No threat to water supply from ash, BWA assures

The water supply remains safe despite concerns that the volcanic ashfall could affect the system,  the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has assured.

BWA Water Quality Specialist Alex Ifill explained that the groundwater, drawn from underground water filtered through the island’s coral limestone cap, is a closed system and is closely monitored to ensure water quality.

He said: “In Barbados, our reservoirs are closed with the water already sanitized. Now our main source of water is from the ground, given the amount of ashfall that we are having this ashfall will collect on the ground, it will be incorporated into the soil, it will be filtered through the soil and through the limestone and it will not generally reach our water supply.”

He added that the cave aquifer at Bowmanston that supplies about 1.5 to 2 million gallons a day is under closer observation to ensure quality is maintained.

Ifill said: “Our standard procedure at Bowmanston is that anytime we have excess rainfall, or predictions of excess rainfall, Bowmanston is automatically turned off and that can be easily supplemented to some degree from our Sweet Vale Pumping station which is not impacted by our cave system and from our Applewhaite pumping system which is not impacted by the cave system.

“The amount of ashfall and the current of rain that is coming now is not enough to trigger a shutdown of our Bowmanston system.”

He further underscored that the BWA will not be shutting down its system unless a major main break occurs.

But the volcanic crisis has posed a threat of overuse rather than water quality, the BWA suggested.

The BWA’s hydrogeologist, Jaime Paul, said the current situation has put some pressure on the system and she has appealed to Barbadians to conserve water.

She said: “We would like the public to accept that right now because everybody is going to be using a bit of extra water that we would have some additional strain on our system so we may experience some low pressure. In addition, we are also asking people to remember this is the dry season and find every possible way as they go about to do everything to try to conserve water.