Director Of The PWD Underscores Importance Of Water Security And Sustainability

Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 29, 2021 (SKNIS): Director of the Public Works Department, Cromwell Williams, underscored the importance of water security and sustainability during the radio and television show ‘Working for You’ on January 27.

The Director stated that “We live on a small island and we have limited water resources available to us in the form of freshwater.”

However, he said that “Water is critically important for basic health, and so yes we believe that it should always, therefore, be affordable.”

“We use just about five to six million gallons per day and most of that, about two-thirds of that, comes from groundwater wells and the other third comes from springs in the mountains,” he said. “These include springs from Wingfield, Franklands, Phillips, and two others.”

“Whether or not water is sustainable in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis depends on every citizen and resident,” he said.

The Public Works Director explained that for water to be sustainable within the Federation, conservation is key.

“Persons need to pay attention to water because if you don’t pay attention to water, if you don’t appreciate it, we will suffer,” he said.

“Every gallon of water that the government sends to your tap comes at a cost so if you waste it you are wasting money,” said Director Williams, who is a water engineer by profession.

“Over the years, we have increased from the basic springs to develop more and more of our groundwater resources and so we have always (in the last ten years or so) been close in terms of what water we can produce in our system and what is the demand or need for water,” he said.

“We have the domestic needs, we also have needs related to agriculture and we have needs related to industry,” he said.

Additionally, he said that water is used for industrial purposes and gave as examples the Bottling Company and the St. Kitts Brewery that depend heavily on water as a raw ingredient for manufacturing their products.

He urges people to awaken to the reality that water comes at a cost and that it is not free. He says that persons within the Federation need to be educated to the fact that though water may be affordable it is not free.