St  John communities getting water again

Water service is being gradually restored to communities across St John served by the Bowmanston Pumping station which was offline following recent heavy rains.
In an update this evening, Director of Engineering at the Barbados Water Authority Charles Leslie said water has been diverted from surrounding systems and, as a result, most of the customers in affected areas like Pool Land, Guinea, Lovells Road, Massiah Street, Cherry Grove, Cheshire, Bowmanston and Carters are now getting water.
“The pressure will continue to build in the system, and we anticipate that into the night time, customers in Clifton Hill, Gall Hill and those areas will begin to get back water as well,” he said, adding that water tankers in the field will be redirected to those areas still waiting for services to be restored.
Leslie said efforts are ongoing to restore services to communities’ across St George as well.

During heavy rainfall, the Bowmanston Pumping station is affected by silt/mud entering the well. Once this occurs, the BWA ceases pumping to prevent discoloured water from being pumped into the network.

In a statement, the Authority assured that pumping will resume from the facility once turbidity levels drop.
The BWA also disclosed that it working on a plan to prevent water discolouration.
“For the long term, there is a project that will start early next year. This project will rehabilitate the upstream areas of the catchment to reduce the ingress of silt and mud
getting into the stream. The BWA will also be cleaning and refurbishing the reservoir which was in place from the 1800s. We will also be looking at a system to treat any silty water that gets into the stream,” it said.