<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe idea of producing sufficient water on Bequia, at the desal plant, for the entire island to be able to run the water as is seen in the COVID ad \u2013 nonstop running water from the time you turn the tap on while washing hands to the time you turn it back off \u2013 that cannot happen. The plant was not designed for that at all,\u201d Northern Grenadines Community Development Incorporated project advisor Herman Belmar told the ANN last Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aging Paget Farm based desalination plant was designed to produce up to 20 000 gallons of potable water daily. However, the plant\u2019s current rate of depreciation coupled with related maintenance issues has forced its productivity down to 40% in recent times. The lack of \u201ca backup system and extra pumps\u201d puts an additional strain on the plant\u2019s output capacity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are running the plant to produce just enough water to keep the community supplied. We currently have about 19 households connected to the system including the Bequia Seafoods and when they\u2019re in the peak of their processing they would need at least 2 \u2013 3 thousand gallons of water per day. So on an average we have to produce about 8 000, 9 000 gallons of water per day to keep the system sustainable. It\u2019s not that the system can\u2019t do it but because of its age we have to cut back on the hours of production. So we run about 8 hours daily\u2026. As far as I know what we produce is keeping the island sustained. Not just the community,\u201d Herman Belmar, who also acts as the Deputy Director of Grenadines Affairs, noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As proof of the plant\u2019s island supply capacity, Deputy Director Belmar pointed to the two-tiered water supply system administered by the NGCDI. \u201cWhile we have household metered connections, we also have a public distribution system where you can come with your truck and have it filled up with water,\u201d at a cost of $100 per 1000 gallon, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cost and quality of the water produced via the plant at Paget Farm is often times undervalued and consequently underappreciated. \u201cIf you [know how potable] water is made from sea water, it is an extremely expensive undertaking. Had it not been for the use of photovoltaic cells we would not have been able to \u2026 make the water affordable to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These \u2018solar panels\u2019 are an essential element of the pilot project design that was enabled by the World Bank\/GEF 2007 SPACC project. Today their performance, though somewhat adequate, is less than optimal. \u201cAll of our energy is paid directly through VINLEC because all the energy we generate go straight to VINLEC; so we operate on a credit basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough the plant, when it was designed, should have been producing approximately 20% energy more than we require for the water production; two things are working against us. The way the panel array is set up creates difficulty to clean them and \u2026 if they are not cleaned regularly and properly we lose a lot of energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo while we should be generating 70 kilowatts of energy per day right now we\u2019re only able to generate about 40 so we\u2019re nowhere near peak production,\u201d the Deputy Director said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This inability to harness \u201cexcess energy\u201d in turn desiccates the NGCDI\u2019s intended revenue stream. \u201cWe very well might be running in arrears with VINLEC where energy is concerned,\u201d Belmar revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arresting these spiraling costs may not be as simple as braving the gusts that peel across the Sir James Mitchell Airport hangar roof. Belmar reports there are about\u201c330 panels with no more than a 2 foot passage between them to allow for cleaning; so that has proven to be a very serious draw back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the last service professionals indicated that a \u201cfew panels\u201d would have to be removed therefore necessitating a system redesign and construction \u2013 \u201cwe cannot afford to do it at this point in time because if we shut the panels down, we\u2019re practically shutting the plant down, he conceded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if that\u2019s not enough \u201ccommunity vandalism\u201d is an added plague with which the plant\u2019s operators must cope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had pipes being broken without any explanation, taps being knocked off, people setting fires that burn holes in the lines pipelines, people breaking into the water system itself \u2013 we\u2019ve had a series of problems where vandalism is concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belmar, the driving force behind Bequia\u2019s slowly evolving potable water resiliency response, pointed to 2 very recent incidents which he estimated cost the community at least 30 000 gallons of purified water, overnight. \u201cNow I have to be pumping water for at least 3 days to replace that. That is excessive work and strain on the machinery that I am trying to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Particularly given that \u201cthis is a labor of love\u201d which often times means that the only other operations team member must \u201cbeg a ride to get back to Port Elizabeth\u201d at the end of his extended working day, Belmar issued an all-out appeal to \u201cthe public to respect the desalination plant as a public property. It is not owned by anybody except the public so if they lick it up they mash it up for them own self. Just like you can\u2019t go and cut down VINLEC poles you shouldn\u2019t come and mash up the pipelines in Paget Farm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is lowdown, it is mean, it is wicked to think that people believe if they mash up a pipeline they mashing up Ralph Gonsalves and Herman Belmar. They\u2019re not doing me any harm, they\u2019re not doing the Prime Minister any harm. They\u2019re hurting their country and the people who really need the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have arrested one person before and I would arrest anybody that I can prove has damaged or molested any of the water supply in Paget Farm. The fact that there are 19 families now depending wholly and solely on that water supply means that there are 19 families you can create serious problems for if you tamper with the water system. We are not going to tolerate it any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JP.Schwmon.Vincy@Gmail.Com <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThe idea of producing sufficient water on Bequia, at the desal plant, for the entire island to be able to run the water as is seen in the COVID ad \u2013 nonstop running water from the time you turn the tap on while washing hands to the time you turn it back off \u2013 that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":9993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\n