Minister: 50 per cent of water lost via leaks

Fifty per cent of the water produced by the Water & Sewerage Authority (WASA) is lost through leaks before even reaching the consumer, Public Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte has said.

Le Hunte was speaking at the Rotary Club of Port of Spain’s post-budget luncheon on Tuesday, at the club’s headquarters in Woodbrook.

“We actually produce about 240 million gallons per day. Given the amount of water we produce we should not have water shortages,” he said, adding that he has made aggressive leak-management one of his priorities. There are 2,000 leaks on record, he said, and the aim is to bring that down to 200 by the end of the year.

Le Hunte said with the existing piping infrastructure, 95 per cent of the country is connected to receive a regular supply, but only 37-38 per cent actually receive water 24 hours a day, weekly.

“The reality is, citizens are paying such a low rate. In fact, T&T’s water is one of the cheapest in the western hemisphere. We are all benefiting from the government subsidy to WASA,” he said.

WASA receives an annual subsidy of about $2 billion. The average rate for water is US$0.18 (TT$1.17) per cubic metre. To put that in perspective, the average shower lasts about eight minutes and uses about 65 litres (0.065 cubic metre) of water, at a cost of less than $0.08 per shower.

Le Hunte suggested more metering as a way to encourage citizens to save more water.

“The tariff is so low it does not inspire citizens to conserve water as much as they should be doing. There is a lot of wastage.

"That’s why metering is important, so you have to pay for what you use. The objective is not to increase revenue, but to change individual consumption patterns,” he said.
He acknowledged that metering does exist, but has to be stronger. Up to 70 per cent of industrial customers are metered, he said, but only three-four per cent of residential customers.

On the Trinidad & Tobago Electricity Commission’s (T&TEC) $4 billion debt to the National Gas Company, mentioned in the budget statement read on October 2, Le Hunte said the utility and the ministry are looking at proposals from lending agencies to decide on a plan to suit their needs.