Guyana inaugurates $700 Million Caledonia Water Treatment Plant to provide clean water to 12,000 residents

Guyana marked the official inauguration of the highly-anticipated and $700 million Caledonia Water Treatment Plant on Sunday. This facility will provide high-quality water and reliable service to more than 12,000 residents from New Hope to Soesdyke on the East Bank of Demerara, ensuring every Guyanese an access to clean and potable water. 

The commissioning ceremony of Caledonia Water Treatment Plant was attended by several delegates, including, President Dr Irfaan Ali, Minister of Housing and Water; Susan Rodrigues, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Water; Shaik Baskh, Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Water Incorporated; and other dignitaries.

Caledonia Water Treatment Plant 

The Caledonia Water Treatment Plant is equipped, using cutting edge technologies, setting new standards for efficiency and sustainability in the water sector of Guyana. The state-of-the-art facility is outfitted with a large power generator, ensuring 24-hour uninterrupted service, three massive filters, two large storage facilities and several booster pumps. 

 The plant is designed with a vision to improve efficiency, providing fully automated plant, equipped with a standby power generator to ensure a continuous water supply. The plant will also remove the iron content from water supply, exceeding the standards of World Health Organization. 

As per reports, the plant also does not include a cascade aeration tower, which plays a significant role in reducing space requirements, cuts costs, and minimizes water loss due to evaporation. It is one of the three new ones which is being constructed in the Region 4 under the Water Treatment Infrastructure Programme. 

President Irfaan Ali on Caledonia Water Treatment Plant 

Shedding light on the commissioning ceremony, President of Guyana, Dr Irfaan Ali highlighted about the Caledonian Water Treatment Plant and said that the water is produced to meet the highest standards for human consumption. He reiterated his commitment to ensure that every Guyanese eventually has access to the best-quality potable water.

He highlighted about the water resource management and said that it is not only about treating or drinking water but about ensuring that they have availability of water for all in their existence. 

“Whether it's the trees, the animals, agriculture, and it's about managing water resource in a way that it can meet the requirement of all that is existing in our system, ecosystem.”

The President also emphasised on investing over $65,000,000,000 in the water sectors in the last 4 years, increasing an access to supply to potable water to about 98.3% of the population.