Residents welcome water flow

FRESHLY washed laundry flapping in the wind, a hearty lunch being cooked on the stove, a washing machine going through its rinse cycle.

 

These are simple things that many persons take for granted, but were embraced yesterday by many residents of St. Joseph, who woke up to water flowing from their taps and grasped the opportunity to regain some sense of normalcy in their homes.

 

There was some cautious optimism expressed by the residents in the close-knit communities visited by a team from The Barbados Advocate, wondering how long it would last, but many were happy that they didn’t have to use the alternatives, which included going to the communal portable rapid response unit, the standpipe or water truck.

 

Communications Specialist, Joy-Ann Haigh, told the residents that this water relief was part of a system currently in its test phase, that has been devised by the BWA, taking water from a borehole in Sweet Vale to the Castle Grant reservoir, from which these residents currently source their water.

 

She cautioned the residents that the water may go off and on as the system continues to be tested, with the view of developing a more consistent water solution for these communities that have been experiencing prolonged periods of dry taps.

 

Over in Lammings, Odessa Murray was elated, since the water had been off for four days. “We are thankful… We don’t know how long or how short. I feel good because I can get a bath… I don’t have to go down and come up the old time way,” she mused.

 

In the neighbouring Sugar Hill, Yvonne Spencer and her daughter Melini Kellman were cooking up a storm in the kitchen, which would have been made more difficult without water. A resident of that small community for some 12 years, Yvonne said during water outages, her daughter was forced go to the standpipe or the water truck and lug the water back upstairs to meet the family’s day-to-day needs.

 

Anita Hobbs of Upper Park’s, St. Joseph also lauded the effort by the BWA, but explained she received tremendous help from her neighbours during water outages.

 

Doretha Deane of Coconut Grove was also delighted to have her water running again, but said she has her own back-up systems in place. This includes water from the roof, and any other container to capture this precious resource. She encouraged all Barbadians to do the same, noting that she had her first taste of drinking rainwater while visiting Trinidad, which she said was perfectly good for consumption once boiled. Saying that she was born on the property some 72 years ago, she recalled her younger days of going to the not-so-close standpipe in Todd’s corner or venturing to the spring at Parris Village to collect water. (JH)