Water Authority reconnects over half of customers

Water Authority planning session: Tom van Zanten, 
Joanna Welcome-Martinez, Martin Tedd, Gloria Glidden, 
and Dr Gelia Frederick-van Genderen.

Friday, October 1, 2004

Water Authority Head Dr Gelia Frederick-van Genderen pointed with pride on Monday 27 September to the fact that the Cayman Islands Water Authority had returned water to 56 percent of its customers.

“We’re moving along reasonably well,” said Dr Frederick-van Genderen. “By the end of today we will have restored water to 56 percent of our customers,” she added.

Dr Frederick-van Genderen stated that this means almost all of George Town should now have water, except for one small section near Watler’s Road. 

“In the coming days we expect to go eastward out toward Prospect and the side roads off of Shamrock Road,” she added. In less than two weeks the Water Authority has restored water to the majority of its customers. Severe damage to some of the water lines in some areas means the delivery of water will take a longer period of time.

“Basically what it means is we can restore water where we can up to the Bodden Town Civic Centre and the Guard House in Bodden Town,” said Dr Frederick van-Genderen.

Many areas will need to have the National Roads Authority reestablish the road borders. At that point the Water Authority will be able to put new pipelines back in place.

One of the major problems that the company has faced is road destruction along the coastline has been coupled with the problem of land-boundary identification as large sections of coastline suffered such severe erosion during the hurricane it is difficult to know whose land the water main will go through.

In the absence of piped water in East End, water is being provided from the East End reservoir, using pumps running from local generators.

In North Side, most homes are well equipped with cisterns, because piped water has not been extended there, but the problem remains of how to extract the water from the cistern in the absence of the electrically-powered pumps which normally pump the water into homes. North Side residents have had to extract water from cisterns in buckets, which can prove to be extremely awkward, as the water level goes down, and as most of the cisterns on modern houses are built underneath the house, and access with buckets is difficult.

At North Side’s ‘Condos on the Bay,’ a reverse osmosis plant is in operation. Mr Joey Ebanks, the owner, has been helping residents by making clean water available. There is another reverse osmosis plant, which serves the Morritt’s Tortuga resort near to East End, which has also been making water available to trucks, free of charge.

“We are quite proud of what we have achieved,” said Mr Van Zanten, who went on to say that water authority technicians have been working long hours to try to connect water to customers. 

The Cayman Water Company, which provides water to customers from the beginning of West Bay Road all the way to the district of West Bay, has also restored services to many customers. On Seven Mile Beach water service is on an intermittent basis from 6:30 - 9:30 am and from 3- 9 pm daily. In West Bay the morning hours for water service are the same as on Seven Mile Beach but the evening hours are from 6- 9 pm daily. “These times will be increasing as generators get up and going and production capacity increases. We’ve been working quite well together,” said Dr Frederick van-Genderen.

On Wednesday 29 September Gregory McTaggart, the Vice-President for Operations with Cayman Water informed customers still without service that their connection valves may have been closed, especially if premises appeared extensively damaged or if the meter registered free-flowing water. He asked that those customers still without water to affect repairs to plumbing if needed and to locate their main valve on their side of the CW water meter and verify the valve is open.

The Water Authority has been working around the clock to return water to its customers for it realizes the importance of water in terms of helping residents clean their homes. Since Ivan, the Water Authority has not brought in international teams to help in the restoration of services. “Our meter readers have been invaluable in helping all departments know where all the lines are,” said Dr Frederick van-Genderen. “We can manage this, though, I would like to clone several of my employees,” she added.

The water which is now leaving the water treatment plant is safe and protected with adequate chlorine levels, while being tested for bacteria regularly. However, Dr Frederick-van-Genderen is worried about the stresses businesses and homes endured which might affect water once it has arrived in homes and businesses. As a result, she strongly encouraged people using the water from their taps and faucets to boil the water prior to consumption for the time being. She also asked people not to wash their cars or water lawns to conserve the available water. “Please wait for rain for both those activities,” she said.

One other warning she emphasized was to people living in apartment complexes and townhouses. In such places, often these residences have private collection systems for waste water, which are equipped with lift stations. Since many of these private collection systems are down, Dr Frederick-van Genderen encouraged people to conserve the amount of water used to flush in their homes because otherwise waste will flood yards, roads and create a health hazard..

Dr Frederick-van Genderen has taken overwhelming inspiration from her staff, who have shown drive and determination which has helped carry her through this natural disaster. “So many have volunteered to work on weekends and many of those who have volunteered have lost their homes,” she said. “The staff we have here at the Water Authority are a great asset to the country,” she said.

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