est. 2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

Water Running

Submitted by a conscientious and civic minded BU family member

I am one of those who has been called upon to pay the price of a utility company gone mad and the subsequent fallout.

We have been without water for the past three days, so this afternoon I drove over to Dover Beach in order to replenish dwindling supplies of this precious commodity from the public shower located there.

When I arrived, one of the three showers was already running at full blast although no one was in the immediate area. I proceeded to fill my containers and upon completion, I did as any conscientious person would do, I attempted to turn off the tap.

The accompanying video tells the story.

Now I don’t know if any person or organization within the immediate area has notified BWA, but there are numerous food providers and bars all within a stones throw, as can be seen in the video. There is even a manned life guard station. I don’t know how long this situation has been in existence, but when I hear that we are a water scarce country, when I and my family go without water for three days and then I see this, it gets me very angry.

I hasten to add that government has provided the public and visitors alike with free facilities for all to enjoy the beautiful beaches with which we are blessed. What manner of uncouth human being would be so crass as to abuse the free taxpayer funded showers by stealing all three shower heads and damaging the faucets in such a manner.

Will the newly acquired buses fare any better?

Would anyone care to estimate how much water is being wasted per hour just at this location?

55 responses to “Water Running”

  1. WURA-WAR-on-U Avatar
    WURA-WAR-on-U

    Bajans better cut out their own self-destruction or SUFFER EVEN MORE CONSEQUENCES.

  2. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    The unconscionable and dirty conduct of some Barbadians is appalling and not confined only to leaving taps on at public bathroom facilities. Visit the toilets of any public facility, such as the bus terminals and markets…… and you’ll see that they destroy the urinals and toilet bowls.

    I would sometimes attend a karaoke session held at a market, where I have seen grown men rather than going inside an OPENED men’s toilet, urinating just outside the door. Some go as far as defecating in the urinals and on the floor. Those who choose to defecate in the toilets do not flush afterwards. They leave the toilets in a mess, making it extremely difficult for the maids who have to endure this unhealthy practice.

    They deface Transport Board buses and cut up the seats. Some passenger shell and eat nuts in buses, leaving the “nut husk” on the floor… or they eat food and leave the wrappings and food containers on the floor. There are trash cans at every bus stop, yet I have seen passengers disembark buses and rather than throw the trash in the cans, they throw it beside the cans or behind the bus sheds.

    I was told by a BWA employee that while attending to a complaint from a customer whose water bill was “high,” he discovered the neighbouring church had a connection to the customer’s pipe, thereby receiving water free of cost.

    There are people who would waste water washing two or three pieces of clothing in a washing machine every day. How about the farmer that fills several containers of water from the Golden Square Market for his cows on a daily basis?

    Although Barbadians are guilty of wasting water, the BWA must not be absolved of any blame. Their personnel fix “burst pipes” several weeks after the initial complaints. And it seems as though the crews prefer to conduct repairs after working hours.

    We are definitely “craftsmen of our fate.”

  3. Jean Avatar
    Jean

    Artax its not just water and trash.. SOME bajans are bent on destroying themselves period.

  4. David Avatar
    David

    Is it deliberate or pure ignorance?

  5. John A Avatar
    John A

    My friend you only been without water for 3 days you have nothing to complain about that is now the acceptable norm. Today is the 6 th day that most of St Thomas and St Joseph have been without.

  6. Dentistry Whisperer (M. Pharm. D) LinkedIN Avatar
    Dentistry Whisperer (M. Pharm. D) LinkedIN

    Finally, Emile Straker (The Merrymen) will be honoured on January 01/2020. A true Barbadian. Haynes Darlington (M.Pharm.D)

  7. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ John A at 8:14 AM

    Please add NE St. George to that list.

  8. FearPlay Avatar
    FearPlay

    Well @JohnA, now you know where the water that you cannot get is going… back into the sea.

    I must say that if I lived or worked in the area, I would be calling BWA twice daily until the situation was resolved.

    What are Beach wardens paid to do? How do you get in touch with them if you see or experience negative behavior at the beach? What is the extent of their authority? With a life guard station right beside this facility, alerting the authorities to the problem should not be an unexpected course of action.

    What public forum can we use to shame and blame public entities into taking timely corrective actions in the future.

  9. ks Avatar
    ks

    Check all public beach facilities and you will find no shower heads and usually, only one shower capable of being turned on. One may assume that all shower parts capable of being removed, WILL be removed (illegally or legally??) …. too many Bajans just love to ‘move’ things that ain’t ‘locked-down’!!

  10. John A Avatar
    John A

    @Vincent.

    Why we don’t just list the places that HAVE water as that would be a much shorter list?

  11. John A Avatar
    John A

    Plus if wunna sending a water truck let a garbage truck follow it as we haven’t see one of them either for over 2 weeks!

    Don’t mind all that though my land tax bill still went up nuff this year.

  12. John A Avatar
    John A

    @Fearplay

    It would appear so cause it ain’t reaching me here on the land.

  13. SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife Avatar
    SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife

    @Artax “I was told by a BWA employee that while attending to a complaint from a customer whose water bill was “high,” he discovered the neighbouring church had a connection to the customer’s pipe, thereby receiving water free of cost.”

    So a Christian church was stealing water from its neighbour?

    SMFH

  14. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Wuhlaus!

  15. SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife Avatar
    SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife

    @ks November 21, 2019 9:24 AM “too many Bajans just love to ‘move’ things that ain’t ‘locked-down’!!”

    Some even steal things that ARE locked down. i had a female colleague who brought to work a screw driver and removed the toilet roll dispenser from the wall, and then complained to the maintenance department about the lack of a toilet roll dispenser…the employer eventually got her for stealing but only by using concealed cameras and playing the video to her…but even so she denied the activity until the video was shown to her the second time.

    So yes they are people who do steal locked down items.

  16. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Whenever I’m in Barbados I go to Enterprise Beach aka Miami Beach, earlier this year all the showers (3) had stopcocks, a few months later when I returned to the island 2 had stopcocks by the time I was ready to leave there was only 1 shower with a stopcock.
    I presume someone needs stopcocks for their multiple shower units or someone is doing business on the local buy and sell market.

    For those who are still without water, you will be faced with a double whammy, the last time we were without water our bill increased, somewhere behind the dark cloud for the residents there is a silver lining for BWA.

  17. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “So a Christian church was stealing water from its neighbour?”

    SimpleSimonPresidentForLife

    Perhaps they used “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” as the basis for authorising the illegal connection…….

    ……… or they are “Bible illiterates.”

    Who knows!!!!

  18. FearPlay Avatar
    FearPlay

    We complain constantly about the high cost of goods and services in Barbados, with good reason, but how many of us pause to consider that we have brought and continue to bring this upon ourselves.

    Take for instance the price that we are called upon to pay at a supermarket for the smallest item. I would imagine that the selling price of an item is arrived at by the following method:
    Landed cost of item
    Transportation
    Storage
    Rent
    Taxes
    Salaries
    Cost of security equipment
    Security guards
    Profit margin, etc.

    Now here’s the rub – when someone sees a shoplifter at work and fails to inform the establishment, the cost of the loss of that item has to be factored into the list of expenses. When you see lights burning around the building during the day and fail to bring it to someone attention, when you see a commuter defacing a bus or a public toilet or any public property for that matter, when you allow your children to destroy school books and property, you’re adding to your own expenses through inaction. The government does not generate a single cent in our economy. It harvest OUR money and then redistributes it. The more often we allow unconscionable people to destroy what we have paid for, the more we will have to pay to replace it. This idea that many of the population manifest “It ain’t mine so it ain’t my business” is a fallacy. YOU OWN IT, so you better start looking after it.

    And don’t start me on how nasty many of us are and what it will cost to keep the island clean because of the indiscriminate discarding of garbage through car and bus windows, at beaches and public parks by grown and (educated?) people who should know better.

  19. David Avatar
    David

    @Fearplay

    The average person views all around them via a superficial lense, unfortunately.

  20. John Avatar
    John

    I must say that if I lived or worked in the area, I would be calling BWA twice daily until the situation was resolved.

    +++++++++++++++++++++

    BWA’s solution will be to lock of the main and then no one gets!!

    The responsibility is with the NCC as the customer.

    Look at it on the bright side.

    The thieves who carried away the stop cocks may not have any water either!!

  21. WURA-WAR-on-U Avatar
    WURA-WAR-on-U

    Well…as long as the consultants told Mia that if a human goes one week with no water…THEY DIE…

    i think all those millions of tax dollars they are getting in salary would be worth that much…

  22. David Avatar
    David

    Barbados is experiencing the downpour Hurricane Dorian promised. Showers of blessing.

  23. John A Avatar
    John A

    @DAVID

    The BWA are sending out water trucks and I believe they have 6 or so of them. Each tanker from memory can move about 1200 gallons. They are roughly 4 parishes suffering as I type. Many of these people invested in tanks that The said BWA were offering. So a full truck of water can refill 3 only households with these said tanks, after which they must go back to refill.

    You getting a feel yet for the situation the people in these 4 parishes are in? I havent even started yet on what is required for livestock either in the said parishes!

  24. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    The BWA trucks fill buckets not tanks? From the news BWA has been focusing on essential needs; elderly etc. As you know water trucks are not capable of servicing the heavy demand we are experiencing.

  25. John A Avatar
    John A

    That’s my point so where you have say small apartment blocks of 4 or so who may have a tank, they are no better off than those with a bucket after the expense of the tank system from the same BWA.

    Lord if it wasn’t so critical it would be laughable.

  26. John Avatar
    John

    I cannot understand how anyone living in areas blessed by persistent rainfall could possibly be without water and have to rely on BWA trucks!!

    Every new house is supposed to have a tank under it into which the rain from the roof runs!!

    That water can be used for clothes washing, toilet flushing, skinny dipping, and possibly if you know what you are doing human consumption.

    It is soft so clothes will last longer, soap will lather more if you use it for bathing and you don’t need to be dependent on the BWA.

    One human needs 1-2 gallons of water per day to ingest.

    The rest is luxury!!

    … actually, I can understand because many Bajans have lost the technical abilities to do plumbing and wiring.

  27. DISHONEST Bajans Avatar
    DISHONEST Bajans

    Wuh loss.

    All is well. Barbados is punching ABOVE it weights so said by bullshitters and shite talkers.

  28. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Don’t worry, John.! We will soon have no choice but to install the tanks. You just reminded me to clean my gutters and place my bucket with a few drops of bleach to keep away mosquitoes. At least I can use that for the toilets.

  29. David Avatar
    David

    Although good to hear Minister Abrahams tell the public that 11 of the reservoirs are on standby power, we need to know ALL are and that power is from a renewable energy source. The fact the DLP did not do it is not what we want to here. It is why the electorate kicked their assess to the curb.

  30. John Avatar
    John

    .. and if you know what you are doing you can have the BWA disconnect you (lock you off) and no longer will you have to pay for sewage which you don’t use!!

    If you find you do need BWA, pay the reconnection fee for them to take off the lock!!

  31. John Avatar
    John

  32. BajanFeeParty 2023 or Sooner Avatar
    BajanFeeParty 2023 or Sooner

    utter madddd nessss but the pools never run dry, We are always set up to pay More, More Cost, More Price More VAT , More Pain, 30-0 Again 1 Term Crime Minister,Its not over as Yer Much More Payne to come, and we will see Who Get Mss.Rammm this time,

  33. SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife Avatar
    SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife

    Water back. Nice warm shower. Hair washed (I’d washed the hair in sea water on Monday when the BL&P gave the grans an unexpected “holiday”, but sea water is not so good for hair washing) I feel so RH good.

  34. Donks, Gripe and Josh Avatar
    Donks, Gripe and Josh

    Society is in unprecedented crisis a metaphor for the rapid unravelling of our social fabric is the theft of the Salvation Army’s collection box and removal of its contents .

    The malice embedded in the hate underground’s chief fowl displays for the former government comprised of fellow citizens appears to mirror Adolf Hitler’s views towards Germans of the Jewish faith.

    Genocidal pograms laid out by the mein kampf dictator wiped out human beings he detested.

    That magnitude of hatred is alien in a civilization which places caring for every last citizen at the apex of its value system.

    Our nation state is transiting its darkest hour pun intended post Independence.

    The previous ten years were difficult nonetheless the country never crossed into the valley of no return as it threatens to do at present.

    In the month when sovereignty was transferred from Westminster, true loyal sons and daughters all are required to bury differences and pull in common direction to overcome the hill of despair.

  35. John Avatar
    John

    SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife
    November 21, 2019 9:04 PM

    Water back. Nice warm shower. Hair washed (I’d washed the hair in sea water on Monday when the BL&P gave the grans an unexpected “holiday”, but sea water is not so good for hair washing) I feel so RH good.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Imagine how much better it would be in the rain!!

  36. SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife Avatar
    SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife

    @John

    Behave do!

  37. WURA-WAR-on-U Avatar
    WURA-WAR-on-U

    John is merely preparing yall for more LACK OF WATER…cause he done know the vile plans, he would soon tell ya, if ya slave ancestors could do without water…you could too..

    in the meantime, the BLP yardfowls are buying up thousand gallon water tanks because they have been told WHAT TO EXPECT..

    but the population who pay these SCUM in parliament their salaries, with perks and pay their halfassed consultants too…HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD A WORD..what do they care..

    they know the pensioners they ALL ROBBED…cannot afford thousand gallon water tanks..

    they know the taxpayers…THEY ALL ROBBED..cannot afford thousand gallon water tanks, so why tell them anything…

    they know the DISABLED along with the pensioners they are STILL ROBBING NOW…cannot afford thousand gallon water tanks…

    they know the depressed communitites…that both vile governemnts KEPT DEPRESSED to fill their greedy pockets and offshore bank accounts CANNOT AFFORD thousand gallon water tanks and all these vulnerable Bajans are likely to DIE FIRST…..

  38. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    Another day, another loan.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2019/11/22/workers-escape-injury-at-hampton-station/

  39. John Avatar
    John

    WURA-WAR-on-U
    November 22, 2019 2:58 AM

    John is merely preparing yall for more LACK OF WATER…cause he done know the vile plans, he would soon tell ya, if ya slave ancestors could do without water…you could too..

    +++++++++++++++++++++++

    John is showing a way of reducing the consumer demand on the BWA for water at the higher elevations while at the same time saving the consumer a few dollars!!

    I think the BWA should enable consumers to come off the grid especially those at higher elevations they have a problem supplying!!

    It is fraught with health issues but the GOB has a whole Ministry of Health to work with the BWA and enable consumers to make the switch safely.

    That’s the serious part, a long-term solution that Solutions could look at if it has no solutions!!.

    The fun part for the country girls at higher elevations is that they get to bathe their skins in rainwater and return to their roots!!

    Rain makes young plants grow and keeps old plants looking good!!

  40. David Avatar
    David

    Another day the island is experiencing showers of blessings.

  41. WURA-WAR-on-U Avatar
    WURA-WAR-on-U

    John…they put themelves in that mess… no one should help them, it is their job to fix it, people like me do not listen to excuses….and only want to see good results..

    they made their beds..for decades, let them lay their asses down in it..

  42. John Avatar
    John

    2 inches and 19 parts here

    But in the overall scheme of things, not so good.

    If the deficit is made up between now and year end there will be floods!!

    Will check the ONI early next month and see what sort of La Nina is expected.

    It has fallen but still to go negative.

  43. John A Avatar
    John A

    Can anyone at the BWA tell us in St Thomas and St Joseph when our taps will grace us with water again?

  44. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    Did you hear what happened at the Hampton pumping station?

  45. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    No to be honest I am so fed up I haven’t been following it. What happened ?

  46. David Avatar
    David

    https://www.cbc.bb/2019/11/22/government-working-to-bring-hampton-station-back-online/

  47. John A Avatar
    John A

    @David.

    Well that is what happens when you ignore maintenance for years.

    This whole issue made me wonder what would happen if we were hit by a hurricane? If a power outage can cause a 7 day water shortage, what would a hurricane do to our crumbling BWA infrastructure?

    What public entity do we have today that is actually working as it should?

  48. David Avatar
    David

    Was shocked to learn none of the reservoirs had standby power until this government installed. Imagine water is our important resource.

  49. John A Avatar
    John A

    We really are in a bad way for sure. The kind of money we need to put into BWA to make it reliable is frightening. When you take just the reservoirs, pumping stations and old mains alone that is a massive long term undertaking.

    I fear further rate increases around the corner to finance capital works.

  50. John Avatar
    John

    November 22, 2019 7:22 PM

    Was shocked to learn none of the reservoirs had standby power until this government installed. Imagine water is our important resource.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Reservoir’s don’t need generators.

    Pumping stations however do.

    So, for example, Belle Pumping Station extracts water from wells 140 odd feed deep at sea level from the sheet water layer.

    Pumps at the Pumping Station then push some of the water to another pumping station/reservoir at the Dash Valley junction with Hanson Hill.

    That pumping station then moves the water to Fort George Reservoir which is the highest point (398 feet) on the Christ Church Dome.

    From there the water is fed by gravity to consumers down to 200 feet around Fort George.

    Believe it also feeds reservoirs like Britton’s Hill and the one above Springer Memorial (Grand View I think is the name).

    They ran a main up past Staple Grove and Ridge to feed St. Philip recently.

    There is also a main coming across Tichbourne from the Belle which also (or only) supplies these two reservoirs.

    I remember when it burst under Sandi and the whole of Bridgetown and the South Coast was out of water.

    These two reservoirs then feed their water by gravity to consumers down to sea level.

    Belle delivers about 12 million gallons per day.

    The amount of electricity to move this water first up 140 feet then up another 260 feet is large.

    If there is backup generating capacity it will be huge if all the 12 million gallons per day is to be moved.

    New Market Pumping Station also supplies Fort George.

    Electricity and above ground storage are issues ….. BUUUUUT ….. the problem is the available water under the pumping stations has been maxed out …. and since the mid 1990’s.

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