instrumental in determining the effectiveness of the filters, the operational efficiency and performance. GWI’s Technical Services team also played a major role in the improvement works.
The success of this innovative and cost-effective filtration method is evident in the water quality now being received by residents of Eccles, Bagotstown, Republic Park, Nandy Park, Republic Gardens and Windsor Estate.

“The filters at the facility were modified to facilitate the introduction of Manganese Dioxide filter media. Manganese Dioxide is a naturally occurring ore which performs the dual function of oxidizing iron and filtering it out of the water,” the statement explained.
“Previously, the Silica sand media was used and that only performed the function of filtering. The iron had to be oxidized using Chlorine. With this innovation in water quality at GWI, the use of Chlorine has now been minimized at the Eccles plant,” it added.
Meanwhile, a number of residents have taken note of the improved quality of the water that is flowing through their pipes.
Raldon Boyle, who has been residing in ‘BB’ Eccles for the last seven years, noted that the water quality he was receiving was less than desirable, but over the past two weeks he has seen a great improvement.
Proprietor of Flambouyant Supermarket, Khrishna Brasse expressed a similar view. He noted that the water quality was significantly better when compared to what he was receiving a few months ago.