By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE Granville Water Treatment Plant can no longer service its entire zone which includes residents of Icacos and Fullerton.
This is according to a report by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) explaining why the residents have been without pipe-borne water for almost a month.
The report was given to Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales and shared with AZP News on Monday.
WASA stated the supply to Icacos and Cedros was scheduled for five days weekly – Monday 6 am to Friday 6 pm.
Bamboo Village receives a supply on Saturday and Sunday.
“The challenges to supply the area are due partly to supply/demand deficit as the supply from the Granville Plant (0.71 Imperial million gallons per day) cannot meet the demand to fully satisfy the entire zone estimated at approximately 10,000 persons. To adequately serve the area, an overall supply of 1.5 imgd will be required,” WASA explained.
The authority added, “Additionally, the distance from the Granville Plant to the end of system is approximately 25km which presents a challenge to maintain discharge pressures from the plant along the pipeline route to overcome head losses in the 8/6/4 -inch transmission/distribution main.”
Icacos last scheduled supply was July 7.
However, the schedule was unsuccessful as water supply was only confirmed in Grand Chemin and Lower Icacos only.
Approximately 40 houses from Grand Chemin Beach Road to end of the system received a partial supply.
Truck-borne services were being delivered to all the affected households and was ongoing, WASA said.
To boost supply, all offtakes are currently closed and this is inclusive of Syphoo Village, Coromandel Village and Granville Main Road and schedules have been adjusted to concentrate the supply to the affected areas over the next few days, the Authority stated.
Long term proposals
In order to fully address the issue, WASA is proposing to have a recommission of the booster station at the corner of Bous Bourg and Southern Main Road, Cedros.
WASA is waiting for the pump to be delivered and it should take about two weeks for the recommissioning pending delivery.
WASA is also proposing a reengineering of the entire network by redistributing supply from Point Fortin into the Cap-d- Ville tank to redistribute Chatham supply to Granville allowing Granville to service Cedros/Icacos as a priority. The timeframe for such is one month.
The installation and commissioning of a second booster station at Fullerton Road is also being considered with a site location and scope of works and estimates being developed.
WASA is looking to complete that project in a three-month period.
And it should continue and complete investigation to determine the potential and feasibility for localised source harnessing groundwater to supply the Icacos area reducing the reliance on the Granville source. That investigation can take up to one year.
