By Keeran DannyReconstruction of the Georgetown sewer network is expected to commence next month with the installation of force main pipelines, delivery mains, pumps and motors at sewer stations. Installation of the force main pipelines would require closure and excavation of roadways: Waterloo, Light, Sussex, and New Market Streets.According to Arshad Yacoub, Senior Engineer, Capital Investment and Planning Department of Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) during a recent interview with this publication, “The system as it is right now is very fragile; you have blow-outs, burst mains, and so on. GWI’s Operations Department has to attend to those on a regular basis.”The US$10M Georgetown Sanitation Improvement Programme is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and has four components. This component is about 70 percent of the project cost.According to Yacoub, the project commenced in January 2013 and the contractor has completed installing about three kilometres of delivery mains and 18 pumps in six sewer stations. Works have not yet commenced on the force mains. Of the six kilometers of force main pipelines to be laid, only two kilometres would be done for 2013.Arshad Yacoub, Senior Engineer, GWI“The force mains form a rectangle: in the east the force main is on Light Street,Cheap NFL Jerseys, west on Waterloo Street,NCAA Basketball Jerseys, north New Market Street, and to the south Sussex Street. The delivery mains connect like branches to the force main,” he explained.During the first phase of component one, there was hardly excavation to roadways because works were being done to sewer stations and not pipelines. In this phase,Nike Air Max 97 Order Online, GWI is reconstructing the entire network.“So, the excavated areas for the force mains are in the rectangle and the other areas for the delivery mains would be like Hadfield Street, Quamina Street,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, Barrack Street, Sussex and Princes Streets, etc.,” he added.According to Yacoub, there are 24 sewer stations in Georgetown, and in 2009, 15 of the most critical stations were rehabilitated. As such,Cheap Jerseys China, GWI will only be focusing on nine under this programme.“But for the 15 that were rehabilitated previously, we have to put in the additional pumps and motors in the sewer stations, because we want to have two pumps in one station. One would be in operation while the other one would not be in use. So in the event the on-duty one is clogged or cannot function, we have the other pump to use,” he stated.He said GWI would be sending out advisories on a regular basis prior to construction to alert road users which streets would be closed and the alternative routes. The contractor would only need a small section of the roadways to install delivery mains. However, when the placements of the force mains occur,Cheap Jerseys China, roadways will be closed.While the first component of the project seeks to physically strengthen the network, the second component deals with institutional strengthening of GWI and public awareness.According to the engineer, the network is fragile, and because of the large amount of foreign particles entering the system, the submersible pumps in the station are clogged very often.“We don’t have treated sewage going to these stations and hotel and restaurant owners are abusing the system as well by not having grease traps, so all the cooked fats and residue are going into the sewer system and blocking up the main,” he said.Yacoub said component two has three sub-components: asset management development strategy; seminars for hotel and restaurant owners; and school awareness campaign focusing on sanitation hygiene and proper usage of the sewage network. GWI has hired a consultant to assist in improving the operations and effectiveness of assets such as new pumps and motors.