The St. Lucia Water & Sewerage Company Inc. (WASCO) has announced plans to mitigate the water woes its customers have been experiencing.
Senior Supervisor – Water Services Timothy James revealed that the company is working on a Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) funded consultancy to replace the 24-inch raw water line from the Millet to Vanard area.
“We are hoping to finish that consultancy early this year and hoping to maybe start that project by the end of December,” James told St. Lucia Times.
However, he stated there was no exact timeline.
In the interim, he said there might be other system shutdowns this year because the existing raw water line is old and could experience leaks.
Nevertheless, James said WASCO would try to give customers advance notice so they could store water.
“These shutdowns would be planned shutdowns, so it won’t be an emergency where people are taken by surprise,” the Senior WASCO official told St. Lucia Times.
In addition to the plan to replace the aging raw water line, WASCO is working on a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system to enable the company to resolve issues proactively.
The company expects the system to allow network monitoring and identify and fix issues.
On December 18 last year, WASCO did an emergency shutdown to repair leaks on its aging raw water line.
The company said it completed the repairs two days later and reported an estimated ninety-eight percent water supply restoration.
Higher elevations and the extreme North are among those still experiencing supply issues.
During the raw water line leak repairs, WASCO said it did its best to supply water to customers to cater to the high demand associated with the festive season when many visitors, including returning nationals, arrived in the country.
“We were able to work right through the Christmas holidays trying to ensure that all our customers receive a supply. I can safely say that most areas received a supply. We just have a few pockets with which we have other issues we are trying to resolve,” James explained.
He disclosed that WASCO also facilitated customers by trucking water to them.
Headline photo: Trucking water to residents of Daren Sammy Drive, Gros Islet in December 2023.
