The Water and Sewerage Company Inc. (WASCO) has reported that several of its systems in the North of Saint Lucia are down after Sunday’s heavy rainfall that wreaked havoc in that part of the Island.
The company’s Officer in Charge, Zilta George-Leslie, told St Lucia Times that there’s no production from the major Babonneau system which the Hill 20 treatment plant feeds.
As a result, several areas have been affected, including Talvern and Marquis where there are damaged pumps and clogged intakes.
The WASCO Officer in Charge said high water levels prevented access to unclog the Marquis intake.
“Persons in that area – the Babonneau area, sorry to say, that you will be without a supply for some time. But what we have done as early as last night is that we have augmented the system from Ciceron,” George-Leslie disclosed.
She said WASCO is using water from Ciceron to feed into Hill 20.
Consumers were expected to get relief on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, the WASCO Officer in Charge explained that the inclement weather had heavily impacted areas like Plateau, Assou Canal, and Grande Riviere.
She said there were no adverse effects regarding the John Compton Dam and Anse La Raye systems.
And George-Leslie noted that bridges had sustained damage, including one in the Grande Riviere, Corinth area, where there was a damaged four-inch pipe.
“We have the bridge in Marc as well. A four-inch line there has been damaged as well so we have our crews, they have been dispatched to try to do all of those repairs,” the WASCO official told St Lucia Times.
She also echoed concern over the indiscriminate dumping of garbage in rivers, declaring that ninety percent of damage occurred to WASCO’s service lines that feed residences.
“We have quite a few meters that were washed away due to this trough system,” the WASCO Officer in Charge stated, adding that the company would incur further expense to replace the lost items.
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She invited consumers to reach out to the utility at the following telephone numbers:
4573958, 4573960, or 4519812 to report damage or water issues.
Consumers may also send a WhatsApp message to 4820052.
In the meantime, WASCO said it could truck water to people in need.
