Barbadians urged to harvest rainwater

The suggestion has been made that Barbadians should harvest rainwater and use this for flushing their toilets and doing laundry.

Chartered Engineer, Andrew Hutchinson made this point while explaining that “47 per cent of the water used in a household goes to either flushing toilets or laundry” and that “about five million gallons [of water] a day are used in Barbados to flush toilets”.

Hutchinson further explained that only ten per cent of the rainfall is annually captured by the Barbados Water Authority, while the remaining 90 per cent goes into the gullies etc.

“I would submit very strongly that if we were serious about this, we would engage in rainwater harvesting to capture some of that 90 per cent that was lost and use it for flushing toilets and laundry. We [are] not going [to] rob the Water Authority, we [are] helping them.”

The Senior principal of Stantec was a member of the panel which discussed the topic, “Water if Life! Save Water; Save Life!” on Monday night. This panel discussion was organised by a sub-committee of the Diocesan Commission on Stewardship and Social Justice and Advocacy and it occurred at the Ivan Harewood Centre of the Christ Church Parish Church.

Hutchinson during his remarks also urged the gathering to check their toilets for leaks.

“There are about 300 000 toilets in the island… Toilets are the biggest offender in leakage in Barbados because it is on 24/7, it always has to be ready. You don’t turn on the valve every time right, you leave it on but many toilets’ flapper valves are malfunctioning, overflowing into waste and… some people may not know and even with a simple leak in a flapper valve you can lose as much as half gallon a minute,” it was explained.

(MG)