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Tanks being built to tackle water problems in Eleuthera

Thu, Jan 26th 2023, 04:59 PM
Health Tribune Stories

WATER and Sewerage Corporation officials confirmed yesterday that construction of two tanks with 200,000 gallons of water per day capacity is underway in Eleuthera and will be completed by the end of February to improve the water supply on the island.

Robert Deal, WSC general manager, said at a press conference yesterday that through the installation of two new 1,000,000 imperial gallon water storage tanks, the corporation’s aim is to improve the reliability of its services on Eleuthera, where residents have been facing water supply issues for the last three months.
#“The construction of those (tanks) started on Monday and that’s expected to last for another two weeks. Once those are constructed, the pipe work has to be put in place, and then hopefully those tanks will be commissioned and you guys (will) increase the storage capacity,” Mr Deal said.
#“We expect two trailers to come in. One for North Eleuthera and also one for Central Eleuthera. Each of those would have an additional 200,000 gallons per day capacity. And those are expected to arrive here in New Providence on the 28th of this month,” he said.
#“So once they arrive on the 28th, the idea is hopefully they will be shipped to Eleuthera shortly thereafter, then connected, with the necessary commissioning and everything done,” Mr Deal said.
#He added that the tanks will help to increase storage capacity and production capacity on the island, after which Water and Sewerage can then focus on any other “weak points” it may have on the island.
#“We are working very closely with the desalination contractor to increase the production capacity. Because the demand is so high that essentially, the supply and the demand are just about the same. So, we have to increase the production capacity to ensure that we have additional production capacity to keep the tanks full. And to allow sufficient maintenance on the installed units that are there now,” Mr Deal said.
#“Of course, we have up and down challenges. And so as those challenges arise, we are working actively to address them. As you know, we have five desalination plants in Eleuthera. And so on a daily basis, we are working closely with the contractors to try and show as best as possible that those plants are up, they are operational, and we are supplying water to our customers definitely,” Mr Deal said.
#About advances in renewable energy on the island, Mr Deal said: “We have very active discussions going on with the government, with BPL (Bahamas Power and Light) and also with the private sector regarding a variety of options to introduce solar energy, with respect to water production, and particularly in Eleuthera.
#“There’s a lot of focus in Eleuthera about how we can best improve the reliability of our supply and the reliability of the power supply. Solar is (a) very active discussion on that front,” Mr Deal said.
#Last month, at a press conference in Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera, Mr Deal said that the two new water storage tanks are scheduled to be running by June 2023.
#At the time, he said stakeholders were engaging in discussions to seek a resolution and produce an action plan for the supply of water for all Eleuthera residents.
#“We need to have the production capacity exceed the demand of the residents so that we can have that extra production capacity to put water into storage. Presently we do not have that presently what happens is almost every drop of water we produce goes into supply,” he said at the time.
#The disruption in supply to Eleuthera residents occurred after the island’s Naval Base desalination water production plant experienced operational issues on November 26, 2022.
#Later, WSC officials said water had been restored to most customers of Central Eleuthera as of December 5, 2022, with officials noting that there is a “small pocket” of residents who may be receiving low water pressure or no water in “extreme” cases.

Robert Deal, WSC general manager, said at a press conference yesterday that through the installation of two new 1,000,000 imperial gallon water storage tanks, the corporation’s aim is to improve the reliability of its services on Eleuthera, where residents have been facing water supply issues for the last three months.

“The construction of those (tanks) started on Monday and that’s expected to last for another two weeks. Once those are constructed, the pipe work has to be put in place, and then hopefully those tanks will be commissioned and you guys (will) increase the storage capacity,” Mr Deal said.

“We expect two trailers to come in. One for North Eleuthera and also one for Central Eleuthera. Each of those would have an additional 200,000 gallons per day capacity. And those are expected to arrive here in New Providence on the 28th of this month,” he said.

“So once they arrive on the 28th, the idea is hopefully they will be shipped to Eleuthera shortly thereafter, then connected, with the necessary commissioning and everything done,” Mr Deal said.

He added that the tanks will help to increase storage capacity and production capacity on the island, after which Water and Sewerage can then focus on any other “weak points” it may have on the island.

“We are working very closely with the desalination contractor to increase the production capacity. Because the demand is so high that essentially, the supply and the demand are just about the same. So, we have to increase the production capacity to ensure that we have additional production capacity to keep the tanks full. And to allow sufficient maintenance on the installed units that are there now,” Mr Deal said.

“Of course, we have up and down challenges. And so as those challenges arise, we are working actively to address them. As you know, we have five desalination plants in Eleuthera. And so on a daily basis, we are working closely with the contractors to try and show as best as possible that those plants are up, they are operational, and we are supplying water to our customers definitely,” Mr Deal said.

About advances in renewable energy on the island, Mr Deal said: “We have very active discussions going on with the government, with BPL (Bahamas Power and Light) and also with the private sector regarding a variety of options to introduce solar energy, with respect to water production, and particularly in Eleuthera.

“There’s a lot of focus in Eleuthera about how we can best improve the reliability of our supply and the reliability of the power supply. Solar is (a) very active discussion on that front,” Mr Deal said.

Last month, at a press conference in Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera, Mr Deal said that the two new water storage tanks are scheduled to be running by June 2023.

At the time, he said stakeholders were engaging in discussions to seek a resolution and produce an action plan for the supply of water for all Eleuthera residents.

“We need to have the production capacity exceed the demand of the residents so that we can have that extra production capacity to put water into storage. Presently we do not have that presently what happens is almost every drop of water we produce goes into supply,” he said at the time.

The disruption in supply to Eleuthera residents occurred after the island’s Naval Base desalination water production plant experienced operational issues on November 26, 2022.

Later, WSC officials said water had been restored to most customers of Central Eleuthera as of December 5, 2022, with officials noting that there is a “small pocket” of residents who may be receiving low water pressure or no water in “extreme” cases.

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