Water & Sewerage Authority Trinidad & Tobago
1
Water & Sewerage Authority Trinidad & Tobago On a mission to deliver 24 / 7 water services
The Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago is a statutory body established in 1965. Its mandate is to maintain and develop waterworks, provide water supplies, promote conservation and proper use of water resources and construct and develop sewerage works. When it was founded in 1965, the total daily water production in Trinidad and Tobago stood at 45 million gallons per day (m.g.d). Today, the Authority produces approximately 232 m.g.d, an increase of over 500 percent.
WATER SOURCES
Trinidad and Tobago has four main impounding reservoirs - Hollis (storage capacity 1 billion gallons), Navet (storage capacity 4.2 billion gallons), Caroni Arena (storage capacity 10 billion gallons), Hillsborough (storage capacity 224 million gallons). Surface water sources equate to more than half of the country’s water supply, with ground water services at 30 percent and desalination plants at 12 percent.
There are currently 77 water production facilities throughout Trinidad and Tobago. The four major facilities mentioned previously and the privately run Desalcott account for 70% of the total water production. The Authority’s main centralised public sewerage systems are located in the following areas: • Beetham, Port of Spain
• San Fernando • Arima
• Malabar
• Maloney
• Scarborough, Tobago
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
WASA recognises the importance of strategic partnerships and has
been collaborating with PUBCPG Consultants of Singapore to provide technical support and services for the development of the Beetham Wastewater Treatment Plant Reuse Project.
“This project aims to utilise the final effluent released from the Beetham Wastewater Treatment Plant for use by industries located at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate,” explains Daniel Plenty, Head of Corporate Communications.
To this end, WASA has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Gas Company for the construction of a pipeline between the Beetham Plant and Point Lisas. This will facilitate the transfer of 10 million gallons per day of treated high-grade industrial water for reuse at Point Lisas Industrial Estate. This will in turn free up 10 million gallons per day of potable water, currently being used for industrial purposes, for domestic use instead.
WASA also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Water and Sewerage Corporation of Uganda for benchmarking studies and developing a Performance Improvement Plan for the Authority.
GOALS AND AMBITIONS
One of WASA’s main targets is to provide 24/7 water service to
all customers. Althought there is much work to be done to achieve this, WASA has made significant improvements in the past five years. In early 2014 it was revealed that 56 percent now receive a 24/7 water supply, up from 18 percent in 2008. “This massive improvement in coverage has been achieved through the upgrade and rehabilitation of infrastructure and optimisation in the operation of the water supply systems,” says Plenty.
WASA is focused on improving and building on the advances made thus far and the continuation of the ongoing infrastructural development programme will see the completion of a number of key projects across Trinidad and Tobago. “When completed, these projects are expected to result in the delivery of 24/7 in Tobago, in the first instance and 24/7 in Trinidad, by December 2014 or thereafter,” Plenty adds.
PROJECTS TO HELP COMMUNITIES
WASA put in place various projects to make improvements to increase water supply by 8.4 mgd, while works have been completed to replace high leakage pipelines including the Navet Trunk Main, Hollis Trunk Main South, Maracas
Royal Road and many others, to save an estimated 3.0 mgd. This was part of a transmission system upgrade where over 150 km of pipeline were laid. With these measures, the deficit in supply was reduced by an estimated 11.4 mgd to 26.6 mg. WASA completed several projects that dramatically improved supply for members of communities throughout Trinidad and Tobago:
• Chin Chin Road Pipeline Project provided some 9,400 residents of Cunupia with a 24/7 supply of water.
• Covigne Road Water Improvement Project gave 1,200 residents of Covigne Road a reliable pipe-borne supply for the first time through the installation of 2.9 km of new mains and a state-of-the-art booster system.
• The Point Fortin Desalination Plant provided over 30,000 residents of Point Fortin and parts of La Brea, with an improved water supply.
• Biche Water Improvement Project provided 4,000 residents in 499 households in Biche and Plum Mitan a 24/7 water supply.
• Chase Village Pipeline Project provided 5,000 residents with a 24/7 supply.
• In Tobago, the Arnos Vale, Bacolet to Signal Hill, and Courland to Buccoo pipeline projects have benefitted approximately 25,000 persons.
UPCOMING PROJECTS
These include the installation of storage reservoirs in Arouca, Tompire, Santa Cruz, Plaisance Park, Stonebright (Mayaro), La Fillette, Four Roads (Diego Martin), Quare Road (Valencia), Hololo (St. Anns) and Arena with a total capacity of 3.79 Million gallons. The Caroni, Navet, Point Fortin, Teschier and Guayaguayare Water Treatment Plants will also be refurbished, while the Charlotteville site will be upgraded from an Intake to a Water Treatment Plant. There will also be an installation of storage reservoirs at Charlotteville and Bloody Bay with a total capacity of 150,000 gallons.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
The Authority has been involved in several social initiatives over the years. This includes the opening of its Public Education Centre in Tobago in 2013, the second facility of its kind in the Caribbean on the water and wastewater sectors. In addition to this, staff continue to collaborate other agencies such as the North West Regional Health Authority, to participate in a series of exhibition throughout Trinidad and the Annual International Coastal Cleanup, which is the world’s largest volunteer event and something WASA has been a part of for the past nine years.
Oliver Moy Publisher
For enquiries email okm@aubusinesscoverage.com
African Business Coverage Issue 9