WASA CEO: Customers going weeks without water 'unacceptable'

CEO of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) Kelvin Romain says it is unacceptable and unsatisfactory for customers to go weeks with empty taps.

He said the company is working on restoring water to several parts of south Trinidad.

Over the last two weeks, residents of areas including San Francique, Penal, Mayaro and Woodland protested, with some saying it had been six weeks since they got pipe-borne water.

At a press conference at WASA's Farm Road, St Joseph headquarters on Thursday, Romain said he was "a bit concerned" upon learning of south residents' woes through news media.

"It has grabbed my attention for the past couple of weeks," he said.

"It all started when we had an outage at our Caroni water treatment plant..."

In July, there was a leak at the plant which resulted in repairs being done to a 48-inch transmission line.

In addition, earlier this month, there were disruptions at WASA's Point Lisas plant which is operated by the Desalination Company (Desalcott).

It was later revealed this was caused by electrical issues.

Romain said Desalcott was able to return to "acceptable levels" but it still is not at 100 per cent production.

"(I was informed they are) suffering from some conductivity issues.

"On the raw water side of their operations, solidity is a bit high, which impedes the processing of their water production."

This, he said, leads to WASA receiving some three million gallons less of water than the standard 40 million.

"We have been at it trying to supplement the shortfall..."

When it comes to Mayaro, he said there were issues at the Navet water treatment plant which have since been fixed, stemming from a clogged strainer.

He gave Mayaro residents his word that by Friday, they would benefit from increased water production.

WASA issued a press release on Wednesday saying emergency repairs were done on a 20-inch diameter transmission pipeline on Tabaquite Road, Rio Claro on September 16 and 19. Additionally, maintenance work was done at the TCO booster station.

"What is concerning to me as CEO is the extended period (of not having water).

"I am hearing two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, and I certainly empathise with our customers, and I am saying publicly – that is unsatisfactory, unacceptable, untenable, to say the least."

He said the authority is embarking on medium and long-term projects to ensure the "under-served and unserved" have access to water.

"We are working assiduously...I personally would be monitoring the supplies at these areas where there are shortfalls."

All reservoirs but the Hollis reservoir, he said, are at around 90 per cent capacity. He said the Hollis reservoir is at 70-72 per cent.

Romain said customers who are interested in rebates can contact the authority.

Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales had recently said if overly-high temperatures continue, WASA may have to consider water restrictions.

Asked for an update on this, Romain said the authority is still monitoring the situation and restrictions remain an option.