Water woes to lessen today
with French side assistance
PHILIPSBURG--After four days of rationing water, lugging buckets or flushing toilets with pool water, residents will get some relief today with an additional 1,000 cubic metres of water pumped in from the French side for the second time this year.
Commissioner Roy Marlin brokered the water deal Wednesday with French side government and water officials after the Dutch side was hit hard by a water shortage starting Saturday. The shortage was compounded Sunday by a power outage that knocked out electricity to the water plant, which took several hours to get back on line.
The existing shortage fall and the crippling effect on the plant shut down caused the depletion of water tank reserves.
Struggling to keep up with the demand for water, water producer Enerserve is pumping out about 13,600 cubic metres of water daily to fill the demand for 13,200. This leaves hardly any reserve to refill the tanks.
The extra 1,000 cubic metres from the French side will continue to supplement Enerserve’s production until December 30 when Air-Fin’s new water plant in the Lowlands comes on line. This plant will have the production capacity for 4,000 cubic metres.
Depending on the water situation today, Marlin said another 500 cubic metres of water may be pumped in via the Lowlands to alleviate any remaining shortfalls.
The water from the French side will be paid for by water distributor GEBE, but the cost for this is not expected to be passed on to residents who are becoming more and more frustrated for constant water shortages.
One upset Lowlands resident told this newspaper, “Everybody thinks the Lowlands is some bourgeois area, so we are never bothered by things like this, but we are affected like everyone else. We have had little or no water for four days. Instead of seeking to raise more taxes, government should fix the water problem now.”
Some smaller guesthouses have been making do by rationing their cistern water and using water from the pool to flush toilets. “This is not the way we want to head into the high season,” one hotelier said. “You have to face the frustrated guests who return to their rooms, but can’t take a shower or use the toilet.”
In most districts, people have been filling up their hurricane storage buckets to ensure they are not left waterless and unable to perform necessary household tasks. Those with cisterns are using their water sparingly.
Adding to the water woes, is the threat of dengue carrying mosquitoes breeding in containers left opened by residents hording water to avert the shortage. The Hygiene Department is fogging every neighbourhood to stem the growth of the mosquitoes, but residents are urged by authorities to cover all water containers. (Alita Singh)
