Public Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte is once urging the population to conserve water as he revealed reservoir levels have dropped 20 to 25 per cent below average in what meteorologists have described as a harsh dry season.
He said if the trend continues “we will then have to then put our contingency plans in place.”
Among his suggestions to save water were to use a glass of water to brush your teeth, have shorter showers, fill the sink while washing dishes, use a bucket of water to wash your vehicle and ensure there is a full load when doing laundry.
Despite the reservoir levels being below average, WASA chairman Romney Thomas told Guardian Media the levels were not at a critical stage.
Already, WASA has enforced a limited water supply in several districts and have banned the use of hoses, sprinkler systems and pressure washers.
WASA previously stated about half of the water it produces daily is lost through leaks. The Authority produces over 200 million imperial gallons per day.
The Minister was speaking with reporters following the commissioning ceremony of the $74 million South Oropouche to La Brea Pipeline Installation project at Union Industrial Estate Ltd in La Brea on Friday. The new project, which was unveiled on World Water Day, will provide an improved service to thousands of customers in the southwest peninsula, including industrial customers in the Union and Labidco Industrial Estates, Thomas said.
The Minister said people must change their bad habits and conserve water on a permanent and sustained basis otherwise more water restrictions will be enforced next year.
“I know at times when we talk about conservation everyone says well look at WASA, there is a leak and it is going on and on. Yes, WASA has a role to play in getting to their leaks and fixing them a little quicker but that does not absolve us as citizens from also looking within ourselves and playing our role,” Le Hunte said.
Thomas admitted that there are deficiencies in their system. But he said WASA has reduced the number of leaks considerably.
He told Guardian Media that one of the problems is that as they fix leaks more are reported and that is due to the ageing infrastructure.
“As much as we clear, there are always some more adding to that backlog.”
He said from the 2,500 leaks from late last year, WASA has since repaired 1,700. However, he said this does not detract from the responsibility of the customer to address water wastage and conserve water.
The minister said WASA was not trying to penalise people.
“The reality is that our dam levels are 25 per cent below their average and therefore is we do not look at our actions there are going to be consequences associated with it.”
“Surely I am hearing the cries of people and villagers who are protesting that is because their schedules have already been reduced so places where you were already getting three or four days of water per week, we have reduced it down to two and one day and people who were getting 24/7 now have been adjusted down to 24/4, 24/5 accordingly.”
Le Hunte said it was unacceptable that some people still do not have a relatively continuous supply of water and improving the supply was his top priority. He said 15 wells are currently being drilled, two of which are expected to be completed in April, and together they all add 500,000 imperial gallons of water to the system.
He said WASA was also repairing existing wells and has brought the number of reported leaks down from over 3,000 to 2,000 in the past year. Thomas said while WASA works on managing the water resources, by optimising groundwater and designated water use, while ramping up leak repairs, it is incumbent on the public to conserves are as much as possible.
He said WASA was managing within the constraints of the current water schedule and monitoring it very closely. Since the implementation of the water use restrictions, Thomas said about 12 people have been charged and taken before the courts.
—Sascha Wilson