Joy-Ann Haigh (seated), Rapid Response and Communications Manager at the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), engages her team members who aid in overseeing the Personal Tank Programme (PTP). From left: Julia Holder, secretary; Katrina Carter, customer service representative; Charlene Watts (partially hidden), Public Relations Assistant; Ruth Ramjit, customer service officer; as well as customer service representatives Dave Taylor and Tamika Newton.
BWA Customer Service Representative, Dave Taylor, assists a customer in signing up for the BWA’s Personal Tank Programme.
Barbadians are being called upon to be proactive and to take action to secure a consistent supply of water for their households, by signing up for the Barbados Water Authority’s (BWA) Personal Tank Programme (PTP).
Joy-Ann Haigh, Rapid Response and Communications Manager at the BWA, in a recent interview with The Barbados Advocate, revealed that since the launch of the PTP back in July of this year, approximately fifty-two 400-gallon tanks were issued free of cost to vulnerable residents in the hardest-hit parishes of St. John, St. Peter, St. Joseph, St. Andrew and St. Thomas, given the effects of the prolonged drought seen in 2015 and 2016, which has led to persistent water outages. Disabled and infirm persons as well as those with very limited financial means, were able to benefit from that aspect of the initiative.
The PTP, which is operated under the Rapid Response Unit, was then expanded during the month of August, to include the wider public across all 11 parishes and those who are in the middle-income category or under are now eligible for the programme.
“So the BWA has introduced a no-interest tank. It’s a 400-gallon tank with all of the pipe fittings, the concrete base, the non-return valves, the pump and the installation and the total is Bds$4 800. However, you get to pay $80 a month, over a five-year period. So we are basically charging you what it costs us, so there is no interest,” Haigh announced.
“Now the introduction of the tank was not only as a response to the drought, but it also was introduced so that customers can have uninterrupted supply when there are water outages caused by ruptured mains, technical problems at our pumping stations, our reservoirs, a power outage that might be caused by the electrical utility company (Barbados Light & Power) and of course more recently, because this is hurricane season, a natural disaster,” Haigh explained.
“We have had quite a few people come forward, but we want to get more people on board as we are going to be moving into our projects with further upgrades, which will see shutdowns. Also our mains replacement programmes, which will lead to some level of disruption. So we want to appeal to Barbadians now that we are offering the tanks with a reasonable payment plan, that they should act now for the management of their own water supply,” she further commented.
Haigh is urging Barbadians to respond quickly to this affordable initiative, as there are only a limited number of tanks offered under Phase One of the programme, which will run to December.
In particular, persons in vulnerable communities such as Mount Brevitor, St. Peter; Drax Hall in St. George; Lancaster, Apes Hill and Orange Hill in St. James; Gibbons in Christ Church; Hillaby and White Hill in St. Andrew and surrounding districts should come on board, the BWA suggests, due to the recent frequent water outages that customers have been experiencing as a result of ruptured mains and electrical problems at some of the pumping stations in these areas.
“When you have your tank, instead of storing water in buckets and then having to wait for the trucks to replenish it and then lift the buckets, you will find that this is so much better. We set up the system, so it runs from the main directly to the tank and then into your general plumbing. The tank system will sense when there is no water or low pressure in the main and automatically kick in. If the water supply is off for an extended period, the personal tanks will then be replenished by the water trucks from the Rapid Response Unit,” the communications manager said.
“So it’s a great initiative. It’s a win-win situation for all. We are able to carry out the upgrades to improve our system, without disrupting the customers. The customers then in turn have a tank that they can have under a fair payment plan, especially as Christmas approaches,” she added.
“If there is nothing else you do for yourself this Christmas, at the very least, give yourself the gift of a consistent water supply and purchase a personal tank,” Haigh urged.