Water supply will improve in SCB by February, Vanterpool claims

Works Minister Mark Vanterpool has made yet another promise to residents of Sea Cows Bay and the wider Third District who, for years, are only supplied with piped water for a limited number of hours each day.

Speaking at the House of Assembly on Thursday, Vanterpool said work is being done and the community’s water issues are expected to be improved in roughly two months.

“Water supply to the Sea Cows Bay area continues to be inconsistent, irregular and insufficient. As minister responsible I consider this unsatisfactory. However the ministry and the Water and Sewerage Department along with another special projects team that we have signed up for this project continues to make progress towards a more satisfactory solution,” he said.

He continued: “Hopefully, by the end of February 2019, most of the works mentioned are expected to be completed and a more consistent supply of water to this area is expected.”

Water schedule

The Works Minister said, in the interim, ‘low lying areas’ in Sea Cow’s Bay are able to receive water from the Fort Hill reservoir between 8pm and 4am daily while the Hannah’s Hill Reservoir pumps water to the community from 4am to 10am whenever the Diamond Pump Station is operational.

He admitted that the Diamond Pump Station has been widely unreliable.

“In the recent past, [we] have had some breakdowns with the present pump and the lack of the electricity supply.”

He said a generator is currently being used to power the pump station and further moves are being made to install a new transformer by next Friday.

“Once the Diamond Pump Station is operational, 15 feet of water, on average, at the Hannah Hill Reservoir is available to supply water to the area in Sea Cows Bay from 4am to about 10am,” he said.

The pump station at Diamond Estate will also receive a generator, Vanterpool added. He also said new pipes will soon be installed to replace the old ones, beginning from the reservoirs at Sabbath Hill to the reservoirs at Hannah’s Hill.

Projected ‘improvements’ across Tortola

Vanterpool said his ministry is also working to improve water supply in other sections of Tortola. One such area is at Long Trench.

The minister said the community now has a newly built pump station which will have an improved power supply thanks to a new transformer being sourced by the BVI Electricity Corporation.

He said all electrical and plumbing works are scheduled to be completed by January. Two new pumps and a generator are scheduled to be installed at the station in short order, he claimed.