WASA, minister say water supplies have resumed

Both Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales and Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) chairman Ravindra Nanga confirmed on Sunday that the water supply has been restored to those affected by damage to a 48-inch transmission line at the Caroni Water Treatment Plant.

Repairs were expected to be completed last Wednesday at 4 pm, but were finished on Friday after WASA ran into unexpected developments.

In a WhatsApp exchange on Sunday with Newsday, Nanga said, "Water was restored on Friday gradually. By yesterday (Saturday) it was up to full supply. However, it will take up to 48 hours for the system to fully recharge.

"Some communities began getting a supply since Friday and yesterday (Saturday) we were distributing the available supply to those communities that did not receive a (pipe borne) supply as at yesterday (Saturday). Yesterday (Saturday) more communities were restored. We expect to have full restoration by the end of today (Sunday)."

Gonzales, when contacted, also reiterated that truck-borne water from WASA is available to those among the 200,000 consumers affected by the damaged transmission line,  who have not yet seen a resumption of their (pipeborne) supply.

At the time of completed repairs on Friday, there was 30 per cent of the usual amount of water running through the pipeline, according to WASA's acting CEO Kelvin Romain that day, during a tour of the site where repairs were done.