Much more rain is needed in order to reach full capacity at the nations reservoirs, says Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) Communications Manager Daniel Plenty.
Despite the persistent rainfall of the past two weeks, Plenty said a particularly dry, dry season had diminished WASA’s reserves and significantly more rain was needed to fully recharge reservoirs. Plenty was responding to questions from the T&T Guardian on the matter.
He said though the country experienced a few days of rainfall the reservoirs all remained below 50 per cent, with the Navet Dam at the highest with 41 per cent capacity. The Dam, which services Tabaquite, Brasso, Gran Couva, Williamsville, Gasparillo, San Fernando, Debe, Penal, Princes Town, Rio Claro, South Oropouche, La Brea, Moruga, New Grant, Plaisance Park, La Romaine and Fyzabad, covers an area of 800 acres. The Arena Dam, which supplies water to central Trinidad is at 36 per cent capacity, the Hollis Reservoir which services East Trinidad is at 32 per cent and the Hillsborough Reservoir in Tobago is the lowest at 31 per cent of its capacity. Plenty said customers supplied from the above reservoirs continued to receive a normal supply as they did throughout the dry season.
This means adjusted schedules which eradicated a 24 hour continuous supply of water will be upheld untill the authority further advises the public. Plenty said some customers in areas such as Maracas, St Joseph; Santa Cruz; Maraval; Lopinot etc which are dependent on surface water sources (rivers and intakes) were particularly hard hit during the dry season.
The recent rainfall has led to an improvement in production and supply from these facilities. “Note that though the dry season was harsh, due to proper management, these levels are above that for the same timeframe last year,” Plenty said in an email. WASA and Minister of Water Resources Ganga Singh have boasted of progress in its Water for All campaign.
While it has significantly increased delivery to the population, WASA figures has an increase in distribution from 18 per cent of the population getting a 24/7 supply in 2010 to 73 per cent at present, the quality and regularity of that distribution is frequently called into question. Locals frequently post images of brown, murky-looking tap water coming from faucets or complain about the infrequency of delivery.
In Cocoyea Village, San Fernando, one resident said water supply from WASA has always been infrequent, whether during the rainy season or dry. “It comes in the morning, sometimes when everyone is at work, and then by evening time it is gone,” the resident said. WASA’s water distribution to Central Trinidad was also compromised earlier this year when customers complained of a strong, kerosene-like scent from the water. WASA later confirmed that an oily substance was discovered in the water, but cleared the water for household use, less than 48 hours after the incident.
Plenty also commented on ruptured mains in several parts of the country in recent months. “In spite of the ruptured mains in recent months that have received widespread attention because of size, location and overall impact, the number of leaks on our pipeline network has decreased significantly over the past few years.” He said this was due primarily to the extensive mains replacement and upgrade programme undertaken by the Authority, which involved some 1349 projects with the installation of approx 985 km of new pipelines throughout T&T.
In a short telephone interview, Minister of the Environment and Water Resources Ganga Singh said the authority’s policy sought to replace distribution lines in more frequently.