WASA’s Caroni plant shutdown to impact 500,000

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Anna-Lisa Paul

Approximately 40 per cent of customers served by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) will be without a pipe-borne supply tomorrow during the hours of 6 am to 6 pm.

WASA’s CEO Allan Poon King confirmed the planned shut down of the Caroni Water Treatment Plant yesterday as he urged the public to carefully manage their stored reserves.

For those without water tanks or other storage facilities, he said there would be a limited truck borne supply available.

However, he stressed that healthcare institutions, elderly care facilities and government offices would be ascribed priority status.

During a telephone interview, Poon King said, “Caroni is the largest plant we have with a rated capacity of 75 million gallons per day.”

“We have some maintenance works scheduled to be done on that day.”

He said this included the installation of valves; clearing of sediment; electrical upgrades, and control work and added that the shut down was necessary to ensure standard operating and quality procedures were maintained.

WASA produces around 235 million gallons of water per day.

Poon King estimated that in excess of 500,000 people served by the north and south systems would be impacted as customers from Curepe to Westmoorings; Kelly Village to Carapichaima and then down to San Fernando; and heading further to Fyzabad would feel the effects.

He said while the one-day shut-down will be enough time for the WASA to complete the remedial work, it would take between 24 and 48 hours for the water supply to normalize once it is turned back on.

He said WASA’s 60-truck tanker fleet would be on-stand to respond to emergency calls and requests.