This is a follow up on an earlier blog Water Running.
The blogmaster is pleased update the BU family that the authorities fixed the pipes at the location. On behalf of the BU household we thank the civic minded BU family member for taking the time to highlight the matter AND the relevant authorities for responding.
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What are you thanking BWA for, it is their jobs to monitor and respond to these situations, they are not doing anyone any favors, taxpayers and consumers are paying THEM through their noses for getting and FOR MOSTLY NOT GETTING ANY WATER……
Come on WWoU, let’s show appreciation where and when it is due.
Do you not say “Thank you” to your wife when she prepares a meal for you? Should a pedestrian not say “Thank you” when a motorist stops at a crossing for then to cross? Should an employer not say “Thank you” when a staff member does an outstanding job?
Even when someone is paid to do a job, a word of appreciation, a word of kindness shows our humanity and lets them know that we respect them and their efforts, so I join with David and BU in extending sincere thanks to the BWA in taking the necessary step to save this precious commodity in this specific situation.
Good job, great story, but the headline made me thought it was a negative story with water shortages somewhere.
It is good you push through the headline and had a read.
🙂
Good thing I read before posting.
🙂
It is also good to see that some are paying attention and solving problems. Somebody gives a damn.
A small action like this one made me see my fellow Bajans in a more positive light.
Good job.
“so I join with David and BU in extending sincere thanks to the BWA in taking the necessary step to save this precious commodity in this specific situation.”
So the both of u are telling yaselves that BWA did not know that water was being wasted for years and is still being wasted as you type, and not only through the destructive public but also through the many leakages and burst mains that consumers call them about and THEY IGNORE FOR MONTHS ON END. Well continue thanking them. I much prefer show up their weaknesses so they can STRENGTHEN THEM.
I much prefer show up their weaknesses AND NEGLECT so they can STRENGTHEN THEM and show more care since they ALL GET SALARIES.
It is the PUBLIC HAVE TO PAY THEM.
@WWoU “ I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-nine just persons, which need no repentance.
— Luke 15:7
@WWoU “ I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-nine just persons, which need no repentance.”
— Luke 15:7
Ya can talk shite outaa the bible until the cows come home, it does not change REALITY..
this mentality where ya paying grown ass men and women to DO THEIR JOBS…and they want to act like ya BEGGING THEM gotta go,..no wonder shit and everything else is hitting the fan and the islad.
Theo…Water NOT Wasting would have been much less misleading, a work in progress, the art of crafting headlines take time.
BTW have any one heard from the guy who said he wrote several letters to govt about a water course that was flooding his street
He said he wrote many letters to different govts with no resolution in sight
It belive his name is Blackman
During last week flooding i thought of him
Hope he reads this comment and give an update
These forgot all about Blackman..and gushing shite when they are well aware that very little will change at BWA…
@Fearplay
It is the world we live now. Let us continue to encourage citizen advocacy and when the authorities respond we do the obvious.
@ WURA-WAR-on-U November 28, 2019 8:38 AM
“this mentality where ya paying grown ass men and women to DO THEIR JOBS…and they want to act like ya BEGGING THEM gotta go,..no wonder shit and everything else is hitting the fan and the islad..”
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It would be good, too, to know that the BWA took the opportunity to replace those broken/stolen taps with proper water saving devices which are not easily damaged or removed by unpatriotic vandals and petty low-class thieves.
Can’t a few business persons with a vested interest in ‘beach-based’ tourism make a contribution to the NCC to help in the replacement of the existing taps to ‘better water conservation devices’ at these shower facilities?
@Miller
The BWA people on the ground do the best with the resources handed to them.
Blogmaster promotting the ingrained BWA MANAGEMENT INCOMPETENCE, staff who work with limited resources are the ones who should receive the congradulations, MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE FIRED.
@ wily.
Couldn’t agree with you more! 8 days without water and I must thank them for turning it back on.
No wonder we are where we are, we not only accept poor service but say thank you when we get it apparently!
@ David November 28, 2019 9:41 AM
Who is in any way ‘targeting’ the workers?
What we are talking about is a management decision at the Board/ministerial level. Top management ought to be proactive. The lowly workers can only ‘react’ to what they meet daily.
Just like the low-hanging fruits of problems facing the SSA.
The workers, given the resources they have to work with, do a job of daily miracles.
Barbados has a serious management problem especially at the top; not a workers’ problem.
@Miller
In this case the NCC would have been responsible for fixing the taps, the BWA has overarching responsibility. To rebuild we have to be constructive in criticizing. Some of us get up every morning to cherrypick all the negatives. To move the needle in the right direction will call for constructive engagement.
Let me make this clear. I would like a big win.
I would like yo see Barbados/Barbadians thought of in the same way as it was thought of around the time of independence., industrious, proud and with all systems go.
Somewhere along the path we changed our trajectory and is on a descent. Fifty years of a free fall and some expect a return to ‘glory’ in a single big step.
A series of victories (big and small) is our path of recovery. Let us celebrate when something is done correctly, no matter how big/small it is. Let us find joy when the low hanging fruits are picked instead of being left on the tree.
It is the lowly worker doing a good job daily who will bring us out of this mess; this is where the fix begins.
Good job.
@ David BU
Water wastage is a BWA problem not NCC. NCC ,like householders, needs to alert BWA. NCC does not fix pipes.
@ TheoGazerts
As Miller says ,it is a management problem. Workers do not assign themselves to jobs.
At least someone gets it. Replacing a few shower heads does not mean anything, especially if i can drive around the island and show that they DID NOT REPLACE ALL the ones that were damaged. Yall too easy to appease. Ya dont talk about holding these criminals accountable and holding feet to fire and then cave completely at a few shower heads.
“Barbados has a serious management problem especially at the top; not a workers’ problem.”
Message to whom it may concern.
Google ” vandal proof public washrooms “.
And even worse..when ya can’t face the reality that is BWA….throwing out bible verses which mean absolutely nothing to me..lol
Steupps….i don’t play those mindless games.
@ David November 28, 2019 10:26 AM
In order to ‘move the needle in the right direction” the policymakers and those senior managers entrusted with the task of execution must first be honest and transparent with the average Joe citizen.
In other words, tell the truth and stop with constant bullshit of cover-up and always blaming others; including the “previous administration”, whichever one that is.
Let’s do like the real workers- the gravediggers- and start at the top in order to move that national needle towards the gauge of competence and productivity.
@Vinny
Same church, different pew.
I doubt management is up to the job. WE have over 50 years of evidence.I am hoping some workers with a ‘we can fix this attitude’ tackle the small jobs, get noticed and rise through the ranks.
There was a time when we had workers who (without the benefit of a (university education and management degrees) got the different systems to work. I am willing to bet that we still have those workers in the system, but our management/reward systems are frustrating them.
I am looking for answers/salvation to come from the bottom-up
@Vincent
If the wastage or burst occurs inside the meter who is responsible?
I still waiting for the top brass at the BWA to tell us why after claiming they have generator backup for their pumping stations, none seemed to have cut in and maintained supply to their clients? So based on this I must now ask the below questions.
Did the generators have diesel in them?
Are all these ” Phantom” generators in working condition?
Is there a maintenance plan for these generators?
So if the answer to the above questions is yes, then why the RH I didn’t have water for 8 days?
Some will believe what ever they are told and follow blindly, then they are some capable of independent thought based on reality.
@WWoU “Two men looked from behind prison bars, one saw the mud and the other saw the stars.”
I know not what it is that has made you so angry, negative and vitriolic but whatever it is, you need to let it go otherwise you’ll die a bitter and unhappy old man.
Sure they are many, numerous I may add, things in Barbados that need fixing but being unable to celebrate the small victories in life on a daily basis is a recipe for unhappiness. You can become so consumed by war that you will be blinded to victory.
I’ll leave you with this as I end our pointless diatribe :
“Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.”
You may have the last word.
@John A
The power outage screwed the computer monitoring equipment that controls flow from Hampton. An expert from overseas was requested according Minister Abrahams morning briefing.
If ya look in the mirror ya will see the problems plaguing Barbados even before ya look in the direction of the cursed, toxic parliament.
A bunch of weakminded people using a shite bible handed to them as a prop…centuries removed from REALITY….and they are always the first ones to complain and the first to accept any old shite.lol
Take a bow.
@ David.
That does not explain why the so called automatic gerators didn’t cut in. It also shows that the computers were not properly protected by a UPS backup system.
People with home computers didn’t all shut down did they? Everytime they open their mouth they show more incompetence.
@TheOgazerts: “A series of victories (big and small) is our path of recovery. Let us celebrate when something is done correctly, no matter how big/small it is. Let us find joy when the low hanging fruits are picked instead of being left on the tree.
Hear, hear!
Barbados has so much opportunity and potential!
Let’s think carefully, and then move. Rinse and repeat… 🙂
@John A
Chris can probably explain but the BWA engineers have explained BWA equipment is configured with phases. When the power goes off there is a protocol that has to be followed. That said obviously the old equipment of the BWA needs some work, to the credit of this government it seems to be attracting a higher priority than was received from previous governments.
Like they got a choice.
@David et al…
I don’t have the time to be drawn into another long discussion, but to say what I think /might/ be happening based solely on what you just wrote…
Large pumps will almost always be “three-phase” (AKA “four-wire”) at ~208 to 240 volts. This is rather than the “one-phase” 115-volt service most consumers are used to.
Working with this kind of electrical supply is generally a bit more complicated than what you’ll find in most homes or even businesses. More serious switches, and fail-over procedures.
One thing this language strongly suggests is “humans are in the loop” when a transition to backup generator supply is needed. This would be a “sub-optimal” deployment, in my mind, but not unheard of (even “away”). And, not all that difficult to upgrade to fully autonomous operation.
Thanks Chris. There is the opportunity for those in charge to get it right, redundancy and business continuity planning has been neglected it seems over the years.
Did the generators have diesel in them?
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Was it de same as de one at BL&P?
Another good reason to stick to their core business, water!!
My guess is that with the high power involved they will probably use 415 volts to reduce the current and wire guage.
Less IsquaredR losses and volt drop over the length of cables required to feed the submersible pumps in the wells.
Lengths can be as high as 250 feet from surface to water.
Once power is restored no one with three phase motors is going to start up until all are verified.
For major installations there will be electrical/electronic hardware that will shut off the motors if one or more phase is there.
If not, motor will burn out.
Here is one manufacturer chosen at random.
@John… Go ahead and keep talking about variables.
Personally, I prefer to think about, and discuss, equations.
If anyone has a three phase motor and wants to build their own protection themselves, google phase protection.
Here is a way it can be done.
@ David.
My final comment on this matter summarises the reality of a standby business plan That functions. That faithful morning when the electricity and water died, I went into 3 large business places all operating like any other day. The reason was simply that their backup systems worked, where as the BWA’ s didn’t. Even went in one of their washrooms and found running water from their large storage reserve.
Difference here being of course these companies realised years ago they were in the business of selling a commodity, whereas that has not yet dawned on those at the BWA hence the tardiness that followed.
“Personally, I prefer to think about, and discuss, equations.”
Murdah!! watch wha gine happen now….otherwise known as opening the proverbial can of worms
Fearplay i think you realise by now that what ever happens especially positive there is a group on here with an anti government agenda to pull down and criticize everything and everyone as David BU regularly states including Waru who lives on BU, John A,Mariposa, Piece,Gazzerts,Austin,Skinner, Hants,Sargeeant and a few more.Check their contributions over time and draw your own conclusions never a word of praise for anything done.
@Lorenzo
Check my contributions on this piece and you will see that it is different from what you described. But you are so hooked into your ‘two legs good, four legs bad” that anything that I say is some kind of attack on your four legged group.
There you go with your “enemies list” and repeating the same mantra. Put a little vodka in your koolaid and learn to chill.
“as David BU regularly states including Waru who lives on BU, ”
nah…ah live in yall heads…ya cannot buy me with a few shower heads, only cheap hoes will fall for that.
@David
“The power outage screwed the computer monitoring equipment that controls flow from Hampton. An expert from overseas was requested according Minister Abrahams morning briefing.”
David you should STOP COMMENTING as your showing up the Incompetence of BWA MANAGEMENT. Even Joe Public generally knows enough to have a transient suppression devices installed when dealing with BL&P. OH YES were dealing with incompetent BWA MANAGEMENT, as always the blame buck passes.
Nice to see though some Forgien Currency help was requested from overseas.
SAME OLD SAME OLD.
That faithful morning when the electricity and water died, I went into 3 large business places all operating like any other day. The reason was simply that their backup systems worked, where as the BWA’ s didn’t. Even went in one of their washrooms and found running water from their large storage reserve.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
I cannot remember if both utilities went off together but I can’t see why that would happen.
BWA has large reservoirs all over the island which in themselves constitute an immense Backup System, possibly millions of gallons depending on the levels of the reservoirs when the power went off.
I guess if the valves at the reservoirs were all under computer control that might happen.
But those valves are no pooh pooh valves.
Maybe the SCADA system at BWA can automatically shut off the water at all of the reservoir in the event of a power failure.
You could argue that BWA needs to hold on to what it has and allocate it according to some protocol but that seems too futuristic a concept to grasp for Barbados.
Surely the power can fail and has failed in the past without consumers losing water!!
Was the power outage island wide and if so for how long?
Was there an islandwide water outage?
Well not in Belleville which had water as usual so scratch the idea of the SCADA disconnecting the reservoirs.
A couple of hours on the Monday and Tuesday was all the time businesses lost there for lack of electricity.
Proximity to the Hospital perhaps?
My area was one of the last to get power after Tomas in 2010.
It took a week.
Yet I can’t remember water being an issue where I live, only power.
The battery in my laptop ensured I could use it for hours at a time before having to go somewhere with electricity to plug in and recharge while I continued to use it.
A simple UPS kept my router going when I needed access to the internet.
… plus next door had a generator which kept the area lighted!!
Just a foolish question but does anyone know if Ionics has backup power for its plant?
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