Progress being made

Chairman of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), Stevon Roberts, says the State owned utility's water augmentation initiatives are bearing fruit, such that the water supply to several previously affected areas have already improved.

Moreover, he disclosed yesterday that there are more initiatives in the pipeline to be rolled out, which will address other water challenges facing Barbadians. His comments came yesterday morning at Mount Pleasant, St. Philip, as he provided the media with an update on the Vineyard Water Augmentation Project and in particular the Mount Pleasant Pumping Station, which he described as the “heartbeat” of the Vineyard project.

According to Roberts, the $16.4 million project is on budget, with only $16.1 million spent to date. However, he said some work remains to be done including remedial work to complete the second tank at Mount Pleasant, which will serve as a backup storage tank. Together the two glass-fused steel tanks have a total storage capacity of 1.4 million gallons, holding 700,000 gallons each. He said construction on the tanks commenced in August 2020 and was carried out by the BWA’s engineering team, along with other specialist teams from the Authority as well as external contractors.

Roberts indicated that the tanks at Mount Pleasant represent the fulfilment of the BWA’s promise to improve the water supply to Golden Ridge and Castle Grant systems, which provide water to districts in St John, St Joseph, St Thomas and St. Andrew.

“Pumping from the Mount Pleasant Pumping Station commenced over the past few months and has been running significantly well and having no problems... We have been in communication with several customers in the St. Joseph area to verify that this is working, and I can say today that we have been getting great results from the water that is being supplied to St. Joseph,” he stated.

The Chairman went on to say that they have also completed upgrades to some distribution mains within the project area ,which improved water service throughout St John, St Joseph, St Thomas and St Andrew, and will help with water discoloration problems that customers were experiencing.

Meanwhile, he gave an update on other projects being done by the BWA, noting the system upgrade started on the St. Stephen’s to Lodge Hill system, which began in July, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. He indicated that via that system, the BWA will be capable of pumping additional water from the Ionics Desalination Plant, which will address the challenges of customers in Shop Hill, St. Thomas, who have been complaining about water outages.

Additionally, he told the media that the BWA has purchased 28 extra water tankers, at a cost of $7.4 million, to assist with the strategic distribution of water on the island. Roberts, referring to the hurricane season which does not end until November 30, indicated that the additional tankers are also a key component of the organisation’s crisis management plan.

Adding to his comments, Technical Advisor to the BWA’s Board, Dr. John Mwansa when asked about the tank at Half Acre, said that while it has been completed, there have been some challenges getting water into the reservoir. He explained that this has been because of a number of bursts that have occurred between Lamberts and Boscobel.

“We are actually looking at a project that will replace that transfer main between Lamberts and Boscobel. Once that is completed, then we should be able to get the water into the Boscobel Reservoir on a more consistent basis. Right now we are filling it by water tanker,” he stated. (JRT)