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Contact:
Chris Satney
Monday, February 07, 2005 - Government has announced measures to stem the
loss of some 4 million gallons of water per-day as a result of illegal
connections and possibly damaged mains below the ground.
Minister for Public Utilities Honourable Felix Finisterre said a number of bulk
meters had been acquired and would help determine where the unaccounted-for
water is going.
“The meters are already on island. The award has already been granted and in
that way, we will be able to do two things - detect and determine where this
water is going, how it is being lost, the quantum of it and therefore, we will
be able to take steps at both the individual meters and the domestic level, and
the bulk metering process to stem that problem,” Minister Finisterre said.
The Minister said some $54,000 was being lost by the Water and Sewerage
Authority (WASCO) per-day as a result and does much to slow down plans by the
company to improve its service on the island. He informed that the bulk metering
process would not account for all the water being loss, but would enable WASCO
to deal with present cash flow problems, and allow it to secure funding to deal
with the many issues that continue to plague its operations.
“The more enlightening from the World Bank Mission is their willingness to
consider forthwith as a short term loan, an immediate injection of cash into
WASCO of some $4.5 to $5 million dollars to do some critical works,” Minister
Finisterre said.
Those works he informed would involve increased pumping capacity from the Roseau
Dam to the 20 inch pipeline dedicated to getting water to the North of the
island. In that process some 15 to 20 miles of pipeline of varying sizes which
hamper the free-flow of water from the Dam into the T R Theobalds Treatment
Plant at Ciceron would be eliminated. The capacity of the Ciceron Plant will
also be increased in order to reduce the problems with water shortages on the
island.
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