Bajans stock up on water tanks as outages persist

As water outages continue to plague various communities across the island, more Barbadians are purchasing their own water storage tanks as a contingency plan when their pipes suddenly stop running.

Across St George, St John and St Philip, as well as in St James, St Andrew and St Thomas, residents have complained of water outages and low water pressure for lengthy periods, forcing some to invest in their own water supply.

In the March 2024 Budget, the government announced a waiver of VAT on the sale and installation of water tanks, septic tanks, electrical pumps and pressure tanks for residential properties, effective April 1, 2024, for two years.

Then, in the March 2025 Budget, the government extended the concession, with customs duties and VAT waivers on storage tanks and water pumps continuing until March 31, 2028.

Leon Layne, operations and sales manager at Rotoplastics Barbados Limited, told Barbados TODAY the company had seen a steady increase in inquiries about water tanks and pumps, although there had not been a significant increase in sales.

He said: “We have not seen any dramatic change in uptake of water tanks year on year or the water pumps that go with them; however, we have seen an increase in inquiries about these water storage systems, and it might be attributed to increases in outages or people being conscious that they need to have a secure source of potable water at their home.”

He noted that the inquiries come from people concerned about water outages, as well as those looking to secure water storage for the hurricane season.

“I wouldn’t be able to tell you now whether it is one person over the other, but people inquire because they want to shore up their property in terms of secured potable water storage; people inquire because they have just experienced an outage and would not like to experience it any further; and people inquire because it is hurricane season.”

He added: “Generally around this time, the thought is more in the public mind that you need to secure water for the hurricane season. Once there’s an outage in one area, people become conscious of their vulnerability of not having a water storage system at home, and they start to inquire about what it would take to have that water system in place.”

Rotoplastics, the leading maker of water tanks, offers six sizes, holding 200, 450, 650, 800, 1 000 and 1 200 gallons.

“For reasons of capacity, we find the 1000- and 650-gallon are the most popular, but for the smaller home, household, three persons and stuff, the 450-gallon also trails closely behind,” he said.

In some cases, customers buy tanks without pumps, but the company usually advises against it.

“We also provide the other equipment to make a water storage system work: the pump, the smart heads, the PVC fittings and so forth. I know people generally stress on the water storage tank, but that alone would not satisfy because you need to get the water delivered from the tank to the tap.

“And that also requires a pump, filters and the necessary connecting pipes to make it function properly, because you want the customer to turn the tap in the home and receive water from the tank, and the only way that can happen with any consistency is if they have a pumping system. You need to filter the water for obvious reasons, and you need to connect valves and so forth to make it function properly.”

Hardware manager at ACE H&B Hardware in Warrens, Michael Cummins, also reported an increase in inquiries and sales of water storage tanks at the store.

 

“It has been steady for a little while now, to be honest with you. People just basically buy the kind of tank they can afford; the most popular tank is the 650-gallon.”

As the company does not offer installation services, customers usually get their own plumbers to complete the job.

“Bajans are starting to prepare a little better now, so people are not waiting until something happens to get their tanks, and it’s better to equip yourself now. It doesn’t make sense to wait until something happens to find yourself scrambling, and since we have a reduction in the VAT on tanks, it would make sense to take them now.”

In the 2025 Budget, the government announced that part of a Household Water Resilience Programme would include the installation of 600-gallon water storage tanks with associated infrastructure in qualifying households. Financing for the programme would come from the Resilience and Regeneration Fund. (LG)