On going works are being carried out on the main RO building at the Biwater site in Paraquita Bay. The building will house the main RO units when completed. Photo: VINO

The new Sabbath Hill reservoir installed by Biwater will be ready for commissioning soon. It will be used along with the existing tank which will be repaired to increase water supply to areas that were previously serviced.

Three of the HP pumps that have already arrived since December 2011.

The road network that has already been cut to run the water lines from Paraquita Bay RO unit to the Sabbath Hill reservoirs then for distribution.

During a visit to the Biwater project site yesterday Wednesday 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 Biwater International Ltd., Project Director Richard Smith who stated that the first phase of the project is “on programme and on target for completion”.

He 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 the site, deliveries of the principal RO equipment have been received during the course of December 2011, including the main desalination High Pressure Pumps and service pumps together with the pressure vessels required for the Paraquita Bay installation.

Work on the main Reverse Osmosis (RO) building continues to progress with most of the ground work already completed and the building steel frames erected.

Additionally, construction continues at a pace to complete the main RO hall with the concreting works to prepare for the installation of the RO equipment.

The main RO building will house the RO units where the water will be processed and treated before it goes to the Sabbath Hill Reservoir to be stored and then distributed. The project, with the use of the Sabbath Reservoirs, provides feeds to other storage tanks below the installation to provide nearly 70 percent of the water coverage to Tortola while other areas will continue to be serviced by existing installations on island.

Meanwhile, the new reservoir at Sabbath Hill installed adjacent to the existing storage tank of similar size and capacity is almost completed and is expected in the coming weeks to be ready for commissioning into service.

A visit to the site also indicated that installation of tank supply and outlet pipes were nearing completion of a temporary supply connection from the Baughers Bay Desalination plant to take over storage from the existing Sabbath Hill Tank that is required to be repaired and put back into service, under the Biwater contract.

Along the new pipeline route from Paraquita Bay to Sabbath Hill, site clearance has been completed in preparation for the installation of the new transmission main materials which are currently stored in BiWater site compound in Paraquita Bay.

Briefly explaining the RO process, Smith said the water will be taken directly from the sea, converted to fresh water through the desalination process, post treated to potable water standards and chlorinated prior to transmission to the Sabbath Hill reservoirs where the two tanks will connect into the existing distribution system. The two tanks provide storage capacity to the distribution network serviced by the Water and Sewerage Department.

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. The plant will 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.

Meanwhile, the project had come under fierce attack from the then opposition now the ruling National Democratic Party, who had said it presented a contingent liability to the country and even questioned whether there was an exit clause.

The previous administration of the Virgin Islands Party government, as was recommended by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, had used an independent firm to ascertain whether the Biwater contract, could in fact become a contingent liability to Government.

At August 30, 2011 House of Assembly sitting, former Premier Ralph T. O’Neal OBE, had laid the document on the table from Baker Tiley, an independent accounting firm, which found that the Biwater contract was not a contingent liability.

Currently, it is among one of the water and sewerage contracts that the Government said it is currently reviewing. This was revealed by Minister for Communications and Works Hon. Mark Vanterpool on Monday January 16, 2012 during the NDP Radio programme.

The Minister had said that he was unable to make any further statements but that the public would be updated after the review process.