WE HAVE ALL HEARD about the fact that we are in a drought now, seeing that we are only receiving about 32 inches of rain annually.
On this we have to support roughly 275 000 locals along with a little over 500 000 long-stay visitors. This while we lose roughly 40 per cent of the water pumped as it goes back into the earth by way of leaks and old mains. We have at least five of our 11 parishes suffering from severe outages, some for protracted periods.
The thing is to accept that we are not alone in this scenario and that they are solutions out there. The difference, however, with us and others is that we did not act quickly to rectify this problem and now find ourselves in a crisis.
I have done a bit of reading on this subject as I find it truly interesting in terms of how some countries challenged with this problem have aggressively addressed their issue, while others have not. One of the most amazing examples of success in this area is Israel. Here is some information on their progress over a relatively short period achieved mainly by the use of new technology.
Today Israel’s loss in delivery of water currently stands at about 11 per cent, with a goal of getting this down below six per cent over the next few years. For sake of comparison, the average loss in distribution globally currently runs between 20 and 30 per cent. The Israelis use GPS-guided robots to crawl through pipes looking for minute leaks. When these are found, they are repaired from inside the pipe by similar instruments using a putty-based product.
They claim their system of monitoring is so accurate now that it can detect a single shower being left on in a domestic home. They even had a case where a fluctuation in pressure was noticed at a particular coordinate and when it was investigated, they found an individual illegally drawing water from a fire hydrant with a garden hose to top up his swimming pool.
On average, Jerusalem, for example, gets roughly 22 inches of rain annually, or 30 per cent less than we do currently. They have a population of around 900 000 along with tourist arrivals of just over 3.5 million a year. Just ten years ago, and before the period of tourism expansion that followed, they were actually at a crisis point where the government was in the process of considering the importation of water by barges from Turkey.
So recognised is Israel in the area of water management technology that California turned to it for assistance in building the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in the state.
Israel’s attitude to water security is summed up perfectly by Ilan Cohen, adviser to several Israeli prime ministers: “Water to us today is like food was in ancient times. Until recently we had to search for the water but today no longer.”
They, however, have not stopped there, but just reached another goal. They are now the highest rated country globally to use recycled water for agricultural purposes. Israel recycles 85 per cent of all waste water for use in that sector. This equates to 50 per cent of the total water needed for agriculture in that country.
My point here is simply that we are not alone in this problem. Israel and Barbados are very similar in that tourism and the need to feed their people go hand in hand.
A decade ago they were probably close to where we are now in terms of demand and supply. It’s just a matter of our government, both present and future, deciding how big an issue this is to them and what priority will be given to it in terms of money and resources.
There is also no shame in asking for help with this problem.
– JOHN EDWARDS