Guyana working on integrated water management system- Ali

Last Updated on Thursday, 7 August 2025, 22:08 by Writer

Guyana has embarked on a water integration plan that would see the purification and injection of water from canals and reservoirs into the distribution system to maximise use of the resource for all purposes, President Irfaan Ali announced on Wednesday.

Citing increased water demand for industrial, agricultural, commercial, manufacturing and household uses, he said Guyana was not ready to produce water for those specific purposes. As a result, Dr Ali said the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) would be tapping into fresh water from the Boerasirie Conservancy or other areas for “…harnessing the potential of fresh water that is being dumped and I have asked the Minister of Housing and Water to explore the possibility of putting one such facility where we can harness the fresh water, treat it and put it back in the system at high volume capacity.”

In an address at the commissioning of the Parika Water Treatment Plant, East Bank Essequibo, he said his government had already begun working on plans to integrate water from the Hope Canal, East Coast Demerara the GWI’s potable water supply system.

The President also said that a study of the aquifers would be undertaken to determine the amount of groundwater that is available for extraction. “We’re now doing an evaluation of the groundwater potential and the performance of our aquifers because, as you know, it is the aquifers that must inform us on our capacity and capability to meet future demand,” he said.

The President charged the GWI with building an overlapping redundancy system as part of the Drinking Water Resource Management Strategy whose aim is to integrate “every source of water.” “As our country continues to grow, there will be greater demand for industrial purposes, agricultural purposes, for manufacturing purposes so the strategy we’re pursuing is to give you the best quality water but also to give our economy the water that is necessary to fuel the growth and development,” she said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal told the commissioning ceremony that the Parika water treatment plant, the fourth such facility across the coastland from Pomeroon to Moleson Creek, would improve access and water quality for more than 20,000 residents. He said so far 97 percent of urban communities and 95 percent of rural communities were now accessing potable water. Mr Croal added that treated water coverage has increased from 52 percent in 2020 to more than 80 percent in August 2025.

The President, for his part, said the government had invested more than GY$8.8 billion dollars in the water sector of Region Three (West Demerara-Essequibo Islands), benefitting more than 89,000 residents, noting that it is “All because we have expanded the economy, expanded housing and brought more development to this region,” he said.