Thousands of residents of North Oropouche, Arima, and its environs are expected to benefit from an increased water supply within the next year.
This, as the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) turned the sod for the construction of the Guanapo and North Oropouche Water Treatment Plants on Wednesday.
WASA says when completed, over 200,000 customers will see an improvement in their water supply.
WASA’s Director of Operations, Shaira Ali, gave an overview of the project.
“In the Heights of Guanapo, where we are, it produces approximately three point five million gallons of water daily and serves 20,500 customers within the Borough of Arima. The works of the Guanapo Plant will entail the expansion of the existing intake and the installation of additional treatment units with capacity to extract and treat an additional 2.5 imperial million gallons of water per day from the Guanapo River.”
This project is estimated to cost $87 million, and Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales said other projects are lined up.
“We turned the sod for the start of construction of the Goldsborough Water Treatment Plant costing $50 million. So that’s Tobago. Santa Cruz, we will turn the sod for the commencement of the construction of the Santa Cruz Water Treatment Plant to produce an additional 5 million gallons of water. It is going to cost the Government of Trinidad and Tobago $85 million.”
Minister of Planning and Development, Pennelope Beckles, reiterated the Government’s commitment to delivering better water services.
“We have identified the need for efficient, cost-effective, and reliable water and wastewater services and are committed to proposing an integrated approach to water resources management, including incorporating an effective water resource hydrological monitoring network, implementation of a water loss reduction programme, and the development of a water supply drought management.”
Funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, once completed in the next eleven months, the total Guanapo plant production will be approximately six million imperial gallons per day.