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Water ‘Watch’

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Submitted by Bentley Norville

The south coast sewage treatment plant was originally intended to be tertiary treatment.

Keithroy Halliday, General Manage, BWA

The major issue with water in Barbados is getting enough for irrigation. The requirements for water for domestic purposes can be met by the water produced by the Barbados Water Authority (BWA). There are several methods for producing additional water for irrigation. In 2014 I sent an article to Barbados Underground (BU) titled Agriculture and feeding our people.

Agriculture and Feeding Our People

Posted on by David

Submitted by Bentley Norville With all the recent and current talk on agriculture and our gargantuan food import bill a serious rethink on how we acquire our food is urgently required. With our food import bill around 800 to 900 … Continue reading →

This is one method. Also changing the antiquated methods we farm (for food crops) is another way to go. I’ve also submitted articles on this to BU.

As it relates to using water from sewage treatment plants this can also be done. There are 3 stages of sewage treatment, namely primary treatment, secondary treatment and tertiary treatment. The south coast sewage treatment plant was originally intended to be tertiary treatment (when I worked on the project back in 1983) but was later changed to primary treatment, so I’ve been informed. The final effluent from the tertiary treatment plant was supposed to have been pumped uphill near the Ministry of Agriculture compound to irrigate food crops not intended for consumption raw. This was meant as a pilot project. With the change in the plant system all this went out the window. We have adequate water in Barbados to supply our needs. The problem is not lack of water but management of our water resources. 

The 1977-1978 Barbados Water Resources Study was an excellent project that outlined the direction for the management of water resources in Barbados to take. Interestingly there’s only one individual in Barbados still alive who worked on that project (Nicky Sealy, Keith Johnson, Arthur Archer are all gone. Nobody currently at BWA was involved. By the way, the project also developed systems for sewering the Belle area as well as disposal of sewage in the Scotland District. Over the past several weeks I’ve been trying to get hold of the report since there’s a project that I’m currently working on that could benefit from some of the information contained therein.

This is a response to someone who raised the question with me a few days ago. I’m the individual who was on the Barbados Water Resources Study back in 1977 and is still practicing.

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46 responses to “Water ‘Watch’”

  1. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Crystal clear by Bentley…
    Nothing more to say on the topic.

    Mismanagement of epic proportions ongoing at the BWA – and yet we get the SAME FAILED managers being appointed as ‘consultants’ to continue the idiocy with the next big failure scheduled at $400 million (Another ’tertiary’ Sewerage plant)

    But then again, after watching the performance on ‘Christ Church Speaks’ on CBC Monday night it is clear that the place is being run by jokers…

    Essentially, the PM has the VERY SAME complaints and concerns that are raised by ordinary citizens… BUT SHE IS POWERLESS (or clueless) to solve them….and the various ‘ministers’ all look like lost sheep…
    Excuses! Excuses! Excuses!…
    No Action, Talk Only… (NATO)

    What a place!!
    What a curse!!

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Why are we not doing more to establish water security?

    If we are comfortable with this lethargic approach to water management there can be no hope.

  3. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    What water security what!??

    Name ANY area where we are doing well and making wise decisions…

    Not even with the ‘kadooment’ nonsense or even simple sports like cricket..

    The curse is UNIVERSALLY effective boss…
    #Bajanbushbathsorbust….

  4. John Avatar
    John

    Ther exists water studies from 1968 and 1978 and management plans for a limited resource, approximately 44 million gallons per day.

    If you were to read them now you would find they were not followed.

    It wasn’t/isn’t the BWA’s fault if the GOB decided to take 4 water catchment areas and allocate them to golf courses and housing development. The GOB blew 4 million gallons per day in Westmoreland, Apes Hill and Sandy Lane.

    What was/is left to the BWA for the past 30 years was/is to manage what resources are left.

    It is clear they have done an exceptional job.

    A day or two ago I passed a burst pipe in the road on my way to do some business with a crew from BWA starting to dig up the road.

    When I passed back in less than an hour it was fixed and the crew was gone.

    Long ago I would have seen a green tarpaulin pitched side of the road and a large crew shading themselves.

    There are no more green tents today.

    I say that in the 1990’s, we ran out of easily available water to allocate to our needs.

    I give the BWA high marks for leak reduction and water metering.

    In my area over the past 40 years I have only once ever experienced a week long water outage and that was in the 1980’s.

    It is only now that BWA is reaching the limit of what it can do with what is available that I am beginning to see more frequent outages as it has to divert water around the country.

    The Government insists on allowing more construction and increasing water demand to grow the economy.

    The biggest change we can make to capping water demand is to cap construction!!

  5. John Avatar
    John

    Look at this idiot.

    He focuses attention on a reservoir when the pipes behind him should be the focus.

    The pipes allow the diversion of water up over Mount Pleasant from lower elevations.

    Ultimately, the availability of water will not be sufficient to fill it without the problem becoming a severe problem at lower elevations.

    More houses on good agricultural land reduces food production and increases water demand.

    The idiot is not telling us idiots that!!

  6. John Avatar
    John

    What amount of water is available from the sewage plants we have built?

    That is the number which will tell us how far it will go towards addressing our problems.

    Obviously, it will be less than what is collected from what is supplied to the sewered areas, and it may be less by alot.

    That is a fact because only a fraction of what is supplied will end up in the sewer.

    There will be leaks and other water consumption that go into the ground and not the sewer.

    We may have to go to the Bermuda model!!

  7. John Avatar
    John

  8. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    How anyone can contemplate having a ‘Barbados water AUTHORITY’ whose role is to kow-toe to a pack of clueless politicians, and to ‘make the best’ of what stupid decisions such politicians make, amazes a bushman…

    Basic common sense (of the Bushman sort) dictates that the WHOLE POINT of having a highly qualified and resourced AUTHORITY – is to ENSURE that national resources are managed in a professional, sustainable and transparent way… DESPITE idiotic political inclinations…

    But BECAUSE we default to a position where such complex technical decision-making is DICTATED by political considerations, made by short-term political parasites, we have CREATED a society that is DOOMED to mediocrity, begging, selling what little assets we have remaining, and complaining to the international community about our need for concessions…

    The MOST PITIFUL sight is the spectacle of these ’technical experts’ being forced to publicly PROSTRATE themselves at these public meetings, and in the Well of Parliament, to defend the idiotic political decisions – that mostly went AGAINST their own professional advice…. like the eunuchs that they are…

    Even in Sport we now have a ‘Political’ decision to incur a questionable $50m debt to spend on Kensington (Lord knows why) …. after just begging for a gift from China for a ‘fish-shaped’ Stadium.

    According to the Empress, she just ‘decided’ to hand millions of dollars in taxpayers assets over to a private company called UCAL – because the clowns that THEY put in place at the Ministry are NOT capable (or cannot be bothered,) to maintain new equipment in working order.
    …one wonders what these ‘ministry workers’ will do now …besides collect their pay…

    What a curse!!
    What a place!!

  9. John Avatar
    John

    Watch this timelapse photography of the Villages at Coverly and see if you can see what is missing!!

    Where are the tanks?

    Perhaps under the houses?

  10. John Avatar
    John

    Bush Tea on November 7, 2023 at 8:42 AM said:
    Rate This

    How anyone can contemplate having a ‘Barbados water AUTHORITY’ whose role is to kow-toe to a pack of clueless politicians, and to ‘make the best’ of what stupid decisions such politicians make, amazes a bushman…

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

    In the days of Nicky Sealy and the WWD, Tom Adams came up with the idea of developing the Belle but because of the Act he needed approval.

    So, he met with Nicky Sealy and some of the engineers involved in the Water Resources study and things must have got hot.

    One engineer told me that Nicky Sealy was the only man he ever heard tell Tom Adams to kiss his ass!!

    Today the GOB is building a $100 million Hospital in Waterford Bottom with no thought of the concerns about pharmaceuticals getting into the water supply.

  11. John Avatar
    John

    Why do you think the few substantial houses that were built in the past had parapet roofs?

    Was it really to protect the roofs from hurricane winds, or was it to gutter the roofs and store the water?

    I have seen one example where the water was led from the one exit in the parapet to a small elevated copper lined tank to supply warm water and the overflow then went to a far larger underground tank for storage.

    That’s how many people connected with a plantation got safe drinking water.

    Hurricanes were few and far between but demand for water was 24/7.

  12. John Avatar
    John

    Over the past several weeks I’ve been trying to get hold of the report since there’s a project that I’m currently working on that could benefit from some of the information contained therein.

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

    Go to the public library in town.

    In the 80’s and 90’s and 10’s the full 6 volume study was available to the public.

    Recently I checked and some volumes were missing.

  13. Does the name say it all Avatar
    Does the name say it all

    “It wasn’t/isn’t the BWA’s fault if the GOB decided to take 4 water catchment areas and allocate them to golf courses and housing development. The GOB blew 4 million gallons per day in Westmoreland, Apes Hill and Sandy Lane.”

    First thing first. The Great Brain is functioning well at this time. Don’t get carried away.
    –x–

    This morning I was reading where the government leased some land for 50 years for $100/year. I am not going to dwell on if this was a good or bad act, but rather on the point that it appears this fact caught some of our leaders by surprise. Perhaps people were aware and some forgot,

    It bothers me that the smartest people in the world often come up short. Folks ‘are not smarter’ than us, but they run rings around us. Their front men negotiate with our government get a good deal and later sell out to private parties. It then takes us 25 years to find out things are mot working as they should.

    Sometimes I look at the names that we choose and wonder if our subconscious often rule out conscious.
    Ecstasy
    Pyramid
    (I seem to recall some other names.. struggling)

  14. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    listening to Brasstacks right now.

    More complaints about water. Lady says she waiting since Sunday for a tanker truck.

  15. David Avatar
    David

    @Hants

    The blogmaster does not consider the mismanagement of a tanker truck as a water issue in the context of establishing water security. That is more a matter of incompetence. We see tanker trucks from the BWA ‘wetting down’ roads during laying of pipes after rain has fallen.

  16. John Avatar
    John

    Hants on November 7, 2023 at 10:27 AM said:
    Rate This

    listening to Brasstacks right now.

    More complaints about water. Lady says she waiting since Sunday for a tanker truck.

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

    Higher elevations?

    The problem with the lower elevations and diversion of water from them is that the hotels and most of the economy are there.

    Would have thought that with all this rain BWA would have to face a lower demand as no one needs to water land!!

  17. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ Bushie,

    page one of BarbadosToday.bb

    Attorney General looking down a hole in the road at Horse Hill, st.Joseph.

  18. John Avatar
    John

    BWA PUMP STATION IN ST. JOHN TAKEN OFFLINE TEMPORARILY
    Nov 6, 2023

    The Barbados Water Authority today Monday, November 6th advises residents of some St. George, St. John and St. Philip districts that it was forced to take one of its facilities in St John offline. This action was taken to mitigate against discoloured water being…

    https://barbadoswaterauthority.com/service-disruptions/

  19. John Avatar
    John

    Every year Bowmanston shuts down because of discoloured water.

    It supplies 1.7 million gallons of water per day out of the 44 mgd pumped by BWA and others.

    You may be looking at standard management practice (SOP) in use since Senn wrote his report in 1946.

    What has changed is the number of houses it supplies!!

    That has nothing to with BWA id the GOB disregards known realities and allows development!!

  20. Bush tea Avatar
    Bush tea

    @ Hants
    That hole is nothing compared to the DEEP PIT, otherwise called The ‘Barbados judicial quagmire’, that he is looking into every day.

    …but of course he helped to dig THAT quagmire, …so if they attempted to fill it, he may well end up covered in the debris…

  21. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ David,

    the word you used ” incompetence ” could be replaced by ” indifference “

  22. John Avatar
    John

    Hants on November 7, 2023 at 10:55 AM said:
    Rate This

    @ David,

    the word you used ” incompetence ” could be replaced by ” indifference “

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

    The incompetence and indifference is at levels way above BWA!!

  23. John Avatar
    John

    The major issue with water in Barbados is getting enough for irrigation. The requirements for water for domestic purposes can be met by the water produced by the Barbados Water Authority (BWA). There are several methods for producing additional water for irrigation. In 2014 I sent an article to Barbados Underground (BU) titled Agriculture and feeding our people.

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

    It isn’t!!

    Go to Senn (1946) and you will find where irrigated agriculture can be easily done.

    https://imgur.com/NqWLBxO

    https://imgur.com/bLtOYVB

    Then go to Google Earth and you will see what the problem is.

  24. Grenville Phillips Avatar
    Grenville Phillips

    The major problem with Barbados is the management of public services (including SOEs).

    There is an international customer-focused quality management standard (ISO 9001) that can bring almost immediate relief, but we prefer our home-grown management methods which we like to complain about.

    Since we like to complain about our preference, we seem blind to the obvious solution within our grasp – it is simply easier to complain.

  25. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ John

    Under the TCP laws a house with a total covered square footage of 1500 or less does not requre a water tank for rain water.

  26. John Avatar
    John

    John A on November 7, 2023 at 3:18 PM said:
    Rate This

    @ John

    Under the TCP laws a house with a total covered square footage of 1500 or less does not requre a water tank for rain water.

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

    As GOB shares the misery among us all you will find the owners of these houses will buy a black plastic tank regardless of how ugly it makes the house look!!

    In Bermuda the capacity of the tank is determined by codes and is built into the foundation.

  27. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Import more food and water. nuff tourisses coming.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2023/11/07/big-business/

  28. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ John

    Yep. From 1501 to 3000 sq ft of covered area of the house though you looking at a 3000 gal storage tank. Then from 3000 sq ft covered the tank requirement increases again.

  29. John Avatar
    John

    John A on November 7, 2023 at 8:43 PM said:
    Rate This

    @ John

    Yep. From 1501 to 3000 sq ft of covered area of the house though you looking at a 3000 gal storage tank. Then from 3000 sq ft covered the tank requirement increases again.

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

    How do you fit a 3000 sq.ft tank onto a lot at Coverly?

    The best that can be done is to feed the output from guttering on each house to a central storage tank. potentially alot of digging after the fact assuming it wasn’t factored in at construction.

    https://www.coralstonerealty.com/villages-coverley-sugar-apple-begonia-0#:~:text=Lot%20sizes%20range%20between%204%2C200,ft.

    FOR SALE
    ID#: CSR2001
    Type: Residential
    Name: The Villages at Coverley, Sugar Apple Village – BEGONIA
    Address: Coverley, Christ Church, Barbados

    Floor Area: 1,250 sq.ft.
    Land Area: 5,201 sq.ft.
    Bedrooms: 4
    Bathrooms: 2
    Sale Price: USD $250,435.00 –
    BDS $500,869.00
    Convert Currency To:
    U.S. Dollar (USD)
    Currency Conversion Disclaimer
    Property Description
    Begonia Villa is one of 3 & 4 bedroom home designs offered for sale in Sugar Apple Village which is the newest Village located at The Villages at Coverley, Christ Church, Barbados. This model is designed with 4 bedrooms whilst the other 3 designs – Lotus, Anthurium and Palm are 3 bedroom homes. All homes come with enhanced features such as, open plan living and dining, master bedroom with ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet, major appliances, modern kitchens, fenced backyards, landscaping and double parking aprons. Lot sizes range between 4,200 sq. ft. and 7,900 sq. ft.

  30. David Avatar
    David

    Residents cry out for end to water woes

    RESIDENTS IN communities within the parishes of St George, St John and St Philip are crying out for an ease from what they are describing as unprecedented water challenges.

    During a visit to some of the affected areas yesterday, residents complained of prolonged outages and a consistent flow of brown water through their taps, since heavy rains began a month ago.

    Even though the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has promised that relief was on the way, some residents said it could not come soon enough, lamenting that simple things such as the ability to take frequent baths or to do domestic chores, had become luxuries in recent days.

    The Barbados Water Authority confirmed yesterday that some of the outages were the result of them stopping the water flow since the discolouration was due the recent inclement weather.

    “In recent days Barbados has experienced particularly heavy rainfall with a number of flash flood warnings being announced. These events have significantly affected operations at our Bowmanston Station, resulting in significant discolouration in the water distribution network,” the BWA’s Water Resources Manager, Alex Ifill confirmed in a media statement yesterday.

    “As a precautionary public health measure, and to protect our equipment, the Barbados Water Authority discontinued pumping from our Bowmanston Station,” he added. He noted that Bowmanston was a unique part of the network due to its cavernous system below the surface.

    He warned that when water returned to pipes, Barbadians should pay special attention to the quality.

    “On the resumption of normal pumping, our customers may experience higher chlorine taste and smell as the Authority ensures that proper disinfection limits are maintained, making sure the water is safe for all purposes,” Ifill also advised.

    He said the system at Bowmanston Station could be quickly impacted by events such as the heavy rainfall Barbados experienced on Monday, and again yesterday.

    The BWA also apologised to the residents affected by yesterday’s precautionary action and revealed a project to be started early next year would rehabilitate the upstream areas of the catchment to reduce the ingress of silt and mud getting into the stream, along with a system to treat and silty water getting into the stream.

    Yesterday, Ellerton resident and shop owner, Dorris Barrow said: “The water has been brown for about a month and a half, the toilets are brown, and this is two days that we have not had any water in this area of St George. At first the water was cloudy and then it turned brown and areas such as Ellerton, Drax Hall and Melverton are being affected.

    She said that in recent weeks she was barely able to keep up with the demand for bottled water as residents were depending on this supply for their drinking and cooking needs.

    Bottled water

    “As soon as there is rain the water is discoloured, but this is the worst I have seen it for the past few weeks. We hardly see the BWA trucks and households sometimes spend between $25 to $60 per day in bottled water. In these tough times that is a lot to be spending on water. We are really hoping that this issue is fixed soon,” Barrow said.

    Meanwhile, in Drax Hall, St George, several residents reported they were not able to send their children to school for the last two days because of the water shortages.

    “The situation prevented my little nieces and nephews from going to school for the last two days. For the last three months, every Sunday the water is off in the morning and back on in the evening. It has gotten worse for the last three days where the water has been off without any warning from the authorities. The water coming through, it is dirty and it got everything in the house stick up, you can’t cook, you can’t wash and if you want to take a bath you catch rainwater,” Lewis Payne said.

    His account was backed up by fellow resident Carlisle Shoy, who said he resorted to bathing in rainwater caught in a wheelbarrow.

    The team visited Melverton, in St George as well as Web Hill in St Philip, where residents detailed almost identical circumstances.

    In a release issued by the BWA yesterday, Director of Engineering, Charles Leslie, assured residents the problem was being worked on.

    “The Barbados Water Authority would like to advise its customers who are fed from the Bowmanstan gravity system that we are experiencing water discolouration issues because of the heavy rainfall into the catchment. Customers in the Drax Hall area, Greens, Ellerton, Fairview, and Walkers will experience outages and low pressure as a consequence. Our water tankers have been deployed to those affected areas and will service those areas until normal pumping can resume,” Leslie said.

    (CLM)

    Source: Nation

  31. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ John

    The 1250 sq ft houses would require no tanks at all. I dont think any of them are over 1500 sq ft. Although I understand they are to do a phase with some larger ones but I doubt they will be as large as 1500 sq ft either.

  32. John Avatar
    John

    Bypassing a TCP regulation for short time gain only creates a long term problem.

    In Bermuda, ANY new house requires the roof to be 80% guttered (these are 100%) AND a storage tank constructed.

    Not thinking about the long term.

  33. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Jesus peace! They can’t take a bath when the heavy rain is falling?????? They can’t wash clothes, flush toilets or mop floors?????

    Man, the only thing they need the pipe water for is drinking, cooking and washing the dishes.

    At least they could store enough for that!

    I stored mine for the kitchen garden. Covered every bed with mulch too. Leaves and grass clippings. No wetting will be necessary for days, although my soil drainage is great

    Heaven help us! Sorry, heaven did help us but we are too stupid to know how to accept the gift.

    My water bill will decrease and so will my electricity bill. It was a joy to be naturally cool again.

  34. David Avatar
    David

    Millions going to the drain

    Sewerage Project getting huge upgrade

    Barbados’ South Coast Sewerage Project is in for a multimilliondollar upgrade, thanks to support from two international banks and the European Union (EU), as part of the plan to increase this country’s resilience to climate change.

    The news came from the European Commission yesterday, after Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley met in the French capital with EU officials as part of her contribution to the Paris Peace Forum.

    The project will be conducted in conjunction with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

    The EU’s intention is to support the upgrading of Barbados’ climate-resilient infrastructure for clean water, in line with the Global Gateway investment agenda presented at the EU-CELAC Summit in July. This will be achieved through a “debt for climate swap” to provide much-needed funding for the upgrade of the South Coast Sewage Treatment Plant, which advances the country’s efforts at mitigating the impacts of climate change, reducing chronic water shortages and improving wastewater systems.

    “The global community has recognised that the only way we will overcome the many challenges posed by the climate crisis is through new levels of partnership and cooperation. The support from the EU under Global Gateway underlines how such partnerships can accelerate critical investments and support vulnerable populations at a crucial time in our history,” Mottley said yesterday.

    “This innovative financing structure, a world’s first for resilient infrastructure, can provide a new avenue to allow climate-vulnerable states to accelerate critical investment in adaptation in a manner that does not jeopardise public debt dynamics,” she added.

    The announced partnership will allow Government to issue about EUR276 million (BDS$590 million) equivalent of debt, structured as a Sustainability Linked Bond (SLB) or a Sustainability Linked Loan (SLL). This issuance will be backed by a EUR280 million (BDS$600 million) guarantee. The EU will provide, through the EIB, a EUR140 million (BDS$300 million) guarantee while the IDB will make available another guarantee of the same amount.

    President of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, hailed the move.

    “Tools like debt-forclimate swaps can create the necessary fiscal space for essential investments, especially in the most climatevulnerable countries. At the EIB we look forward to making this new scheme operational and impactful. Together with the European Commission, we are proud to work with trusted partners like Barbados and the IDB on this highly innovative financial tool,” he stated.

    Crucial step

    In providing the assistance, the EU said it was committed to assisting small developing countries like Barbados in their fight against the ravages of climate change.

    “Small island developing states like Barbados are paying the highest price for their exposure to natural hazards. Barbados is taking a crucial step towards a greener, more sustainable future, and we are proud to be part of this transformation,” said Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen, of Finland.

    “With the Global Gateway investment agenda, we are following up on July’s EU-CELAC Summit commitments to deliver the digital, green and fair transitions with our Caribbean partners. This initiative aligns with our priorities and shows how international partnerships can drive positive change,” she added.

    IDB president Ilan Goldfajn said it would take creative and innovative ways to tackle climate change.

    “To make a difference in addressing climate change at the scale we need and enhance resilience, innovative financial mechanisms like this debt-for-climate swap in Barbados are critical. That is why the IDB is squarely focused on working with partners and countries to develop creative approaches, in particular for vulnerable small islands. We would like to thank the European Commission and the European Investment Bank for joining forces with us to support Barbados,” he said.

    The freed-up proceeds from the debt swap will be used to pay for the upgrade of the South Coast Sewage Treatment Plant, a multifaceted project that aims to increase existing water supplies, mitigate the impacts of climate change, combat sea water intrusion and rising sea levels, diversify potable water sources, as well as reduce the environmental impact of treated effluent on marine life and the local ecosystem.

    In addition to helping address many challenges linked to water in Barbados, it will also generate employment opportunities. The total estimated cost for the upgrade is EUR100 million (BDS$215 million). (BA/PR)

    Source: Nation

  35. David Avatar
    David

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/Czedt4uAIG4/

  36. John Avatar
    John

    Ms. Mockley and O$A are who destroyed water security in the 1990’s!!

  37. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2023/11/12/inclement-weather-impacts-bwa-facilities-again/

  38. David Avatar
    David

    @Hants

    We have water problems. The country must be proactive and take this issue on board. If we don’t it will follow the same path our economy is going.

  39. John Avatar
    John

    The BWA says the adjustments made to reduce the number of affected customers will remain in place.

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

    Translated into english this means water is being diverted from one area to feed another area so that the misery felt in one area can be equally shared and everyone is equally miserable.

    Socialism at work!!

    Capitalism would look for alternative sources of water to meet the demand.

    It would also eliminate the root causes of the problem, corrupt politicians.

    It is ironic that in a world that has so many anti Jewish voices that the same voices will clamour for the implementation of ideas that are themselves, Jewish in origin.

    Marx, Lenin, Trotsky etc etc etc

  40. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Dude, what is that?
    A world salad?
    ChatGP wrote that?
    Please give the Great Brain some more rest.

  41. John Avatar
    John

    Sorry Grasshopper

    I did not realise you had never read anything about Churchill!!

    You heard about him though …………………. right?

    Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.” —Perth, Scotland, 28 May 1948, in Churchill, Europe Unite: Speeches 1947 & 1948 (London: Cassell, 1950), 347.

    AND

    “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” —House of Commons, 22 October 1945.

  42. Hants Avatar
    Hants

  43. David Avatar
    David

    BWA apologises about discoloured water to households

    The Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has apologised to the people affected in St John, St George and St Philip as a result of discoloured water issues at its station in Bowmanston, St John.

    In a statement released yesterday, the authority said the St John station is sometimes affected negatively by silt/ mud entering the well whenever the area receives heavy rainfall.

    “Once there are bouts of intense rainfall in the area, silt and mud are washed into the Bowmanston well causing discoloured water (which is termed increased turbidity). On occasions where the weather is extreme or prolonged, the authority would generally take the pumping station offline (shutdown) until weather conditions improve and the level of turbidity settle down. This action is taken to prevent discoloured water being pumped into the network and to our customers.

    “Recently, the island in general and this area in particular, have received a large amount of rainfall and the stoppage of pumping at this station has caused residents in several districts in those three parishes to be affected by low pressure or water outages.

    “The assessment of the issue has concluded that silt (soil sediments) is entering the underground stream that runs to the well, upstream in the catchment area. The BWA said they were trying to address and correct the issue by making adjustments to the distribution system by bringing water from neighbouring systems into the affected areas to reduce some of the districts affected by outages. They will also send water tankers as a temporary measure and pumping will resume from the facility once the turbidity levels reduce.

    For the long term a project will start early next year to rehabilitate the upstream areas of the catchment to reduce the ingress of silt and mud getting into the stream.

    The BWA said they would also be cleaning and refurbishing the reservoir at the location which was in place from the 1800s, while looking at a system to treat any silty water that still manages to get into the stream. (PR/NS)

    Source: Nation

  44. John Avatar
    John

    Told you so!!

    Only feasible short-term solution.

    Next year if it is really dry, most householders will smell hell, even in areas that normally have good water supply.

    Water will have to be diverted to these areas to fill their household tanks.

    Ultimately, even that short term solution won’t work.

    The GOB will share the misery among citizens.

    … all to satisfy the GOB’s headlong dash to build houses on every square inch of Barbados.

    … and then the monstrosities …. hotels with no water and no sewage infrastructure.

    https://barbadoswaterauthority.com/tender-notice-for-the-installation-of-personal-tank-systems-at-residential-homes-through-out-the-island/#:~:text=The%20Barbados%20Water%20Authority%20(BWA,should%20you%20have%20any%20queries.

  45. David Avatar
    David

    A damper on business

    Some lose out after water outages on South Coast

    by JOSUÉ RAMIRÉZ NELSON

    josuenelson@nationnews.com

    BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS along the South Coast were severely impacted by water outages over the weekend due to the shutdown of the Belle Pumping Station.

    Some restaurants had to shut shop, resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars in income, while some guests checked out of hotels seeking to find other properties that were not affected by the outages.

    The St Michael station went offline on Friday from 3 p.m. to facilitate repairs to a large-diameter main. This resulted in low water pressure and outages in a number of St Michael and Christ Church communities through Saturday and early yesterday morning, as a crew from the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) made several attempts to fix the problem.

    The BWA apologised for the inconvenience caused, but for manager of Tapas, Alfredo Giovine, “an apology for the inconvenience” was not good enough after the Hastings restaurant was forced to close its doors.

    “We are at a moment in Barbados where ‘my apologies for the inconvenience caused’ clears everything,” he told the DAILY NATION. “I’m sorry, I don’t feed my kids in apologies, and I don’t pay my staff in apologies. Yesterday (Saturday) I had 40 people for lunch and 170 for dinner. If you average $100 per person, we pass $20 000.

    “We got a call here Saturday at two o’clock saying, ‘Alfredo, we think there is a problem. Water is backing up so give the pump time to fill it up and you should be good’. Betting on that, I knew that a couple hours would have been fine.”

    He added: “We managed to get 15 people between two and 4 o’clock, then four o’clock I got another call that another main burst and we were again back to square one. If you come to my door and expect to be fed at Tapas, I expect that when I turn my key I should get water running.”

    On Saturday night at the pumping station, Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources Santia Bradshaw told the media the BWA was working feverishly to effect the repairs and bring the station back online.

    She said water tankers would be sent to various communities to provide relief from the outages, hospitals would be prioritised and the BWA would be working with the communications team from the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) to deploy tankers to affected hotels.

    Bradshaw, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, apologised for the lapse in communication.

    “I know that the communication could have been better over the course of the last few hours and I myself have had concerns and I’ve shared that with the team.

    “But I want the public to appreciate as well that there are a lot of things going on in terms of behind the scenes, in terms of getting the water supply back flowing as the team and the engineers have said,” she added.

    In an update, the BWA said the repairs were completed at 5:30 a.m. yesterday but reminded customers that it would take time for the system to pump normally, and tankers would be deployed in the meantime.

    The Rockley branch of Chefette Restaurants was also closed on Saturday due to the outage. Managing director Ryan Haloute said yesterday evening they reopened shortly after the repairs were completed.

    “Our Chefette Rockley location reopened early [yesterday] afternoon as our water tanks had water. The situation is fluid as things are constantly changing, which we are closely monitoring,” he said.

    The outages caused problems for hotels with some guests reportedly checking out in search of alternate accommodation.

    General manager of Radisson Aquatica, Gerry Lewis, said some guests were understandably unhappy to be left without water, but most understood it to be an issue beyond their control.

    “In some situations, we had some guests who requested to leave and that occurred, but not many guests. There were some guests who were not happy, particularly those who were just arriving and finding out about the situation,” he said.

    BHTA chairman Renée Coppin said the two days were challenging but they were grateful to the BWA and its water tank drivers for ensuring the hotels were supplied.

    “The hotels on the South Coast have been impacted. We have worked and gotten very good support from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism in putting a plan in place and trying to make sure the sector was supported in terms of water and in terms of provision,” Coppin said.

    “We are looking at all our storage capacity across the sector, ensuring that all the hotels have tanks, looking at what supplies we need to have.

    “No hotel will have enough supplies to ensure that they are covered for extended periods, but we have to look across the sector now and see how we ensure that when we have periods of an outage that may be a little bit protracted, how we ensure our storage facilities are in place to try to best mitigate those situations,” she said.

    Source: Nation

  46. John Avatar
    John

    “Yesterday, Ellerton resident and shop owner, Dorris Barrow said: “The water has been brown for about a month and a half, the toilets are brown, and this is two days that we have not had any water in this area of St George. At first the water was cloudy and then it turned brown and areas such as Ellerton, Drax Hall and Melverton are being affected.”

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

    If the water has been chlorinated it may just need some filtration!!

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