EDITORIAL: Water issues can be addressed
Given the clean-up efforts across our island to tackle the ash that still lingers following the eruption of the La Soufrière volcano in a neighbouring island, the spotlight has once again turned to the matter of the shortage of water in Barbados.
Barbadians have been using potable water to clean up their properties and with cries coming from some residents in rural parishes that they don’t have access to enough water to meet their daily living requirements, we are left once again to ponder on this whole matter of water scarcity and how we can combat it.
Now the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C), in its efforts to support Caribbean countries in the sustainable management of their water resources, has been pushing its Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) model for some time now. There have been some local efforts made here as well at rainwater harvesting. However, these have been looked upon as mere experiments, for the most part. It is clear now, however, that we need as a nation to look in broader terms at rainwater harvesting as one of our plausible solutions to address this matter of water scarcity.
We all know by now that water conservation is the most cost-effective and environmentally sound way to reduce the demand for water, which will stretch our total water supply farther. Let us however consider, that rainwater harvesting from rooftops is becoming a viable alternative for supplying households and businesses with water. It can also be a valuable move for those in the farming community. Catching rainwater and storing it in tanks or barrels to later assist in our daily lives, can supplement water sources when they are low and such a move can surely serve as a means of removing total dependency for water from the Barbados Water Authority (BWA).
Admittedly, it is not a blanket solution to all our water problems, but rainwater harvesting has been looked at as part of the solutions process and indeed, it has its merit. The proposals for desalination plants, the move to have additional water trucks, a water reuse policy and infrastructural upgrades have all been proposed in the past, as steps to help us evade water scarcity, but let us agree that rainwater harvesting can complement other possible solutions put forward to address the water woes as well. The suggestion to engage in rainwater harvesting must however be adopted by the majority of householders, who are serious about doing their part to conserve and reuse water and preserve water supplies in the wet season.
Albeit we have to wait until we get some rain, but the collection of rainwater, when one does have access to it, can take a huge burden off the BWA and it is an excellent back-up source in times of drought, low water pressure and when there are problems with the public supply. Some persons might start with one plastic tank while others might build a more elaborate system. Given that some of our rural parishes are often without water and the residents there have to depend on water tankers and community tanks for a regular supply, we can never tell when such an isolated issue will become a wider problem, given the impact of climate change on the seasonal distribution of rainfall and hence the need for Barbadians to take action to reduce the drain on water resources in general. So let us start to give consideration to this whole notion of rainwater harvesting and see how we can make greater use of our water resources.