Antigua and Barbuda: APUA producing 8 million gallon water a day, but insufficient due to worsening drought

The Antigua and Barbuda cabinet invited the manager of the Water Division of the APUA (Antigua Public Utilities Authority) to provide answers concerning water provision to the people of Antigua. He reported that APUA is producing nearly 8 million gallons of water a day but it is still not sufficient because of the worsening drought.

The APUA manager stated that more households are taking the opportunity to fill their tanks, cisterns and drums with APUA water as the drought worsens, the rainfall disappears, and storage systems go empty.

Demand for APUA reverse-osmosis water has grown as additional homes are constructed and hotel rooms fill up, even as we approach the summer months, increasing the need to supply even more water than APUA currently produces. The cabinet continues to encourage conservation and limited use of this precious resource.

The cabinet also learned the vessel bringing the Fort James plant from Dubai to Antigua experienced a continuing delay when the vessel lost power off Martinique nearly a week ago and has not yet been repaired. Meanwhile, construction of the building to house the plant continues, as has the burial of pipes necessary for bringing the seawater to the plant.

The planting of pipes to carry potable water to the many households and businesses to the north side of the island continues. It was reported that the Ffryes plant is now producing 900,000 gallons per day, up from the usual 775,000 gallons.

Barnacle Point will have new membranes and filters delivered in a week, and, camp Blizzard will also have upgrades so that it will produce 300,000 gallons per day. Pigeon Point is now delivering 300,000 gallons daily and the Bethesda Plant has an $18-million-dollar budget for its instalment, with pipes and significant storage capacity. The plant at Crabbes is up by 1.5 million gallons, now producing 3 million gallons per day.

The cabinet learned that there are 52 valves that are turned on or off every day in order to direct water flow. A crew is dispatched daily in order to determine, when, where and for how long the RO water will flow to which communities, according to the published schedule. A system of ensuring that valves, placed in “on” or “off” positions, are turned to an appropriate position when the APUA has fixed a supply schedule. The issue of sabotage arose.