Oranjestad, St. Eustatius- With reference to the water problems, the Public Entity St. Eustaitus and STUCO call upon the public not to fill up cisterns with STUCO water. As part of the contingency measures, free water can be picked up by truck at the STUCO plant. Meanwhile, a structural long term solutions for a more solid water supply is planned for later this year.

According to a press release sent out this evening by the Government of St. Eustatius, there is sufficient water on the island in the sense that STUCO’s plants are able to meet public demand. However, weaknesses in the water delivery system, causes interruptions. Therefore, repairs and rationing are necessary to deliver water. For the system to function, water pressure is necessary.

Pressure

According to Government and STUCO the pressure drops because too many households use too much water at the same time, which is especially the case if residents try to fill up cisterns simultaneously, as soon as STUCO restarts the water supply.

Government and STUCO state that, although filling up cisterns by home owners is an understandable, precautionary measure, it is in fact unnecessary. STUCO and the Public Entity therefore also intend to start monitoring water usage per household to address peak loading.

Contingency plans

STUCO and Government stress that the contingency guidelines put in place are aimed to overcome the period until structural improvements are implemented in the STUCO water distribution system. To improve the consistency and capacity of the water supply on Statia, a new water plant is scheduled to become operational by the end of 2020. Replacing the pipes transporting water and increased storage capacity is being worked on as well and should be realized in the course of this year.

Bottled water

“STUCO very much regrets this inconvenience to the general public; however we can assure you that we are doing all possible in order to keep the water flowing; and trust that the public also, once water is available, to use this sparingly and not to fill up their cisterns. As such the community must be encouraged to make use of bottled water for drinking.” says STUCO Director Fred Cuvalay.