BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – COMPLAINTS from Godwin Ghaut residents of muddy or murky tap water following heavy rainfall have been addressed by a representative of the Water Department who said the Department is trying its best to tackle the problem.
The complaints which have reached this publication suggest that on occasions, following substantial rainfall, residents would have to contend with a flow of tap water – used for consumption and hygienic purposes – that is littered with tiny pebbles and silt and has caused some frustration.
SKNVibes spoke to Manager Water Engineer at Water Department Cromwell Williams about the grievances and, in addition to indicating that he is aware of this particular problem, he explained why it takes place and what the Department does to mitigate its occurrence.
“That happens from time to time. It is something that we try to avoid but it is not always possible that we can avoid that. The muddy water is caused by heavy rain. After the heavy rain, the ghauts or rivers or springs from which we get the water, the water will flow really heavy and what we call the intake – which is the point at which we take the water from the river to put it into the system – that become blocked up with stones and silt and so on. And as a result, we are no longer able to control the quality of the water at that point.
“What we try to do is once we get to the stage where we think that that is going to happen, we take that source offline. So it means that someone goes out (into the field) and they close that valve so that that water should no longer enter the system.”
He however admitted that this system – though a proactive one – is not foolproof.
“It could happen that at times (where) we might not even be aware that it is raining heavily in the hills and so the source or the intake might become silted up before we can respond to go out and turn it off. So in that case, sometimes it does happen. It is not something that happens every time it rains heavily because sometimes we are able to intercept the muddy water.’
Once the affected source is shut off – Williams informed this media house – another is turned on which would mean that customers would not experience a service interruption.
“What happens in recent times though is while we close off the system from the river etc., because we have now today more water from wells, we are able to continue to supply these residents with water from our well and of course the well water is not affected by heavy rain, that remains the same quality regardless of how heavy it rains.So there is some improvement in that respect, in that we are able to supply water to those persons from our wells once we close off the surface or the spring source…”
The Water Engineer indicated that the Department has made some strides in addressing the issue and while it understands the plight of its customers, it asks that they bear with them until the issue is totally resolved.
“I would venture to say it has improved over the years because, once ago, once we closed off the system we would not have been able to supply water to those persons. They would have had to be out of water for a while until we are able to clean out the intake structure that would have been filled with stones and so on. So it would have taken a while for them to get back water. But now, they don’t even interrupted because once we close off one system we are able to just open another.”
