PHILIPSBURG–Water and electricity company GEBE will be disconnecting water supply to households at least 24 hours before a major storm in the future, with sufficient advance notice to consumers.
This is to avoid a situation as occurred before Hurricane Irma in September last year, where the company’s water tanks ran low on water supply as consumers scrambled to fill up water in advance of the hurricane, increasing the chances of damage to the tanks.
GEBE officials said recently that because its tanks were not full, this increased their chances of being badly damaged during the major storm. When GEBE realised that the tanks were running low as consumers had been filling up water, it attempted to refill the tanks but it did not have sufficient time to fill the tanks completely.
“Next time we will inform the public 48 hours beforehand to fill up on their water because 24 hours beforehand we will shut down the water supply,” GEBE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kenrick Chittick said. “Because we cannot afford a repeat of what happened during Irma.”
Seven of the 15 water tanks around the country were damaged during the ferocious September 2017 storm and it will cost the utilities company more than US $7 million to repair them. Not all of the tanks were covered by insurance, only some of the newer ones were covered.
Minister with responsibility for GEBE Miklos Giterson had told The Daily Herald recently that some of the tanks were damaged so badly that they have to be rebuilt completely. Material to repair the tanks arrived in the country in late December 2017 and repair work began on one of the Cay Hill tanks on the AJC Brouwer Road first, as these two tanks have a total capacity of about 7,500 cubic metres.
One of the AJC Brouwer Road tanks has been completed. The second tank was expected to have been taken out of service and repaired. Also, one of the two damaged tanks in Pointe Blanche has also been dismantled and is currently being rebuilt.
The damage to the tanks has not affected water supply in the country as GEBE is able to supply water to all districts meeting the demand of consumers although storage has been reduced by approximately 50%.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/75240-gebe-to-shut-off-water-24-hours-before-major-storm
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