Biwater: Company will bear all incremental cost for new water solution
This is according to Project Director Richard Smith who was contacted by Virgin Islands News Online for a comment on the situation, following an article published on March 15, 2012 titled: “Pack Up and leave – Smith to Biwater” where talk show host Cromwell Smith, among many things, asked that the company “pack up and leave” and that the cost associated with Biwater having to find a new water base will be handed down to customers. The talk show host also charged that a research was done by Ocean Conversion and that there was no water in the wells at Paraquita Bay and declared that Biwater was a “fiasco”.
Biwater has recently submitted a proposal which is yet to be approved for a new raw water source in the Paraquita Bay area which will come from the sea.In the statement issued by Biwater’s Project Director Smith, it stated that, “Water is present in the wells but yields did not provide the assurance for a dependable source that Biwater would like to have and hence the move to a better raw water source”.
The company further stated that the sea intake provides “unlimited volumes of seawater” with improved security of supply and a sustainable alternative.
Meanwhile, talk show host Smith had also said with the new water source which is said to be out at the ocean in the Paraquita Bay area, he believes that operation would have an impact on the reefs and mangroves.
However, Biwater has rejected that claim, stating that, “the solution designed has no impact both visual, to the environment and marine life both with the intake screen and the pipeline routing proposed”.
On January 25, 2012, Biwater had given the assurance that quality water will begin flowing through the water network lines on Tortola by the end of summer.
During a visit to the Biwater project site on January 25, 2012, Virgin Islands News Online was given a tour of the facility and of some of the ongoing works.
The reassurance was given by Mr. Smith who had stated that the first phase of the project is “on programme and on target for completion”.
He had also revealed that regular meetings and discussions continue with the Ministry of Communications and Works to keep the Government fully informed on the progress of the project, as required under the Water Purchase Agreement.
On February 18, 2010, Biwater signed a Build, Own, Operate, Transfer (BOOT) contract with the Virgin Islands Party Government for a sea-water desalination plant. When completed, the plant is expected to produce 2.3 million imperial gallons of potable water per day, and a subsequent 16 year operation and maintenance period. In addition, the contract includes the design and build of two new sewage treatment plants to provide full sewerage treatment for Road Town and the East End territories to World Health Organisation standards.
The contract also includes the provision and installation of a water distribution leakage reduction programme complete with a tariff billing system, data logging of all storage reservoirs on Tortola to a central control station in Water and Sewerage Department to monitor the water supply 24/7.
The cost of water in Tortola is also expected to be substantially reduced when the desalination works come into full operation.
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