Aged water pipelines causing setbacks at APUA

Old and broken pipes have made it difficult for the Water Business Unit within the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) to reach its goal of providing 24-hour service to customers. That is according to Wayne Martin, superintendent of maintenance and distribution, who said that approximately “a quarter of the island” does not receive water on a 24-hour cycle.
Martin said that APUA’s attempts to meet its goal are thwarted by the broken pipes which put additional “strain” on workmen who have to be diverted to repair them. “As you know, our system is a little aged, so we are doing a lot of mainline replacement, and hopefully we’ll start up in January again,” Martin said. At the beginning of the year, the superintendent said that pipes presently at the port will be in their possession and APUA mainline replacement will be done in communities such as Bethesda.
Martin said that within the last month, APUA has received multiple reports of broken pipes in that community. He explained that water would be supplied to the village “every other two days,” and when the water is turned off and then turned back on, the old pipes cannot manage the flow and burst under pressure. He also highlighted Villa and Point as ‘tedious areas” because of the number of old pipes in the city and surrounding areas.
“We have some challenges in the elevated areas like Bolans and Urlings,” Martin said. He further revealed “the seawater at the reverse osmosis plant at Ffryes is a bit rough. It’s a bit turbid so we cannot send the amount we need to the membrane. It can fold up and damage the membrane so we are actually trying to get that sorted out.”
(More in today’s Daily Observer)