A RELIABLE supply of water countrywide is at the mercy of the weather and pipeline and mechanical infrastructure aged "beyond the prescribed lifetime," the Water and Sewerage Authority's (WASA) leadership has admitted.

Sherland Shappard, who was appointed as acting CEO of the state utility following Dr Lennox Sealy's resignation in July, hosted a media conference on Saturday to address, among other things, WASA's recent "challenges with maintaining a reliable water supply to several communities."

Sheppard said a public update on the country's present water supply was warranted "in view of some of the recent public statements regarding the water supply to various areas."

The situation, however, isn't straightforward, he suggested, noting several factors, including extreme weather which dictates the country's water supply.

Several parts of the country experienced particularly limited supplies of water during the dry seasons in 2019 and 2020.

Fortunately, Sheppard pointed out, WASA's four main impounding reservoirs, Arena, Navet, Hollis and Hillsborough were able to recover from an average capacity of 20 to 95 per cent between June and December 2020.

"Thankfully, the 2021 dry season was not a repeat of the previous two," he said, adding that by June the reservoirs were at an average capacity of 90 per cent.

All reservoirs are at currently full capacity.

He said there are other key factors that impact WASA's ability to deliver a day-to-day service.

For instance, Sheppard said, "Regrettably, over the past few weeks there has been an abnormal convergence of major operational issues, which has negatively impacted the service to a number of communities."

Additionally, "much of the pipeline and mechanical infrastructure are aged and in many cases beyond the prescribed lifetime.

[caption id="attachment_910099" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Acting WASA CEO Sheland Sheppard. -[/caption]

"As such, the frequency of failures requiring the need for maintenance increases over time."

However, citing the national water stabilisation and improvement and community water investment programmes, funded by the Ministry of Public Utilities, Sheppard said the authority has already begun several water infrastructure development projects.

"I want to assure you that the authority is up to the task at hand," he said.

The projects are centred around rehabilitation and development of wells, booster development, and pipeline installation.

Sheppard said the projects involve the development and rehabilitation of wells to deliver additional water into WASA's distribution system in areas such as Mayaro, Freeport, Las Lomas, Sangre Grande and Tamana.

Development and upgrade of booster stations are currently taking place in Pitch Road, Morvant, Mendez Drive, Champ Fleurs, Tamana and Brazil, and that installation of new distribution pipelines will take place in Penal, Tabaquite, La Romain, Barrackpore, Maraval, Toco, Canaan and Concordia in Tobago, and other areas.

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