The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) yesterday blamed an electrical problem for the substandard supply to Central Georgetown in recent days. Since last week, GWI customers in the city had been complaining of low pressure or no water supply and yesterday GWI finally said that the issues had been due to insufficient service from the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL).
According to Timothy Austin, Public Relations Officer of GWI, all customers served by the Shelter Belt Water Treatment Plant had been experiencing reduced levels of service due to an electrical problem. He explained that countless persons in Central Georgetown had been affected.
Austin added that the GPL issue had led to GWI using its generators since Sunday to supplement its service. However, he said, it had not been enough.
“All of our plants have mobile generators and they are able to power the plants if there are prolonged power outages. So, we were running on our generators but due to that persons would’ve experienced a reduced level of service,” Austin stated. He further said that the problem had started sometime last weekend and “gradually got worse.”
In a press release issued yesterday morning, GWI stated that it was working along with GPL to complete repairs by 6 pm yesterday. However, the problem had reportedly been fixed hours before that. “It was a GPL problem and I can confirm that it’s been rectified,” Austin said when contacted yesterday afternoon for an update. He continued: “Power is being supplied to us and we are pumping as per normal.”
“We have a very good relationship with GPL and we’re thankful for that because we were able to identify the problem easier and have it fixed,” Austin further said.
Additionally, customers served by the Sophia Water Treatment Plant also experienced reduced levels of service but this has also been rectified, Austin said. According to GWI, the reduced service had been due to emergency maintenance.
However, he said the water reservoirs take some time to build and therefore customers did not receive water immediately following the fix. The Sophia Water Treatment Plant serves the Prashad Nagar, Kitty, Campbellville and Sophia areas.
