BWA boosts power at pumping stations

Barbadian businesses and households should no longer face frequent dry taps during prolonged electricity outages.

Security consultant and Chairman of the Hurricane Preparedness Committee and Emergency Response with the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), Captain Al Walcott has revealed that the organisation has improved its generation capacity at pumping stations around the island.

“We were challenged by the ministry and the Government to have the generators in place. And since [Hurricane] Elsa, we’ve been able to have the 32 generators which will be available for operation in the event of a prolonged power outage across the island.

“Nineteen of them are connected and operational, meaning that they were already existing generators, but we’ve also been able to complete 13 other generators, and we are waiting on [Barbados] Light and Power as we have scheduled connection to be done between the 6th and the 19th of June. That’s already planned and already happening across the areas where the generators are installed. So, we’ve been able to improve our generation capacity and it will benefit us in the event of a prolonged outage as long as the infrastructure of the pumping stations et cetera is up and running,” he stated.

Walcott pointed out that this will decrease the need for the tanker service, which is in heavy demand during outages.

There are currently 27 water tankers in service. Another 12 tankers are awaiting parts which are scheduled to be on the island in two months.

Walcott also announced that the BWA has increased its potable water storage capacity to be able to meet the country’s needs during a lengthy outage.

Speaking during Friday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, he also stated that 32 recently refurbished reservoirs with a storage capacity of 32 million imperial gallons of water are in operation.

Ten more reservoirs are still under construction and these have a potential for storage of an additional seven million gallons.

Walcott stressed that notwithstanding the BWA improvements, Barbadians should ensure that during the hurricane season, they store five gallons of water per person per day for at least two to three days. (JB)