Lamaha Canal – 1910

By 1891 each street in Georgetown had a stand pipe. The water from the stand pipe, brown in color and peaty in taste, came directly from the bush water of the Lamaha Canal. It was not meant for drinking but the poorer people of Georgetown had no alternative. Drinking water was obtained from rain water collected from house roofs and stored in vats and cisterns. Today Georgetown still gets its water from the Lamaha Conservancy but it is purified by the Shelter Belt Water Treatment Plant to make it safe for consumption.