Minister declares success as WASA restarts Caroni plant ahead of schedule

MINISTER of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales has declared the shutdown at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) Caroni Water Treatment Plant a success, as work was completed and operations restarted ahead of schedule on August 11.

The shutdown was to facilitate critical electrical work and was expected to last from midday August 9-midday August 11.

A WASA release on August 11 said work was concluded and operations restarted at 8 am at the South system and at 10 am at the North system.

Gonzales congratulated WASA staff for their hard work to resume operations ahead of schedule and TT Electricity Commission staff who supported them, especially as bad weather presented some challenges on the night of August 9 at the El Socorro station, so additional resources had to be brought in to keep within the timeline.

Now, he said, the authority is keeping an eye on the system.

"They are monitoring the system now to make sure that it settles down and to identify whether or not some of the normal teething problems...occur after such extensive rehabilitative work is conducted."

The shutdown of WASA's largest plant was expected to affect some 500,000 customers in north, central and southern parts of Trinidad, including Cocorite, Cascade, Port of Spain, Morvant, Barataria, San Juan, St Augustine, Chaguanas, Penal and Fyzabad.

He said although the WASA put into effect a round-the-clock schedule for its call centre and made water-trucking services available for those affected, there was no increase in calls to the centre or abnormal requests for truck-borne water. This, he said, showed the public heeded the authority's advice to stock up and conserve water.

"We were able to get full support from the population, to the extent that the level of inconvenience was not at the extent that we expected.

"You have to commend the citizens who would have heeded the advice."

He added that critical institutions like the Piarco International Airport and hospitals around the country had "healthy" levels of water in storage, and none asked for the authority's assistance over the period.

"So it was a very successful shutdown."

WASA's release said customers in most affected areas should see their supply returned in 24-48 hours. However, it said those on the extremities of the system like those in the deep south could experience a longer delay.

With this in mind, Gonzales said the authority's call centre will remain in 24-hour operation and water-trucking services will stay on standby over the next two days.

The authority's release said it was  doing flushing protocols through its network which could lead to some customers receiving discoloured water. It advised those affected by this to let their taps run until it clears.