–with Wales water treatment plant

CLEAN, safe water is now readily available to thousands of residents in communities along the West Bank of Demerara thanks to the newly inaugurated Wales water treatment plant.
For many, this means being able to drink directly from the tap without hesitation and wash clothes without the fear of fabric damage.
“Them children wearing white shirt to school now… like every two weeks, I does gah buy new shirt for them cause the water used to be damaging the shirt, but now we are getting water till we are drinking it,” Nazima, the grandmother of five school-aged children shared with the Guyana Chronicle.
The woman who is a resident of Free-and-Easy, is among 16,000 residents who are benefitting from the new water treatment plant— a modern facility designed to treat eight million litres of water daily.

Meanwhile, Goomatie, a resident of Patentia, noted that she too has seen improvements in the quality of water.
She said: “I can smell the chlorine, it’s [the water] cleaner, now I’m using the water from the pipe to wash, cook and clean.”
“As long as I can remember, I always purchased water for drinking,” Rhonda Dixon shared, recalling how communities were often faced with rusty and mud-like water being distributed through the local transmission lines.

“It used to smell like mud water… I noticed the difference in the water pressure and quality like 15th March, 2025.⁠ ⁠It smells and I heard that it taste excellent,” Dixon shared.
The $1.35 billion facility was commissioned Sunday and employs the latest technology to ensure that the plant is automated, providing real-time data during its operation.
It serves the communities of Bel Vue, Canal #2, Bell West, Goed Intent, Toevlught and several others.
In addition to the larger facility, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has installed 18 small inline water treatment plants along the coast.
“We used to get normal water, good pressure, we use to get pressure in upstairs but we couldn’t use the water them times, because of grums and all kinds of things,” Paulie, a resident of Patentia shared.

He noted that the water pressure has improved significantly, to the point where residents are now experiencing their pipes being blown out.
The new facility is a part of a broader undertaking by the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) to increase treated water coverage across the country by the end of this year.
Chief Executive officer of GWI Shaik Baksh, at the commissioning ceremony of the new facility stated that some $40 billion is being spent for the Coastal Water Treatment Infrastructure Programme (CWTIP) with seven plants being constructed along the coastal belt.
“GWI has been given a mandate to perform and to ensure that the infrastructure, is developed to the highest standard. And when I say infrastructure, I’m talking about water transmission and distribution systems and also the state-of-the-art water treatment plants,” he said.

At Wales, the plant can be upscaled to treat 9.5 million litres of water, and in the future be outfitted with booster pumps and filters, further enhancing water quality.
The plant at Wales uses advanced technology, including automated systems, backwashing technology, and membrane bioreactors.
These features ensure that the quality of the water remains at the highest standards, already exceeding the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s standards.
“In terms of turbidity, the World Health Standard is less than five here; final water is 1.25 in turbidity. The colour of the water the World Health Standard is less than 100, and this plant is 44, so the latest technology has been used in this plant,” Baksh said.

Testing done in several of the communities that will be benefitting from the plant has seen improvement in the water quality.
Baksh said: “I’ve been out to the villages here. We’ve taken samples at Sisters Village, the iron at 0.1 and at Patentia 0.2. Number 0.3 is the World Health Standard…. Vriesland 0.2…So indeed, this plant is performing.”
By august of this year, the plant will serve additional communities from Bel Vue to Canal #2 and Bell West when new transmission mains being constructed will be complete.