‘Challenge’ to plug leaks

AS the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) seeks  to stem the flow of wasted water from burst pipes in some communities, there remains more work  to be done to put the screws on this major leakage problem. Even though, as general manager Denis Yearwood stated recently,  the authority is looking  to boost the number  of repair crews, it appears to be a challenge to keep pace with the number  of ruptured mains occurring weekly. Today we bring readers up-to-date on some  of those bursts we have reported since this series started on May 6.REPAIRED:• Five ruptured mains in the Kensington New Road area of The City.• Leak on Brewster’s Road, Worthing View, Christ Church.• College Savannah Tenantry, St Philip.• A resident in Corbin’s Road, Ashton Hall, St Peter, called to say that a day after their leak was highlighted in the May 16 SUNDAY SUN,  a BWA crew came and plugged the leak.• Near the New Life Tabernacle in Kendall Hill, Christ Church.• Carmichael Tenantry, St George.• Olive Drive, Husbands, St James. • A. Simpson, who had reported a breach in  16th Avenue, West Terrace Gardens, St James, in the May 20 Daily Nation, stated this week: “Thank you very much for highlighting the burst pipe . . . . It got fixed the same day it was highlighted  in the daily nation. Keep up the good work.”• The burst pipe at the top of Sutherland Hill,  St Lucy, reported in the last SUNDAY SUN,  was fixed two days later.THOSE STILL RUNNING:• At the junction  of Bannatyne Gardens, Christ Church, which was displayed in the May 20 DAILY NATION, water was still flowing up  to Tuesday evening.• The pipe is still “whistling” in Alexandra Gardens, Link Road, Mullins, St Peter, which has reportedly been leaking since the second week in March.• Up to Wednesday, water was still settling in the road on 2nd Avenue, Rendezvous Gardens, Christ Church. A resident had reported in the May 8 SATURDAY SUN that the pipe had been leaking for seven weeks.• Even though more than 90 per cent of the leak near the traffic lights on Hinds Hill, St Michael, has been stopped, water is still dripping from the repair job. This leak, which a “concerned resident” reported in the May 7 WEEKEND NATION, had been running “for many years”.Even when the BWA has effected repairs, sometimes its work leaves a sour taste in the mouths of residents.A reader, signing as “RH” from Christ Church, submitted the following email last Tuesday:“This leak at the corner of Queensway and Hood Road in Navy Gardens, remained unfixed for nearly a month despite repeated calls.“[The] BWA finally came about three weeks ago and did a ‘temporary’ repair to the pipe and left the road completely dug up, a three-feet-deep trench about ten feet long and half the width of the road; no lights or warning for night time . . . .“It could be quite dangerous to a car coming down the hill at night and not realising that the road is dug up.”Then on Thursday night, in another email,  he stated: “They came and filled in the hole today; still to be repaved though.”• Over the past few months Barbados has been experiencing a drought. As  a result, the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has appealed to Barbadians not to waste water. The BWA itself, however, must also pay attention, since there are a number of burst pipes throughout the island.We want to get those pipes fixed as quickly as possible, so we propose to help the BWA by highlighting the wastage. If you see a burst pipe or can tell us where water is being wasted, email [email protected].