President Maduro speaking outdoors at a water treatment plant at La Guairita, in Miranda state. Photo: Twitter/@CarlosMataCMF.
On Wednesday, October 19, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro asked for the rehabilitation of the 170 water treatment plants throughout the country in order to “provide the highest quality of water service to all the people of Venezuela.” During an event in La Guairita sector in Miranda state, President Maduro explained, step by step, the goal of bringing the water supply in Caracas to 23,000 liters per second through the Tuy II system.
President Maduro inspected the rehabilitation of the La Guairita water treatment plant, which included installation of pumps for filling the washing tank, cleaning of the sedimentation tanks, filter disinfection, waterproofing, installation of internal and external lighting, perimeter fencing, adaptation of the laboratory, and repair of frieze walls, alongside additional processes.
This plant has a maximum purification capacity of 7,500 liters per second, and has been able to supply 25% of the communities of Greater Caracas to date. It uses the Lagartijo, Taguacita, Taguaza, Quebrada Seca, La Pereza, and Tuy river reservoirs as supply sources. It is part of the Tuy II system and has an average monthly production of more than 17 million cubic meters, which allows it to meet the demand of nearly one million inhabitants of Greater Caracas.
President Maduro added that the rehabilitation of the La Guairita plant enabled its average potabilization capacity to increase from 4,000 to 4,500 liters per second.
He stressed that the 1×10 Good Government Program must be efficient in maintaining the drinking water service. “Through Line 58 on the VenApp, complaints from the public arrive immediately,” he said.
Troubleshooting progress
Following the president’s request, the mayor of the Libertador municipality, Carmen Meléndez, announced that 81.18% of the breakdowns in the drinking water distribution system in Caracas reported through Line 58 of VenApp has already been repaired.
Héctor Rodríguez, governor of Miranda state, said that progress is being made in the activation of the new water wells, of which 34 of the 80 planned for 2022 have been installed. These water wells have been allocated to communities not connected to the Tuy System, or communities that “have underground water sources that can contribute to the system.” He emphasized that “we have connected about 300,000 families that did not have a connection to a water supply.”
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The governor also pointed out that his state has been able to increase its distribution of drinking water to 14,000 liters per second in order to guarantee water service to the population.
“In the case of Greater Caracas, when we first built a team together with the national and regional government and all the municipal teams, we were producing about 10,000 liters per second with the Tuy System,” Rodríguez said. “Just in the last few months we have managed to increase it to 14,000. The goal is 23,000, which is the maximum capacity of the Tuy System, in order to reach all the communities,.”
The Miranda state governor stressed that in accordance with the Working Plan for Water, Community Brigades have been organized with the mission to “attend to any small leak that occurs in their own community, with tools and training provided by the Ministry of Water Services.” He explained that the leak repair scheme includes involving the mayors and the municipal bodies in medium-sized leaks, and involving the national government in large-scale leaks.
“This teamwork has allowed us to repair most of the leaks and optimize the water service,” Rodríguez added.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/EF/KZ
